TypeSAddict

You 6MT noobs shouldn't be trying to be as cool as us auto guys. Get your own fucking problem. Stealing from us isn't cool.

bnavarro

Easy bro, i'm not slaming anyone. I'm just saying everycar has it's own problems. Trust me, i went to price the 2003 too. To trade mine in.

Slimey

joeandcarol2

I agree with everyone about downshifting into 1st. Only when going less than about 2 mph. (stopped essentially)

Zootking

I dont even see where this whole "grinding" issue came from....yes mine did it at first, I asked around and most said its b/c of the closeness of the gears and its actually good for "racing". On the other hand, if it grinds every gear or is to tough to get into gear, then there might be a problem. I think this tranny was well built and designed and the only thing we need to worry about is a new clutch, for those of us who drive the shit out of it, me being one of those I could be wrong, but i think paranoia (sp?) has sunk in and we are actually looking for something to be wrong.....but thats just my opinion, i could be wrong

purplehaze

dont get me wrong tho.....this is one hella of a car compared to the autos/....those of u who havent driven these 6 spds..r missing out

I LOVE THIS CAR

PH

Tom2

Okay, this definitely sounds like a weak synchro to me.

Here's what you should try:

Do your "test" again, but this time, double-clutch it. In other words, depress the clutch, move the shifter into NEUTRAL, release the clutch for a moment. Then depress the clutch again, and slowly engage 2nd gear. Try to do this all fairly quickly, because you don't want the revs to drop too far, or it won't be an accurate test of your problem.

If your problem is a weak synchro, then you should have NO problems at all when shifting as I described above. By engaging the clutch in neutral, you're basically stopping (or slowing) the rotation of the shafts inside the tranny, so the gear should be easily engaged without the synchro.

I'm surprised that your local tech couldn't figure this out. I guess those damn Acura techs just aren't used to working on manual trans cars......

Nihilistan

Thanks Tom2... I didn't know the mechanical reasoning behind it, but I knew if I double clutch on the shift from 1st to 2nd, it is smooth as silk. I refuse to double clutch every time though.

-- Nihil

6spNewbie

I continue to experience grinding when going into 2nd gear. Double clutching doesn't help. The clutch is ON THE FLOOR when I experience the trouble. I've taken the car to my local dealer twice and a different dealer once. All three times the dealer claimed they were unable to reproduce the problem, and therefore did nothing to address the problem.

Pretty dam frustrating to say the least.

Nihilistan

Where do you live?

Tom2

I'm not sure you're totally understanding what I was saying....

The important thing is to make sure that the rotation inside the tranny STOPS or slows considerably. Ordinarily, that's the job of the synchros-- they'll match the speeds of the shafts so that you can easily engage the gears.

The only way for you to manually do the job of the synchros would be letting the clutch up off the floor (engaging it) for a moment between shifts.

If you do this you still get grinding?

Wires

Doesn't that kind of defeat the whole purpose of 1st gear? If you're doing 5 mph, and accelerate in 2nd, you don't have enough torque to the ground to get any decent acceleration. I agree with that if you're up near the high end of 1st gear, but near the bottom end?

It's not a below-low gear like on a work truck...... Otherwise that logic should be applied to all the gears, right?

bullaculla

I also leave it in second untill I come to a complete stop. If I do have to accelerate I do it from second. also when the traffic is bad, I just leave it in second and take off slowly. It gets irritating shifting back and forth from first to second. or I put it neutral and let it roll.

Bob 1

My car has the second gear grinding problem also. Not all the time and mostly when cold. It is infrequent enough that it would be just luck if it happened when it was on a 5 min test drive at the dealer. I have a lot of years driving a standard and the clutch is definitely to the floor. I had mentioned in a previous thread that I had put this on my original owner survey from Acura and American Honda called me specifically to discuss this problem. They asked if I would be willing to have an engineer drive my car, and I said yes, but I never heard from them again.

6speedctrlfreak

Ok I have had a chance to really analyze my new CL-S 6speed after reading through these this thread and I have the same "resisitance" or "difficulty" going from 1st into 2nd gear ONLY. If I kick the RPMs up before shifting it is smoother, and doesnt happen all the time. I'm starting to wonder since so many of us have this difficulty (somepeople like the word 'notchy') of 1st into 2nd that there in fact a design or manufacturing problem ----but not bad enough that everyone will notice it or even think its a problem.

DDT-TypeS

DAm, after reading up on some tech docs, this is what i found: (I can't quote the website cause I lost the link!).

but essentially it is like this?:

Due to multicone synchros and the purpose of the synchros- To allow spinning of the shaft when going from one gear to the next, the synchros help take the load...it uses FRICTION... to produce a SMOOTH engagment from gear to gear.

The ironic part is that you will get a "notchy" feeling sometimes...it's just that the synchros are actually working. Nothing to be alarmed of. Grinding gears is another issue.

I was told the same thing by the dealer. Shit, I guess I can sleep at night now.

And as for the 2nd -> 1st gear issue, thanks for the feedback..I guess I don't have to worry about that either!

6spdCL-S

DDT,

You are correct about the notchy feeling. My service manager told me that Acura had an extensive meeting about this "nothcyness" and it is supposed to happen due to the new Multi-synchros they use. My main issue was the grinding when the clutch was fully depressed and gear shifter was placed in between 1st and 2nd. They are having me bring my car back on Monday so they can run a few more tests and then they will probably be opening up the tranny and replacing the synchros.

6spdCL-S

The Verdict: Bad Synchros.

The dealer is replacing them today and then there should be no problems.