Gradually, after the 60k mile service, my 6-speed transmission became more and more difficult to downshift. I would call it a stiffness problem, others have referred to it as notchiness. I hadn't done anything unusual to cause the problem, so I wondered if the folks that did the 60k mile servicing might have done something to initiate the problem.

In any case, the problem was speed related. When the car was moving at low speeds, downshifting was OK. But when moving at 35 MPH (for example) if I tried to downshift into 2nd, it just wouldn't go into gear until the speed was at or below 25 MPH. Upshifting wasn't as big a problem, though it wasn't buttery smooth like upshifting was during the first 60k miles.

Over time, downshifting became virtually impossible at any realistic speed. I could rev the engine between gears and coax it into a lower gear (without having to slow down first) but it was a pain in the neck. After a while, it began to grind going into 3rd gear on both upshifts and downshifts.

At this point, I changed dealers. Dave Whittingham who has posted some messages on this forum works at Elite Acura in Maple Shade, NJ and after I had complained about my previous dealer he invited me to check Elite out.

Elite Acura was very helpful and solved my problem.

They found that the clutch was not working properly and that the flywheel was heat-checked with minor cracks all over the surface. (Other people on this forum have also mentioned that inspection of their flywheels showed similar problems). Also, my synchros were shot. Elite offered the explanation that the clutch may have contributed to the synchro failures.

So, Elite replaced my synchros, clutch and flywheel and I am back to buttery shifts again.

I have an extended warranty which covered my synchros. They replaced the clutch and flywheel for the cost of the parts. The warranty covered all of the labor.

I am very satisfied with the way the transmission and clutch work now.

I have posted this thread so as to provide intel to other 6-speed owners who might be experiencing similar problems.

Another thread reporting this same problem is:

https://acurazine.com/forums/archive.../t-174094.html

 

Good info, but you got lucky & didn't have to pay much for it. That kind of wear is considered abuse(no matter how it happened) & 99% of dealers would not cover that.
But it does fit into the category that a few 6MT CL's did have a clutch defect. What you saw is what those that had problems saw. It's certainly is a very minor amount of cars

 

Rev match and double cluthing will help your clutch to last a lot longer and help the gear to shift effortless (especiall downshifting to 2nd on medium speed)

 

I never have had any prob with my gearbox, but I usually rev match on downshifts. In my mustang I HAVE to, or else it will not go into gear at all.

 

I also had a very similar prob