I know there are probably other posts about this, but I wanted to get some fresher feedback on this.
My car seems to shift ok, I mean, I don't grind or anything.. but the actual motion on the shifter seems a bit... clunky? I have a 98 ESi and sometimes it's just a bit reluctant to go into gear. It feels like, when I shift, that I get to a stopping point (small amount of pressure) and then get the same response going into a gear... almost like it's moving through some sort of gate. Granted, my knowledge of manual transmissions is incredibly weak, so this is a mixture of "is something wrong?" and "I need to learn what makes this do that." I've heard that the NT transmissions are a bit.. funky and it's just par for the course. Is this the case? Can I replace any linkages and see if that smoothes it out? Or am I just nitpicking here? Any info is greatly appreciated as, so far, all I know about MTX is what I've read on howstuffworks.com (granted, might seem goofy going there, but it's such a great site)... Thanks!
If Im reading it correctly, which I'm sure I am. It sound like maybe its your clutch wearing out. Mine would be hard when shifting to another gear like that (going through gates thing.) It was my clutch wearing. With mine I dint know exactly what it was but continued to beat it till it went completely out on me and had to open up to find what it was. It ended up being a toasted clutch. (When down shifting is it really hard to get into gear until a certain RPM, thats another thing mine did.) I would doubt anything in your tranny went wrong.... They are kind of built to last. SO I would suggest clutch.
Could be a bad synchro. That is how mine started. When I tried to go from 1st to 2nd, I would get a resistance. After more abuse, I could not shift from 1 - 2 unless I was below 5k RPM. If I tried to I would just grind the shit out the gears. My knowledge of trannies is also very limited, but just speaking from my experience.
IMO. do the easy things FIRST... check your clutch fluid, and top off or bleed the system as necessary. if you haven't changed your trans fluid, now would be a good time to try that. a set of symborsky shift bushings might help your situation (I can't say for myself. I'm auto, so I've never used them)
after you have tried all of that. it might be time to get someone to look at your trans, but only AFTER you have checked things out for yourself.
Yeah go for the cheap stuff first, but this sounds to me like the beginnings of worn syncros, possibly caused by a clutch not being depressed all the way when shifting?? There's an article somewhere on this site (linked) about double clutching, its not really all that applicable to fast driving on our cars, but may be worth checking out in your case (plus, the price is right)
Where would one pick up one of these shift kits? I"m about to shorten my shifter and since I have a free weekend (not all that common) and i'm gonna be messing with it anyways, I was wondering how hard the are to install as well...world of difference, eh?
thanks, matt
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Black 98 GST missing her owner and looking for a new one...Inquiries welcome
Yes symorski shift kit or nergy suspension bushings will improve the feel of the shifter. Also check the alignment of your linkage at the trans as you shift through the gears. Check the condition of the bushigns in the linkage. If all of this is done and it still doesn't feel right you make look into a more serious problem.
