Team, first off I want to thank who ever takes the time to read this post. I have been a supervisor for a computer call center on tech support for a while now and just recently i've been working on Project Management. The analysis posted below is blend of perception and facts. I have worked and resolved with complex computer problems and all though motorsports is just a Hobby, I have learned a bit.

Problem: Vehicle pops out of 4rth Gear, low/high RPM usually going uphill or downhill, anything that gives the car load.


Couple of days ago, I got the car out of the shop. They tested it when they replaced al syncro, 4rth syncro hub and slider plus the dog/spring/ball kit for all gears.

This time it did not pop out of gear.

I used it for a day and on the second night I took it up to 4k+ RPM.
The gear popped out.
Strange thing was that the with all the replacement the tranny felt a lot stronger. I usually felt the 4rth gear kind of weak once engaged but not this once.

I took it to the shop the next morning and the mechanic guy tested it. It popped out. He pushed the car to its limits and it popped out with more frequency (4rth gear only.)

Then it started popping out again even In lower RPMs. Now engagement feels weak again. (the instance you release the clutch and 4rth gear is engaged you can feel little vibration on the shifter itself.)

He then stated that the problem should be the shifter linkage(cables) or shifter assy (I have a short shifter installed) weird thing is that the short shifter has been there for more than six months without anything ever happening. The original linkage I had rebuilt the bushings on the tranny side with solid material.

Then again the funniest thing is that if you try to hold the gear in place it will still pull strongly out of gear hence creating a grinding noise. That tells me that the cable is not the one letting go or pulling the gear since I am the once trying to hold it in place. It also tells me that the pull force comes from the tranny itself. (i does not mean im wrong)

Now, the dog and spring kit did cause the symptom to change but with daily drive its getting worse by the day.
I called mitsu parts direct to get a quote on the linkage after explaining to them what was going on.
They did not agree on selling me the linkage/cables because one of their engeeniers states that after the repair history on my transmission the input shaft is the one that’s bad.

Since this part is non-serviceable on the eclipse it means I need a new tranny and after a 1,000+ dollars, and 3months of downtime this did not sound right to me.
i already have an original post here which lead to a syncro replacement, which did not fix.

I went online and searched the forums on gearing problems and found interesting articles.
To summarize, I found that in most cases of gears popping out the syncros are the first at fault. They also mentioned the hub and slider, but we did that.

Then they mentioned the shift forks, but then again after splitting the tranny several times the shop would have realized that, or not?

They mentioned the input shaft and linkage as well.
Last but not least they mentioned an unbalanced flywheel/flex plate causing the input shaft to spin at an angle causing some gears to pop out with little pressure.

This makes sense to me, since I've never really had the cover that goes between the engine crank and the tranny clutch housing. This allows water to get in there and somehow bend the spinning metal (i.e.: my eclipses flex plate or clutch assy.)

Anytime I pull the car in first gear I can feel it vibrating like something in the clutch are is really out of shape, vibration comes out of the friction between the pressure plate(attached to the flex plate) and clutch disk. This chatter makes the whole car vibrate specially since i have solid mounts on 3 sides of the engine bay.

It is more apparent when the wheels are steering to either side or slipping the clutch uphill in first gear, the vibration is horrible.
My clutch could be about 8 months old but the flex plate is the stocker one.
The shop mechanic thought it would be the flex plate.

I really don’t see how the cables are at fault, or the shifter assy at this point.

The popping of 4rth gear started out in the rainy season and that’s when the vibration started, since the flex plate area got wet and I didn’t have the tranny cover.

Now to the questions.

A) Could the unbalanced flex plate or clutch (modular setup) cause the gear to pop out? Or worse, cause wear on the input shaft or any internal part? (replacing parts fixed the problem for a day, getting worse with time which leads me to believe that internal parts are starting to wear.)

B) Could the shifter linkage cause the gear to pop out? Or worse, wear internal parts as well?


Its been a long journey already my last post on this was back on may 28th. STILL with the same problem.

I appreciate you advice on this one.
Thanks.

Something is eating the edge off the dog teeth on 4th. What fluid do you use?

At this point, you're going to have to replace the stop rings, outer syncro ring, and maybe 4th gear. The input shaft is 100% servicable, mitsu told you incorrectly. The output shaft is not serviceable, but the output shaft is not your problem.

Originally posted by DarkOne
Something is eating the edge off the dog teeth on 4th. What fluid do you use? At this point, you're going to have to replace the stop rings, outer syncro ring, and maybe 4th gear. The input shaft is 100% servicable, mitsu told you incorrectly. The output shaft is not serviceable, but the output shaft is not your problem.

i'm thinking of just getting the whole tranny replaced period.
could the clutch chatter/vibration cause this , or is this normal if my motors mounts are solid.?

i hope you eventually got your speeometer working. mine worked for 1 mile, cuz i installed it wrong. DOH!!!!!!!!!! my 5th gear pops out too. like, every once in a while.

Originally posted by 420AYE
i hope you eventually got your speeometer working. mine worked for 1 mile, cuz i installed it wrong. DOH!!!!!!!!!! my 5th gear pops out too. like, every once in a while.

yeah i got the speedo runnin.
it was the ring gear on the tranny.


btw i use the factory fluid thats like 20 bucks a quart. put 3 of em in. i know the tranny uses around 2.2

does anyone think the linkage would make a difference?

it is only 10 bucks a quart.... call bob kise... search for, "call bob kise for most your parts" in the generals forum and you'll find his number. if you think its the shift linkage, just pull off your battery, look there, see if its ok, if its all good, unscrew your shift knob, pull off the hvac trim cover, pull out the ashtray/cupholder, take off the little light inside there, undo the screws and pull off your cigarette lighter wires. look at your shift linkage.... see if all the bushings are ok and stuff. and yeah, my speedometer ring gear was shot as well.

Originally posted by 420AYE
it is only 10 bucks a quart.... call bob kise... search for, "call bob kise for most your parts" in the generals forum and you'll find his number. if you think its the shift linkage, just pull off your battery, look there, see if its ok, if its all good, unscrew your shift knob, pull off the hvac trim cover, pull out the ashtray/cupholder, take off the little light inside there, undo the screws and pull off your cigarette lighter wires. look at your shift linkage.... see if all the bushings are ok and stuff. and yeah, my speedometer ring gear was shot as well.

yeah i basically rebuilt the bushings on the linkage and made them solid.
the smaller ones on the shifter side were not needed.
will try to replace with stock shifter to see if any changes.
tired of this bud.

i kinda doubt the shift linkage is your problem.....

Originally posted by 420AYE
i kinda doubt the shift linkage is your problem.....

i'm not a believer myself..
i can see myself buying that new tranny.
gesh, i bought a car, i gotta drive it right?

after all the money and time you spend on these cars, specially tranny, but pop a newone and move out. LOL