shifting into 5th requires muscle

[daveyfx]

Hey all,

I'm not sure if it's just a quirk of the transmissions in these cars but on mine at least, shifting into 5th gear is awfully difficult and requires quite a bit of force. Not in the sense that getting into the gate is the hard part... the entire process all the way until I hit the shift stop just takes so much effort.

I'm running BG 2, recently replaced the master cylinder (did not replace slave but I bought it anyway), and the trans received a factory rebuild about 5,000 miles ago. What are some things I can look at? I've eyeballed the underhood shift cables and can't spot any points where they may be snagging... could be missing something though.

Thanks!

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

Hard going in? Is it grinding? I would rule out clutch engagement as that is usually 1st gear complaints. Could be adjustment. Bad synchros would cause grinding. Check the cable that lifts the shift shaft rail. Not the one that goes from left to right. It could be that it needs a little tweak. Albeit, reverse is on the same point.

Check your adjustments. make sure the little plastic square is in there also. That can give problems. It fits in the shift rails. There's a little pin it rides on. If it's gone, it can wreak havoc with shifting. Not to mention wear out your shift components.

Good Luck

 

[daveyfx]

Hard going in? Is it grinding? I would rule out clutch engagement as that is usually 1st gear complaints. Could be adjustment. Bad synchros would cause grinding. Check the cable that lifts the shift shaft rail. Not the one that goes from left to right. It could be that it needs a little tweak. Albeit, reverse is on the same point.

It does not grind at all. None of my gears are experiencing any grinding. I used to have an issue with the trans feeling notchy after a bit of driving but the BG 2 fixed that right up. As for the cable you mentioned -- how could I tweak it? I was under the impression that the 2G shift cables cannot be adjusted.

Check your adjustments. make sure the little plastic square is in there also. That can give problems. It fits in the shift rails. There's a little pin it rides on. If it's gone, it can wreak havoc with shifting. Not to mention wear out your shift components.

Good Luck

I suppose see my above question again Are these components I should be checking underhood or from the shift tower in the dash?

Thanks for your responses!

 

[daveyfx]

In light of the last post, I should elaborate by explaining that fifth isn't grinding at all. Really the trouble I'm experiencing is once I've entered fifth, it literally requires a lot of force during the travel period all the way to the shift stop.

 

[daveyfx]

As I also posted this same thread on a local DSM forum, I was asked if fifth was 'jumping' around when letting off the throttle at, say, cruising speeds. I'm not experiencing this problem.

I'm also not experiencing a problem with going into fifth with the car off (or idling at a standstill). Seems to be an issue only when going from fourth to fifth.

Thanks...

 

[baocoyyie]

Check the cables(cut the SOFT rubber boot at the ends and see if the cables are broke/kinked/frayed), this will cause shifting issues. 75% of my shifting issues were because of this (replaced many cables, but that's because my car is older with more mileage). I've had other problems AND solutions, but start with that one. The other 20% was cable adjustment, and you don't wanna know the 5%. : ) Oh yeah, not sure about 2G's, but the cables have a metal guide rod at the ends, if the rod pops out of the ball socket at the end of the cable, that doesn't help either, the end of the rod/socket is covered by that soft rubber boot(you'll know what I'm talking about when you look at it).

 

[Boost Freak 3]

I had the probelm like that and that was becuase of shift linkage becoming to loose. not sure but I would also recomend checking shift linkage.