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Popping out of 1st... why?

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MrTippy

Probationary Member
18
0
Nov 26, 2004
Fuck You, Alabama
My transmission pops out of 1st gear about 50% of the time when I engage the clutch. If it doesn't pop out, I can disengage/engage the clutch as many times as I want, and it won't pop out of gear unless I shift to another gear. The next time I put it into first, it may pop out again. I can't stop it from slipping out of gear by holding the shifter either. This only happens with first gear.

It's been doing this for about 2 years now (I'd say 5K miles/year) without getting worse. I'm going to be replacing my clutch/flywheel soon. What could cause this - I'll fix it when the transmission is out of the car.

97 Eclipse GST

Mark
 
It could possibly be a problem with incomplete clutch disengagement. I was having this problem like it was my job when i had my 2600 in, I swapped clutches and havent had a problem with it ever since.
 
Old shifter cables, motor mounts, shifter bushings, shifter cable mounts on the tranny, a good number of things.

The cables seem to like to get worn out on DSM's, but they're NON ADJUSTABLE on 2G's, no matter how many people say to "simply adjust them"....
 
Im havin the same trouble in second gear i have to slam that shit in and its fine... it seems to only be when its cold out and i just start my car up...idk....need help !
 
i'm having the same problem and at high rpm it won't catch 2nd. how do you adjust the cables? by the way mine is a first GEN.
 
mitsufrkr said:
i'm having the same problem and at high rpm it won't catch 2nd. how do you adjust the cables? by the way mine is a first GEN.


if its only at high rpm and it's a higher mileage trans then chances are the syncros are worn and thats why it won't go in.
 
Mine was doing the same thing so I adjusted the cables and now it's fine. But mine is a 1g I guess someone said that you can't adjust 2g cables I don't know I have never worked on one. Goodluck!

Brian
 
hey the cables on the car just broke,so it could have been that.
 
Your intermediate shaft roller bearing is worn.

Mine did the same thing until I replaced it. The tranny needs to be pulled to replace.

This is what mine would do: 75% of the time work normally only jump out when cold. It would normally only jump out while lugging the car in first or if I was driving in first gear like in a parking lot. If I tried to hold it in it would grind and then pop back in.

All other shifting was like butter no bad sychros or anything.

Roller bearing fixed it right up.
 
Jeff,

That's pretty much what I was looking for, thank you. The symptoms you had are very close to the way my car is now. I'll check it out when I pull the tranny.
 
For what its worth....the bearing is only $20 from TRE but there is a kit of things that should be replaced as well as the bearing (oil seals and snap rings) and the kit cost about $70.

IF YOU DONT FIX THE PROBLEM FIRST GEAR WILL EVENTUALLY START DOING DAMAGE TO THE CASE!!! You have to fix this problem ASAP or even worse things will start to happen. That much shaft play (slop in tranny) will eventually stress the other gears and you will do much more damage.

The reason the intermediate shaft bearing fails is a lubrication issue from the factory. They tend to start failing right around 123k miles. Mine lasted 130K miles. It should be noted that my car ran stock tranny fluid from mile one to 130K. Running synthetic fluid may help prevent the issue.

I hope this helps,
Jeff Jeske
 
Hey guys,

I just bought a 99 GS-T with 77,000 miles on the ticker and it has had its transmission rebuilt with Shep Racing components.

I've been driving it around a bit and it's 20(F) degrees here and below all day now and sometimes the car is popping out of first gear. It doesn't appear to do it as often when sliding the trans into first while I'm coming to a rolling stop - it really seems to do it just when the car is started up or if I'm in neutral and put it into first. Seems less problematic too when the car is warmed up.

I'm not sure if it's related but the car is also having very bad wheel hop issues and it's only running 2 psi more than stock boost...

Thanks for any input you can give me! :cool:
 
My car had the same problem. It would pop out of first intermittently. And if you held it in with your hand, you could feel it 'push' back. That was the only problem my transmission had. seemed to work fine otherwise. It did have a 'whine' though.. around 45mph in 5th gear it was at its loudest... but other then that it seemed fine.. Oh, and it only had 78K miles on it.

Well, I don't have to worry about it anymore, because Last week it exploded on me. I was just driving like normal, not even beating on it hard.... all of the sudden. *CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH*... Popped it neutral and coasted to the nearest parking lot.

The tranny hasn't been pulled from the car yet, So I can't tell ya what exactly happened... Only, when the fluid was drained, chunks of metal came with it. I'm getting a new one, sending it to Shep, and then will swap the old one out. Then maybe we'll be able to see what went wrong.

So.. is the 'hopping first gear' an indication of an upcoming tranny explosion?? Maybe.. It sure happened to me... Is it worth investigating??? Depends... can you afford to pull it and just look at it/have it looked it? Or do you just want to buy a brand new tranny??
 
daveyfx said:
Hey guys,

I just bought a 99 GS-T with 77,000 miles on the ticker and it has had its transmission rebuilt with Shep Racing components.

I've been driving it around a bit and it's 20(F) degrees here and below all day now and sometimes the car is popping out of first gear. It doesn't appear to do it as often when sliding the trans into first while I'm coming to a rolling stop - it really seems to do it just when the car is started up or if I'm in neutral and put it into first. Seems less problematic too when the car is warmed up.

I'm not sure if it's related but the car is also having very bad wheel hop issues and it's only running 2 psi more than stock boost...

Thanks for any input you can give me! :cool:

Its the bearing....it tends to happen more when the fluid is cold. To fix you will need to pull the tranny and replace the bearing. SEE ABOVE
 
Jeff_Jeske said:
IF YOU DONT FIX THE PROBLEM FIRST GEAR WILL EVENTUALLY START DOING DAMAGE TO THE CASE!!! You have to fix this problem ASAP or even worse things will start to happen. That much shaft play (slop in tranny) will eventually stress the other gears and you will do much more damage. Jeff Jeske

My tranny was jumping out about 2-3 times per day when cold. The internals were just fine but honestly it was only doing it for 3 months before I fixed it.

I would guess if everything but 1st gear works normally and you dont have metal soup in your tranny fluid then I wouldn't worry too much.
 
dicion said:
Only, when the fluid was drained, chunks of metal came with it. I'm getting a new one, sending it to Shep, and then will swap the old one out. Then maybe we'll be able to see what went wrong.
QUOTE]

Probably similar to this:
You must be logged in to view this image or video.

That bearing on the bellhousing side is a pretty commonly worn item. I've had at least 6 cars in this year with that bearing worn out.
The other bearing on the input shaft can wear out also
You must be logged in to view this image or video.

http://www.pinamotorsports.com/gallery/album49?page=1
 
That is just plain ugly. Thanks for those pics!

But yes that is the extreme of what could happen. However if you dont have metalic tranny fluid then odd are your tranny is still good.

For what its worth, I have a good 2G tranny and 23 spline transfer case that I am looking to sell. The thing drives great but has 128k miles on it. If someone was looking for a tranny to send to Shep or TRE this would be the hot ticket. I could ship directly to either as soon as today. Make an offer via email: [email protected]
 
Well, what I was trying to say, was My tranny was 'good' up until the moment it exploded... Other then the fact it was popping out of first occasionally, it was fine.
 
NDgsx said:
That bearing on the bellhousing side is a pretty commonly worn item. I've had at least 6 cars in this year with that bearing worn out.
The other bearing on the input shaft can wear out also


Which is why I'm looking to do a modification adding a pilot bearing to the input shaft.

It will maintain better alignment of the input shaft and crankshaft centerline... It also decreases any leverage on the shaft from the outside of the case. Crossing over from muscle cars I was supprised by the lack of a pilot bearing.

There is a side load on those bearing caused by the gears themselves under load but that is normal..

Obvously misaligned misinstalled transmissions (no dowels) can produce some pretty funky forces on the shaft...
 
Update:

Yep... Int Bearing on mine is also what went...

Straight from shep's shop:

"The Intermediate shaft bearing broke and flung apart taking the race out and destroying 5th gears (both of them) this took out the bearing plate, end cover and diff bearings."

So.. yeha.. if your tranny pops out of first.. get it fixed immediately. Having a bearing changed is a lot less expensive then... oh.. everything inside :)
 
would second gear be the same diagnosis??

mine EVERY time I take a hard left in second it pops out. and more recently if cruising at steady speed in second gear it will pop out, but I can pull it back in with minimal grindage without the clutch. If I am accelerating it will not pop out.

It shifts fine and acts fine other than that.

Also - from the day I bought the car 65,000 miles it has had transmission noise. kinda sounds like a tire on the road in 5th gear. If I pushed on the shifter it got quieter.
 
sorry to bring up old thread, but is there a vfaq on replacing the intermediate shaft roller bearing?
 
I didn't have a VFAQ but I did have a tranny breakout for the internals. I did it in the garage with only a cheap ebay press and set of metric wrenches. I though it was cake as it took less than an hour to fix up.

I no longer have the documentation but I'm sure someone on here does.
 
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