2nd Gear Crunch

[Gscar25]

So I have read around and this seems to be a somewhat common issue. To give you some back round this was my first manual car and for the first few thousand miles I definitely made some mistakes. For example, jerky starts from first, a bad rev match here and there etc. However I have never grinded a gear. Other than that the car has been absolutely babied, I have never launched it and rarely do any redline pulls. After 12k miles I expected the gearbox to loosen up a bit but it has not. About half the time shifting into 2nd, 4th and 6th feels like moving a stick through gravel. This issue is my sole gripe with the car, aside from the shitty paint. Anyway I have two questions. #1: Is it possible that this issue has been caused by me? #2 Will a dealer be able to fix this issue? Thanks for any responses in advance.

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[amirza786]

So I have read around and this seems to be a somewhat common issue. To give you some back round this was my first manual car and for the first few thousand miles I definitely made some mistakes. For example, jerky starts from first, a bad rev match here and there etc. However I have never grinded a gear. Other than that the car has been absolutely babied, I have never launched it and rarely do any redline pulls. After 12k miles I expected the gearbox to loosen up a bit but it has not. About half the time shifting into 2nd, 4th and 6th feels like moving a stick through gravel. This issue is my sole gripe with the car, aside from the shitty paint. Anyway I have two questions. #1: Is it possible that this issue has been caused by me? #2 Will a dealer be able to fix this issue? Thanks for any responses in advance.

What you are experiencing, the 1st to second, 3rd to 4th and 5th to 6th is notchiness, which is intentional. From what I have read, this sound is supposed to let you know you have put it in gear correctly. As long as the gears are not grinding or getting locked out, there is really no issue, it's just more of an annoyance. There are ways of eliminating this sound, but it would mean making some modifications in the gear linkage (there are some youtube videos), for me it's to much time and work.

One of the ways I have been able to smooth out the transmission and make shifting much better was to drain out the OEM MT fluid and replace it with Amsoil Synchromesh manual transmission fluid. You will need 2 quarts ($16 each) and two new crush washers. I had my mechanic change it out for me, he did it when he did my oil change and charged me about $20. Now my shifting is pretty smooth, the notchiness still happens sometimes, but it is much less than before. Amsoil recommends changing their fluid out every 50K miles, but they say you can do up to 150K. Overall, I believe this is a must to make the transmission much smoother and more responsive

Another thing you can do that people have reported works is putting a heavier shift knob. I have read numerous posts stating that virtually reduced or even eliminated the notchiness