The Infamous 2nd Gear Crunch

[Gansan]

On a side note, how can this be?

It could be if the factory worker put in the wrong oil, or there was a batch of wrongly formulated oil.

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[baldheadracing]

On a side note, how can this be?

Perhaps the crunchiness increased as the synchros sacrificed themselves to try and protect your gears. (They do this by design - they are typically made of a softer metal.) When you changed fluid, you drained out much of the soft metal pieces that were in your fluid. If the crunchiness comes back, then it is time to slow down your up-shifting and start double-clutch downshifting to minimize synchro wear and join us in hoping for a TSB ...

 

[VTECnR]

Perhaps the crunchiness increased as the synchros sacrificed themselves to try and protect your gears. (They do this by design - they are typically made of a softer metal.) When you changed fluid, you drained out much of the soft metal pieces that were in your fluid. If the crunchiness comes back, then it is time to slow down your up-shifting and start double-clutch downshifting to minimize synchro wear and join us in hoping for a TSB ...

Hi,

To reiterate, I've never experienced any crunching or grinding... only a light metallic "tic" shifting from gear to gear as well as what I'd describe as a "weighted delay" moving from gear to gear. Also, never once have I shifted "fast' or "forcefully." I'm still breaking everything in so have only been shifting gently and slowly, but deliberately thus far. I'll continue on this way until at least 1,000 miles. When I drained the fluid at 250 miles, it was clear-amber colored and free of any metal flake.

The take away from my share is that I decided to change my tranny oil at 250 miles and when I did, it immediately transformed the shifting experience into a buttery smooth action with no more ticks or resistance of any kind.

Hope this helps someone else.

 

[Severedninja]

Had another gear grind at roughly 900 miles. was fairly low rpm. first to second of course.

 

[theangelofspace15]

definitely actually gear grinding like its not a smooth shift, thanks for all the input so far! helps me out in the future too i can report what other people are experiencing if i end up dealing with techline

I have the same problem, and the dealer replicated it, now they just want to change fluids.

 

[theangelofspace15]

Can we get together a d make like a grouo complain? Mine is documented in a ticket from the dealer, so we do have prove of the problens, need just need to get names and number I guess. If you interested in get together in a grouo complain. PM with you name, phone number, type r #(mine is 303 btw) and if you want even vin.
I am thinking on doing a spreadsheet with all the people having this isuee, and either send it back to those that gave me their info. Por make something like a google file to share it and keep it updated.

 

[Zeffy94]

Let me ask this - is it normal to hear a - can’t really describe it, sort of like a “snik” sound - when changing gears? That’s something I always experience. Sometimes it’s louder than other times, and sometimes it’s more crunchy.

The only hint of grinding I’ve experienced are the really crunchy shifts i sometimes get that sound more like a CRNNNNKKK sort of sound. But as for actually grinding I don’t know to say for sure, because when I did grind a gear once it made a much more noticeable sound versus a crunchy shift.

10,310 miles on the car.

 

[Evo]

With it being cable shift and the gears being so small and fine toothed it's not going to knock around like a Eaton 10 speed. A chirp, buzz, slight hand roughness is what you will get when the synchronization isn't perfect.

After work I used to float the gears in my 2009 Si and 2010 gti and then want to keep shifting after 6th ha.

Modern cable shift transmissions have almost no feel at all. It's not a whole lot different than a video game shifter in the arcade.

The second gear crunch is preventable if you synchronize the engine speed to the transmission but that's almost impossible for someone without experience with a semi or un synchronized transmission.

 

[VTECnR]

Let me ask this - is it normal to hear a - can’t really describe it, sort of like a “snik” sound - when changing gears? That’s something I always experience. Sometimes it’s louder than other times, and sometimes it’s more crunchy.

The only hint of grinding I’ve experienced are the really crunchy shifts i sometimes get that sound more like a CRNNNNKKK sort of sound. But as for actually grinding I don’t know to say for sure, because when I did grind a gear once it made a much more noticeable sound versus a crunchy shift.

10,310 miles on the car.

... reading your post makes me feel like you're currently experiencing what I was experiencing. Here's my post again in case ya missed it;

"To reiterate, I've never experienced any crunching or grinding... only a light metallic "tic" shifting from gear to gear as well as what I'd describe as a "weighted delay" moving from gear to gear. Also, never once have I shifted "fast' or "forcefully." I'm still breaking everything in so have only been shifting gently and slowly, but deliberately thus far. I'll continue on this way until at least 1,000 miles. When I drained the fluid at 250 miles, it was clear-amber colored and free of any metal flake.

The take away from my share is that I decided to change my tranny oil at 250 miles and when I did, it immediately transformed the shifting experience into a buttery smooth action with no more ticks or resistance of any kind.

Hope this helps someone else."

 

[Hayabusa160]

my theory is the trans were under filled from factory

I've got 750 miles on my 2018 CTR now and I right away noticed the notchiness and little metalic feeling "catch" as it worked from gear to gear. The car had 5 miles on it when I picked it up and hot or cold, it didn't matter... The poor shifting experience was concerning. Hoping it would work itself out, I shifted it gently for about 250 miles with zero improvement, then...

At the recommendation of some reads in this thread, I replaced my oil with a fresh batch of Honda MTF. OMG, it was liked someome swapped out my tranny for a different one... as if a switch had been abruptly flipped. Immediately, all shifting both cold and warm went to straight butter. No more notchiness, and no more "tick" between gears.

I'm still shocked at how this can be and don't understand it at all but I'm 100% certain of the before & after and HIGHLY recommend anyone feeling anything less than butta try this right away. I fully realise that if I were reading these words written by a total stranger, I'd think to myself - "bullshit," but I'm dead serious folks... no one ever could have sold me on the concept that a mere fluid swap would have had such a major impact on shifting experience.

Mind blowing.

On a side note, how can this be?

 

[jsyar]

It's been awhile since I've had a grind until this evening. I experienced it while accelerating and turning left from a stop. So annoying! Honda needs to fix this. Here's a video:

 

[Ruckus]

Oh god i hate that sound.... its good you have video proof though

 

[Gansan]

I wish we could get definitive proof in the form of a 2-camera setup where one camera is aimed at the feet. The problem with a dashcam is that the video looks the same whether it's the car's fault or the driver's fault. It would go a long way to satisfy the engineers who need to show their bosses evidence that it's not a driver mistake. Grinding gears is a hundred year old tradition of manual transmission driving so just showing that there was a grind event isn't sufficient proof. There's a reason the movie Pretty Woman opens with a scene of Richard Gere grinding gears in a Lotus Esprit.

 

[Noize]

It's been awhile since I've had a grind until this evening. I experienced it while accelerating and turning left from a stop. So annoying! Honda needs to fix this. Here's a video:

Friggin’ yikes!

2018 with 500 mi here, no grinds yet. Fingers crossed.

Hope the dealer sorts that out for you. That’s awful.

 

[JNRS]

Grind em till you find em

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