The Infamous 2nd Gear Crunch

[NSXCTR]

Happened to me one time on second gear grind. I think i reved it close to redline by accident and the car is too new to handle that high of the rev going into second gear. Let the car break in, this issue should go away. If not, get it check out.

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[kern]

I have not experienced this in any of my Honda's nor did I experience it in the Type R's I've driven....but....Coming out of the Miata community tranny issues are extremely common and there are literally 100's of threads over at Miata.net. Here are the steps for the Miata:
1) Change out MTF to Ford's synthetic fluid. I can get you the part number as I have a bottle left over in the garage if you need it. Not sure this will be allowed since you are a Honda tech and this obviously would not be approved by them. It cures more than 50% of the 1-2 and 2-3 grinding in Miatas. People call this stuff magic juice.
2) Change out the turret oil to the same synthetic fluid. In Mazda's there is a small reservoir of oil just below the shifter that is called the turret. Not sure if Honda has the same tranny design. In a Miata it is a royal pain to get to this as you have to disassemble quite a bit of the interior to get to it....this helps another 5-10% of the of folks if step 1 doesn't fix it.
3) Clutch adjustment as mentioned by someone else is the final step.
I have a NC2 (third generation) but Mazda also had an issue with tranny's in the ND (current generation) when it was introduced. I don't frequent the ND sub forum but I think it was traced back to the supplier of the gears inside the tranny. Those were catastrophic failures of the tranny so something completely different.

Good luck!

 

[Wabby]

Is it from high RPM when you change gear to 2nd? Sounds like it might be the Sync Rings in the tranny.

 

[Ruckus]

Is it from high RPM when you change gear to 2nd? Sounds like it might be the Sync Rings in the tranny.

no sir just normal driving

 

[Wabby]

no sir just normal driving

See if you can reproduce it by pulling the car to 5000 RPM or more and then take a fast gearshift straight to second so the RPM wont drop before you release the clutch again.
If the tranny burps, then I would go back to dealer straight away.

 

[kern]

Is it only when the tranny is cold or did it happen when it was warmed up? Do you know if Honda's MTF is dino or synthetic?

 

[jtrown]

Yeah I don't know if I would do that until the car is broken in. I've never experienced it yet but I've only put about 80 miles on the car. If it's not repeating I wouldn't worry

 

[Ruckus]

Is it only when the tranny is cold or did it happen when it was warmed up? Do you know if Honda's MTF is dino or synthetic?

yeah it was plenty warm, had been driving for 15 minutes or so when it happened this most recent time. like i said its not everytime, so i dont know whats happening. doesnt say on the bottle if it is synthetic or not just says "premium honda formula that meets honda quality standards for superior shift quality" go figure

 

[Ruckus]

Yeah I don't know if I would do that until the car is broken in. I've never experienced it yet but I've only put about 80 miles on the car. If it's not repeating I wouldn't worry

yes this is pretty much my thoughts too, this is my first brand new car so im going to get some miles on it before i start digging to deep, i was really just trying to see if anyone else was experiencing this

 

[kern]

Again...I'm basing this on my Mazda experience, but it is supposedly the synchro's in the transmission that cause this 1-2 and 2-3 issue in the Miata. I wouldn't call it grinding...It is more notchiness (feels like the gate has something partially blocking it) which translates into a grinding feeling sometimes. Mine does this when the transmission is cold no matter the outside temperature. My mothers NA (first generation Miata) had this same issue so the Miata community has been using the Ford MTF for years. People have tried all the big name aftermarket synthetic MTFs (I assume somebody probably tried Honda's MTF) and they always come back to the Ford fluid.

With my Miata it has gotten better as I've put miles on the car or perhaps I've gotten used to it. For the first 6 months it really bothered me. It didn't help that I would get into our Si which has a buttery smooth transmission.

 

[Ruckus]

Again...I'm basing this on my Mazda experience, but it is supposedly the synchro's in the transmission that cause this 1-2 and 2-3 issue in the Miata. I wouldn't call it grinding...It is more notchiness (feels like the gate has something partially blocking it) which translates into a grinding feeling sometimes. Mine does this when the transmission is cold no matter the outside temperature. My mothers NA (first generation Miata) had this same issue so the Miata community has been using the Ford MTF for years. People have tried all the big name aftermarket synthetic MTFs (I assume somebody probably tried Honda's MTF) and they always come back to the Ford fluid.

With my Miata it has gotten better as I've put miles on the car or perhaps I've gotten used to it. For the first 6 months it really bothered me. It didn't help that I would get into our Si which has a buttery smooth transmission.

Yeah like i said its so random and catches me off guard its really hard to tell whats going on. id bet you're pretty spot on with the synchros too that was my thought aswell the more i think about it. for sure im going to put a few hundred miles on it before i start letting i bother me to much, just not a complaint i ever see at work. granted this transmission cant really be compared to most stuff i see on a regular basis.

 

[CTR1633FK2]

BTW, the FK8 has a gearbox oil cooler. But then different than the FK2 gearbox oil cooler. Don't know why.

 

[PwrOfDreams]

I'm also experiencing this 2nd gear grind. Happened to me twice. It seems like it does not happen when you shift quick and let go of the clutch quickly. I have been doing that and it didn't happen since. When it happened I was shifting slow and conservative. Hmmm

 

[Boostlag]

my mazda3 has the same aisin tranny as hondas, it has a slight grind in to 2nd when the fluid is cold. Shifting leisurely the first couple miles makes the fluid warm up. Also try GM syncromesh fluid, it works wonders.

 

[dohchp]

It has happened to me probably 6 times in the course of 600 miles. It's always on the 1-2 shift and I've had it happen at high, middle and low. It reminds me of worn out synchros in a B series trans.

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