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Thread: Transmission Problems with only 20k miles?

  1. #1

    Unhappy Transmission Problems with only 20k miles?

    Was discussing this in another thread, but I figured it was more appropriate for this section.

    Background, evo ix se, 5spd, bought with 16,800 miles, currently at 19,800. No history from previous owner, one track day, 20+ canyon runs with me.

    First things first, ever since I got this car, second would be notchy when it was cold out, and reverse was always a pain in the ass.

    Anyways, about a week ago I was heading to the canyons, doing about 65 in fifth gear, and went to downshift to come to a stop at a stop sign. I put the clutch in and tried to move the shifter, and it was stuck. I used a ton of force (clutch still in, RPMs at idle, car stopped) to pull it out of gear, it went what seemed to be half way out of fifth so I pulled a little more and it dropped into neutral. It came out without any grinding or unwanted noises. Once in neutral I was unable to 'wiggle' the shifter back and forth, so I used force again to move it towards 1st/2nd and it resisted, slamming over to 1st/2nd feeling like it went over a bump in the assembly. It stuck over there and I had to repeat the process to go back to 5th/rev. I tried to go through the gears and was only able to get it to go into 1st/5th. Shut down the car, popped the hood, everything looked normal, checked for leaks, nothing(it was dark), ripped apart my center console, and again, everything looked normal. Tried going through the gears again, all I had was 1st/5th and everything was just as stiff. Putted over to in n out and tried to figure it out for an hour. Got back in the car and it felt a little less stiff, and I could get it into everything but 2nd/rev. So, I decided to drive it home, and by the time I got to my driveway I was able to get into every gear (but second would pop out after a couple seconds) and it was still a little stiff. Woke up the next morning and ripped out my battery and played with the linkage, it felt normal, and looked normal. Got in the car, and its not stiff anymore, but its very notchy, and 2nd felt like it wasn't engaging properly. Put it back together, drove it, and it was smooth if I shifted really slow. Except second, which would still pop out every once in a while. Noticed when I got back a small blackish puddle in my driveway, and dripping from under the car. Dripping is coming from the rear of the engine, right in the middle, and its a cloudy/brownish liquid. Not sure if its related but this is where I'm at now.
    One more thing, downshifting and revmatching I can shift as fast as I want, and its not notchy or stiff. (minus second, second is still strange to get into gear)

    Sorry for the story and excessive details but I figured the more you know, the better you can help.
    Car will be sitting for a while so the more information I can gather/learn the better.

    Thanks in advance guys, all input is appreciated.

  2. #2
    Massimo Power
    Guest
    How you described everything was very good. The only problem is that it sounds like a one off problem. There's a very small chance anyone will come in here and say "Hey i had the same problem and filled my blinker fluid and it was good to go!" lol

    First thing is first, if you are constantly canyon driving and you have no history on the car you should have performed the 15k service on the car the moment you took delivery of it. If the car was abused beforehand in the same way then that is just made worse by driving it the way you do on fluids that may have been in there even during the break-in process. But moving on the the problems... It sounds like it could be a few different issues.. One, it could be something on the shift linkage where it connects to the transmission, if a bushing popped out or broke this is what would happen. Best way to go about it would be to have someone in the car while you watch the levers making sure they are all pushing and pulling the way they need to. Another issue could be inside the transmission, if a selector fork or synchros are damaged it may make it hard to shift into certain gears. The other issue could arise from the fact that you said there was fluid on the ground. If this fluid is some smelly oil, then that could be transmission fluid on the ground from a possible seal failure. If all of the fluid leaked out somehow then there goes your transmission.

    With all that being said, it really needs to be checked out by a Shop. There are many local shops, including us, that will be more than happy to inspect it for free.

  3. #3
    Canyon Racer one4's Avatar
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    Well first off the cloudy brown from the engine might not be good... pull your dipstick out and check it to see if your oil is clean. When water mixes with the oil it turns to a milky brown. As far as the tranny goes, it sounds like either 1, your clutch is not fully disengaging, or 2 the selector fork is having issues. First see what happens with the car off... can you get it into all the gears no problem? If you can the transmission is most likely fine and it is probably a clutch issue(try adjusting the clutch pedal). If it is hard then it is the linkage or the selector forks(inside the tranny).


    EDIT: damn you mauricio for beating me to this hahaha

  4. #4
    Fluids were all changed when I got the car, shifter linkage is all there and appears to be functioning normally, forgot to mention that's what we(my dad and I) checked when I ripped out the battery that morning. Changed the oil maybe 400 miles before this happened, it's still normal looking. Can't really tell what the fluid is that's dripping out though.
    When the car is off, it's still hard to get into gear and notchy, BUT the more I just sit there and go through the gears (on or off) the smoother it gets. Already adjusted the clutch pedal too, even swapped out to DOT-4 about 2 weeks before too.

  5. #5
    the brownish liquid has me guessing

  6. #6
    Problem has been fixed for a while, linkage was binding, clutch replaced, 2nd gear synchro replaced.
    never had a problem in 15k miles


  7. #7
    [QUOTE=iStubz;3914205]Problem has been fixed for a while, linkage was binding, clutch replaced, 2nd gear synchro replaced.
    never had a problem in 15k miles[/QUOTE

    Who did the work

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