5th gear synchro problem... I think...

[vtluu]

Was giving a friend a ride to SJC this morning and noticed that when I shift into 5th, I frequently feel a grinding sensation through the stick--no matter how clutched in I am.

I'll experiment more with RPMs and double-clutching tonight and see if either affects the problem.

I did a quick search and found this thread on EvolutionM: http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52229

Looks like my 5th gear synchro is busted... :(

[vtluu]

Spoke with Chris in the service dept. at Hayward Mitsubishi (where I bought the car) and he didn't seem surprised at all, saying something to the effect of "they are familiar with the problem". He suggested that if I can live with it (which I can, since I'm flying out to Canada on Monday), I bring the car in after 1/1 since they're apparently quite swamped with people getting car service done just before Christmas. :roll:

I'm hoping that double-clutching will work around the problem for the time being. :?

[DB8GSR]

Yup!! Been there, done that and it's been fixed. No matter what you do, it'll grind regardless. There may be a flaw on the design of the synchro mesh on the tranny and it looks like Mitsu has revised these parts. This is nothing new to MMC. :roll:

[vtluu]

Thanks, it's nice to know that at least other people have had the same problem (and had it fixed). There's nothing worse than finding a problem that no-one else has noticed; for example my 2k1 Eclipse GT had a software bug in its automatic transmission. I don't think it ever got fixed--I just found a way to avoid it. :roll:

Did a bunch of 4th-to-5th shifting tonight on the way home from work but only had the synchro grind once or twice. I think maybe the problem happens more at freeway speeds (I really noticed it driving 87 this morning, but didn't do any freeway driving tonight). I tried double-clutching and when I did the problem didn't occur, but since I could barely get it to happen regardless, that doesn't really prove anything.

[vtluu]

Did some more freeway driving today and was able to get the synchro grind every time. So I guess it only occurs at higher speeds/revs.

Also, I found that I can prevent the problem by double-clutching when shifting into 5th. That'll hold me over until I get the problem fixed.

[vtluu]

Update: finally took the car to the shop (Hayward Mitsu) yesterday. Took one of the techs there out for a quick road test on 580, and they promptly ordered replacement parts (haven't asked exactly what parts those are; I'm curious though...). The guys there seemed fairly familiar with the problem, saying it typically starts with 5th gear, then starts to affect other gears. I occasionally get a grind shifting 1st to 2nd, but I'm thinking that's probably when I don't clutch in quite far enough.

Anyway they called me today to tell me the parts had arrived and I've made an appointment for next Tuesday morning to have the repairs done. Here's hoping it'll only take them a few days--wouldn't want to miss the 1/24 dyno/drive meet. 8)