Help with transmission issue - sticks when going into 4th

[tceepa]

Hey everyone,

Here's the situation. Hopefully someone has some advice or recommendations.

My 1995 NSX was running fine with exception of needing a clutch. Before taking the car to a mechanic the transmission went through the gears smoothly.

I take it to the mechanic and have the clutch changed to a rebuilt OEM stock clutch. The mechanic had some minor issues getting the clutch installed but figured it out. When installing the clutch I guess the mechanic forgot to make some type of adjustment with the clutch because the clutch wouldn't disengage. He took the car apart and managed to figure it out.

Meanwhile when I got the car back I was advised and noticed that when sliding into 4th gear the shifter doesn't always slide in nice and smoothly. When sliding into 4th gear, sometimes it slides in nicely with no issues and other times it won't slide into 4th. You have to play with it to make it slide into 4th. You have to re-try shifting into 4th over and over until it wants to slide in smoothly. The transmission slides through all the rest of the gears very smoothly just like prior to the work performed; no issues. The mechanic thought it might be just an adjusment with the shifter assembly. So the mechanic told me to drive it and bring it back when I had a chance.

So I bring back the car back for the adjustment and the mechanic tells me that he thinks its a problem with the transmission itself. He adjusted the shifter assembly and it made no difference. The mechanic then disassembles the shifter assembly and tries to shift the transmission directly from the rods that go directly into the transmission. He notices that it still does the same thing. He thinks it's something internally in the transmission, not clutch related or shifter assembly related. The mechanic mentioned that he did not disassemble the transmission itself and only tilted the transmission on it's side while changing the clutch.

I spoke to a friend with some mechanic experience and he thinks it might be the synchro gears.

I find it a little odd that everything was working great prior to changing the clutch and now it has issues.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Has anyone ever seen or heard of this before?

Any help would be great.

 

[ChopsJazz]

Your location says you live in YOW. I don't know where that is, but maybe some of us could help you find a real NSX technician to work on your car. It sounds to me as if the person who did your work has little or no NSX experience.

 

[tceepa]

YOW is the airport code for Ottawa Ontario Canada.

 

[Briank]

I would guess the clutch is still draging a little (not fully disengaging). Could be that the main shaft was not properlly lubed or you have air in the system.

 

[EdinKali]

Was the clutch initialized properly?

 

[tceepa]

Was the clutch initialized properly?

Not at first but he fixed it. When the mechanic first installed the clutch it wasn't initialized properly and the clutch would not disengage properly. The mechanic then initialized the clutch properly and it now releases OK.

The shifting is very smooth everywhere else except for 4th gear. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and reverse all slide in easily with no issues or hesitation.

When the mechanic is using his fingers at the shifter lever itself (at the transmission), it doesn't want to slide into 4th smoothly. It's almost like you have to slide it a little to the right for a smooth shift into 4th. If it helps, there is no grinding at all when shifting into 4th gear. It's almost like the shifter inside the case is misaligned.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[nsxtasy]

Any thoughts or suggestions?

When I read your first post, I had the same reaction as ChopsJazz: your mechanic doesn't know what he's doing. My suggestion is to cut your losses, and take your car to a mechanic with a lot of NSX transmission experience.

 

[Bram]

Hi, we have some members of the NSX Club of Canada in Ottawa, that can recommend a REAL NSX Tech.

Drop me a PM.

Bram

YOW is the airport code for Ottawa Ontario Canada.

 

[drew]

I'd stick with your mechanic, if he got this far with it, then he is probably alright.

Have him,
1. Re-init the trans, go around 2x-3x.
2. Check the oil level. Verify he used the proper stuff.
3. Replace the clutch master/slave fluid

Drive it around a thousand K's or so. Sometimes it takes a little bit of "sanding" to get everything perfect....the tolerance on the clutch is very tight.

There isn't much to do past that that without breaking open the trans.

 

[tceepa]

Drew,

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll mention this information to the mechanic. Your input is greatly appreciated.

In fact, thanks to everyone who has replied to the thread.

I'd stick with your mechanic, if he got this far with it, then he is probably alright.

Have him,
1. Re-init the trans, go around 2x-3x.
2. Check the oil level. Verify he used the proper stuff.
3. Replace the clutch master/slave fluid

Drive it around a thousand K's or so. Sometimes it takes a little bit of "sanding" to get everything perfect....the tolerance on the clutch is very tight.

There isn't much to do past that that without breaking open the trans.