3rd-4th gear grind...but only near redline

[gabeg86]

Originally Posted by 86_FRS

Any word on the transmission?

they haven't called and i haven't had time to swing by the dealership. i should be going next week. i'll keep ya posted

[WRBRZ]

I have this issue as well. I took it to the dealer yesterday, so we'll see what happens. Grinding going into 4th at high rpm. How frustrating!

[WRBRZ]

Purposely made sure I tried shifting a lot at high rpm going from 3rd to 4th on the way in to work this morning. The damn thing would grind EVERY time. I am beyond frustrated. I've had this car for a month and a half, and this is unacceptable. I don't know why anyone else isn't more upset, but I didn't buy this car to baby the 3-4 shift, especially at 2k miles on the odo.

[d1ck]

Originally Posted by WRBRZ

Purposely made sure I tried shifting a lot at high rpm going from 3rd to 4th on the way in to work this morning. The damn thing would grind EVERY time. I am beyond frustrated. I've had this car for a month and a half, and this is unacceptable. I don't know why anyone else isn't more upset, but I didn't buy this car to baby the 3-4 shift, especially at 2k miles on the odo.

Your other car is a DSM man, you should know all about transmission issues.

[WRBRZ]

I know... that's the worst part. I was hoping to avoid issues like that with a brand new car!

[Mexorcist]

Old thread I know, but I was curious if anyone tried upgrading to a thicker grade fluid and had this issue clear up at all.

Mine grinds from 3rd to 4th past 5K, little worse at 6K, everything else shifts like butter.

[NYCsubaruBRZ]

Originally Posted by hushypushy

Tried searching...even Googled it. Found nothing.

So, one of the minor "issues" that I've already gotten over is that the transmission basically needs to be shifted perfectly in order to go in smoothly. What I mean is, a lot of cars are pretty forgiving...you push the clutch in, move the lever, release the clutch--no problem.

But with the FR-S, I feel like you really have to make sure the timing of the clutch and shift are perfect. When that's good, there's a beautiful mechanical shift as your reward...but if you do it wrong, you get a crunchy feeling as the car goes into gear.

During normal driving, my transmission is fine. I've gotten adjusted to the timing and I can drive it everywhere without a crunch. BUT! I've recently discovered it won't go into 4th gear correctly if I shift from 3rd at or near redline.

If I rev 3rd out to about 6500 RPM and then shift, I can usually (but not always) get a proper shift. But if I hold on till 7000 or later, it ALWAYS grinds. It's not always the same feeling either...sometimes it almost goes in right, and sometimes it's a nauseating crunch that reminds me of dealing with abused old Honda transmissions.

I know it's easy to blame the driver, but I assure you the problem is not with me. I can start from a roll and get nice clean shifts at redline from 1-2 and 2-3, but then I get the crunch from 3-4.

Any ideas or thoughts? I want to get some feedback to see if anyone else is experiencing this before I just take it in to the dealer.

this seems to be a common problem. i had the trans replaced under warranty 2 times already before the 3rd one worked fine. now its comming back and yes the higher the rpm the worst the grind. dont worry, its not you. its this trans. i just dont feel like bringing my car back for another trans that will fail again 3months later. for now... i will live with the 3-4 grind.

[Trmx2]

Also not trying to revive an old thread but I have been having this issue for the past 5k miles or more. Car has 12k on the odo, I have the Perrin shifter bushing installed and noticed this crunch more after installing that. Could it be the synchros?

Also, will they give me crap for having the perrin bushing installed? I have the oem bushing might switch back to that.

[diss7]

I had this issue. I put it down to too much box slam at the track.

Lighter flywheelmade it pretty much go away, but was still there a little.

Then with whiteline shifter bushing it's completely gone.

Much happy

[BlueThunder]

Originally Posted by 5AD86D

Ok I spoke with the tech about this again today and he stated that this particular customer's vehicle would grind while shifting between 4th and 5th gear at RPM's above 6k from what he remebered.(job was 3 months ago now) He said it did not matter whether it was downshifting or upshifting but at speeds above 50mph and higher RPM it was evident. He was pretty busy so I didn't get to ask about synchros(just to go in depth) or any other technical stuff but he said the shifter caused the problem.

lots of these trannies have this problem. they screwed up on a lot of brz's

[Dipstik-sportech]

Originally Posted by WRBRZ

Purposely made sure I tried shifting a lot at high rpm going from 3rd to 4th on the way in to work this morning. The damn thing would grind EVERY time. I am beyond frustrated. I've had this car for a month and a half, and this is unacceptable. I don't know why anyone else isn't more upset, but I didn't buy this car to baby the 3-4 shift, especially at 2k miles on the odo.

You can be upset all you want the problem is there's nothing that they can do to rectify this issue other than installing a new trans that will do the same thing eventually. I've said it numerous times, the synchro design is one of the worst I've ever seen and Aisin needs to revamp it and they need to warranty these pos boxes. I can't understand why they changed it from the s2k/rx8/j160 trannies they say this box is based off of.

The Frozen North

[calmtigers]

I have this as well, I even did it a second time to make sure it wasn't me messing up. I pressed the clutch in all the way then shifted 3 -> 4 but still there was a crunch

[Grip Ronin]

i have no grinds and ive been beating on it since 2012.. maybe your clutch is defective, could have a loose rivet

[rs999]

I'm glad I found this thread but I have been experiencing the 3-4, 2-4 crunch as well.

3-4 is normal driving with shift at 3-4K RPM and 2-4 during aggressive driving shifting 4K+ RPM.

It is a crunch when going into 4 but all the other gears are smooth to shift into. I'll get it looked at during my 7500 mile service.