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Syncro or Clutch issue?

J

JCC

Messages
5
Hi all, had my EP3 for 6 months or so now, currently on 124k. Over the past few months I've started to have issues with the gearbox, main issue being that 3rd gear crunches going either up or down into it, but only at high revs - anything above 5/5.5k ish. Done a fair bit of searching on here and at first I did think it was a syncro issue but now I'm starting to lean towards clutch needing replaced. Any advice would be great.

Full symptoms are:

3rd gear crunch at high revs only, totally fine in normal day to day driving
If in 3rd and I then take it into VTEC and through the gears it takes a bit of force to get into 4th/5th/6th
Clutch pedal feels quite heavy, bite point is not ridiculously low however, it's higher than an FN2 clutch I'd say
There is a bit of rattly/bearing noise at idle which goes away with the clutch depressed
It also seems the crunching only appears once the car is properly up to temp (before anyone says it, I don't thrash the car cold, was trying to demonstrate to a passenger the issue before the car was fully warmed up and no crunching happened)

Thanks in advance if anyone can help
 
Hi, could well need a new clutch, your probably around the mileage for your 2nd clutch of the vehicle life. However how long ago was the transmission fluid changed? Could just need new fluid. It's worth trying that 1st before getting a new clutch. If your synchros are knackered then it would be far cheaper buying a second hand good condition/ low mileage gearbox off the web, rather then paying huge labour charges to have the box stripped etc.
 
Ricki1985 said:
Hi, could well need a new clutch, your probably around the mileage for your 2nd clutch of the vehicle life. However how long ago was the transmission fluid changed? Could just need new fluid. It's worth trying that 1st before getting a new clutch. If your synchros are knackered then it would be far cheaper buying a second hand good condition/ low mileage gearbox off the web, rather then paying huge labour charges to have the box stripped etc.
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I forgot to mention, the previous owner mentioned in the advert that it had recently had a gearbox oil change not long before I bought it, so if true that would mean the oil in box has only covered about 15k at most, so I imagine oil alone won't cure it.
 
If it was the synchro it would crunch every single time.

Sounds like the early-ish signs of the pressure plate failing and the noise will be the release bearing. New clutch kit should solve it mate.
 
Definitely sounds like the clutch, then replace gear oil with Honda MTF.
 
Cheers everyone for the replies. Ordered a genuine clutch kit and 2 bottles of Honda MTF-3. Got the lot for £192 delivered from Cox Motor Parts as they're currently offering 35% off the RRP for the clutch kit, decent price from what I can see shopping around, just a heads up if anyone else is in need of one.
 
JCC said:
Cheers everyone for the replies. Ordered a genuine clutch kit and 2 bottles of Honda MTF-3. Got the lot for £192 delivered from Cox Motor Parts as they're currently offering 35% off the RRP for the clutch kit, decent price from what I can see shopping around, just a heads up if anyone else is in need of one.
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That sounds really cheap!
 
What's the labour time (hours) for clutch replacement? Do you know if the kit comes with the release bearing? I think mine will be on the way out soon so might grab it whilst on offer. Im assuming the gearbox oil doesn't need draining to change th clutch? Only asking because I replaced this 100 miles ago!
 
Ep3steve said:
What's the labour time (hours) for clutch replacement? Do you know if the kit comes with the release bearing? I think mine will be on the way out soon so might grab it whilst on offer. Im assuming the gearbox oil doesn't need draining to change th clutch? Only asking because I replaced this 100 miles ago!
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As Chris said above, probably somewhere in the 3-5 hour region depending how quick your mechanic is, it's a full subframe off job.

It comes with pressure plate, cover and release bearing according to the info in the link: http://www.coxmotorparts.co.uk/genu...5-p-816.html?gclid=CIzJtsfB4NMCFeKV7QoddpMIbg

Wouldn't imagine the box would need drained again no, but I'm not a mechanic.
 
JCC said:
As Chris said above, probably somewhere in the 3-5 hour region depending how quick your mechanic is, it's a full subframe off job.

It comes with pressure plate, cover and release bearing according to the info in the link: http://www.coxmotorparts.co.uk/genu...5-p-816.html?gclid=CIzJtsfB4NMCFeKV7QoddpMIbg

Wouldn't imagine the box would need drained again no, but I'm not a mechanic.
Click to expand...

Just seen this, cheers too! Think I'll order one whilst on offer!

What's the grease they plug with it.. :confused:
 
I can't imagine it'd be _too_ easy to drop the gearbox without draining it as you'd have to pull the driveshafts (which means the seals would be open). Draining it would be a much less messy endeavour.
 
Cheers guys, ordered it with some fluid too. Think I've got some life left in the clutch but that's a good price, worth grabbing now and putting in garage! Cheers for the heads up!
 
Cutch came today, happy days. Then took a trip to a local clutch repair garage to get a price and some advice on the grinding noise on the down rev, he told me my gearbox is knackered. Whines and grinds in low revs coming down but also pulling away on low revs, he said it's definitely the gearbox and I'm better off getting it reconditioned to avoid further problems, getting the syncros done at the same time as everything else.. Wouldn't know the exact problem until taking it out. Going to get a second opinion next week from another garage to be safe.

As some of you may know, I've had the car probably 6-8 weeks and covered 330 miles, the garage I got it from are right idiots and won't repair any faults so I'm on my own. The warranty which came with it via Warrantywise states: Gearbox- all internal mechanical parts of gearbox, tourque converter and overdrive (excluding SMG and DSG). From experience they are quite clever though, they tend to cover ' a sudden and unexpected mechanical or electrical breakdown' and unless I ram the car in to gear 1 @ 50 mph it's not actually 'broken'.. I mean who would actually wait for their car to physically break before looking to get it fixed! Con artists!

Anyhow, looking at worse case scenarios, the clutch is going in anyway for peace of mind but in terms of the gearbox, anyone have any experience or reccomendations of who to use or best way to go with it... should it end up being needed?
 
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