gear pop feeling from 1st to 2nd

Hi all,

Had my clutch replaced with a OEM Honda one less than a week ago, i get this weird gear pop feeling from 1st to 2nd. If i go in the high rpm, when i start pulling the gear knob down it seems to feel like it pops into neutral.

i have the aluminum shifter bushes, though it feels better the gear change feels light. I dont get the popping feeling from any other gears, just from 1st to 2nd. What could it be?

I'm planning to get a skunk2 gearknob and a tegiwa shortshifter soon but want to hold out till i sort this annoyance out. It just not smooth when going from 1st to 2nd.

Please advise

EDIT: Car is a FL CTR EP3 2004 with 60k miles

Mine does this out of 3rd alot of the time, I think its an engine mount thing on mine. More engine movement at higher revs is stretching the linkage meaning it only takes a small amount movement to pull it out of gear.

My car has done WAY more miles than yours though so I dont know how your engine mounts are holding up.

well they found a split front engine mount so that was replaced new for about 80ish. Would energy inserts help?

if i change gears with low rpm say 3k, it doesnt seem to do it much but it can, just feels the high up the rpm the more noticeable it can feel.

would a quickshift and skunk2 weighted gear knob possible mask the annoyance?

to be honest, ive only driven on ep3 and thats mine so i dont know if is just a characteristic of the cars. Have you checked the other engine mounts for wear?

If it is down to worn mounts then no quickshift will stop it happening.

Hello mate, have you got that Gruppe M yet

Give 1st gear less beans. it'll turn out expensive. if the gear is not engaging properly the dog teeth are not fully meshed with the gear outer collar or the dog teeth could have been rounded from past gear change crunch causing the gear outer collar to slip off the dog teeth resulting in popping. if it was down to engine movement then i would expect the popping from 1st, 3rd and 5th. the gear outer collar and gear dog teeth are designed to lock together whilst power is being applied. and should only disengage when power is released (gear change). I see popping out of gear, gear boxes every day and main fault is rounded dog teeth on single gears if as mentioned pops out of 1st, 3rd and 5th or 2nd, 4th, 6th it's normally a fault from the selector rail or linkage.

1st - 2nd gear has a triple sync mech to deal with quick high rev shifts which requires greater precision to get it smooth. Therefore if you get a clunk feeling between 1st & 2nd, it's more likely that the it's an imperfection with your gear change rather than the car.

I have had the same issue when I've been a bit sloppy with my gear changes from 1st - 2nd.

Jermal said:

1st - 2nd gear has a triple sync mech to deal with quick high rev shifts which requires greater precision to get it smooth. Therefore if you get a clunk feeling between 1st & 2nd, it's more likely that the it's an imperfection with your gear change rather than the car.

I have had the same issue when I've been a bit sloppy with my gear changes from 1st - 2nd.

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I would expect the synchros to cause a crunch into gear if slipping or difficult shift (hard to get into gear) but not popping out as they play no role in gear disengagement.

i sometimes have this problem from 3rd to 4th but its just me being sloppy

griffin831 said:

I would expect the synchros to cause a crunch into gear if slipping or difficult shift (hard to get into gear) but not popping out as they play no role in gear disengagement.

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I agree, misread the op and didn't realise it was popping out.

dotty said:

Hello mate, have you got that Gruppe M yet

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is that you dotty at TGM last friday?

i havent got the gruppe M yet, on the look out but not on priority list at the mo.

all gears engage fine, dont get reverse crunch no more unless i'm being 'sloppy'. 1st to 2nd gear all goes in fine but actually the motion from 1st to 2nd isnt smooth going in all the time. I cant seem to explain it better, when in 1st gear the gearknob never pops out on its own, its only when i clutch down then start pulling it down to 2nd i get this kinda clunk feeling from the gearknob which feels like its popped into neutral with a little assistance.

Rest of the gears are fine going in and out, will get TGM to have a look at it but if it cant be solved, then i'll live with it. I think i'm more complaining about the feel when changing from 1st to 2nd. Its still not stopping me from getting a weighted gearknob and a shortshifter.

Jermal said:

I agree, misread the op and didn't realise it was popping out.

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I misread the post too. it's not popping out.

Cracksta, i would think having a new clutch, the position of disengagement has changed to what you are used to and the clutch tolerances are much tighter than before. the amount of torque being applied through 1st gear at high rev's would be far greater than in all other gears, at high rev's the main shaft, pinion shaft, lay shaft and all the gears meshed with the lay are whizzing round powered by the engine obviously but whilst depressing the clutch the forward inertia of the vehicle keeps all these components whizzing as it's directly driven by the road speed. when pulling the shifter out of 1st the outer collar slides from the dog teeth releasing first gear from the gearbox main shaft witch then allow's the inertia driven gearbox to be split into inertia driven mainshaft and free spinning lay shaft, pinion shaft and meshed gears. at high rev shifts when clutch is depressed the lay, pinion shafts and meshed gears are free running but do receive drag from oil and mesh with other gears, at high rev's the drag within the box is multiplied some. add the inertia with the drag in the box when disengaging 1st and that is probably the dog teeth / outer collar popping apart.

sorry if my explanation is a bit hard to understand but I can't think of another way to explain it.

Cracksta said:

is that you dotty at TGM last friday?

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Yep

so does that mean all is fine? i can live with it, it just doesnt feel as smooth to shift as i'm used to i guess. also the shifting itself is light, i prefer a more weighted feel.

Cracksta said:

so does that mean all is fine? i can live with it, it just doesnt feel as smooth to shift as i'm used to i guess. also the shifting itself is light, i prefer a more weighted feel.

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Did you have the gear box oil changed too? I wouldn't worry. As long as It's not jumping out of gear or making some howling noise. Try not to apply pressure to the gear stick until new clutch has properly disengaged amd all momentum has equaled out.

yes, put redstuff gearbox oil in there. no it doesnt jump out of gear on its own and there is no weird noises. just feels like it pops out of gear when i'm shifting and feel a slight obstruction when getting into 2nd. might just be how the car is, i'll get my skunk2 gearknob first then a short shifter.

Cracksta said:

yes, put redstuff gearbox oil in there. no it doesnt jump out of gear on its own and there is no weird noises. just feels like it pops out of gear when i'm shifting and feel a slight obstruction when getting into 2nd. might just be how the car is, i'll get my skunk2 gearknob first then a short shifter.

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I would be more inclined to say the problem has more to do with the oil than anything else. The oil could be more or less viscous than your previous oil causing shift problems.

i'll give it a year or 2 then change back to the original stuff. got the redstuff gearbox oil cos i thought that might help my gear crunch problem before but then decided to go for a clutch change. It does feel lighter to shift but cant tell if its the transmission oil or new clutch. With time it should settle.

Cracksta said:

i'll give it a year or 2 then change back to the original stuff. got the redstuff gearbox oil cos i thought that might help my gear crunch problem before but then decided to go for a clutch change. It does feel lighter to shift but cant tell if its the transmission oil or new clutch. With time it should settle.

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i agree.

Noticed mine is doing this from 4th to 5th when giving it some beans. It never does it when just driving normally, just when I go to change from 4th sometimes it feels eager to get out of 4th and pops out with force when changing.

Gonna get the clutch done next week and get those energy inserts fitted at the same time to be safe - hopefully it will be this??!