Has the 2nd gear grind happened to your FL5 yet?

[ScumbagRob]

I went for a drive prior to the dealer visit. Got 1-2 shift grind for the 3rd time within 500 miles.

After a morning spent at the dealer, the tech find transmission fluid level appeared to be normal. I asked the tech who worked on the car to go for a ride to demonstrate how I have issues. And I did tell him there are plenty of people out there shifting much faster than I can without issues.

He find my shifts are too fast for the synchronizer to keep up, which is hard to believe. His recommendation for me is to granny shift since the transmission is still rather new.

I guess I'll have to drive some more and see how this develops.

Granny shifting? Not double clutching, like you should?

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[madbikes]

Double clutching is optional as transmission has synchros

 

[jayevo23]

coming from the FK8 a lot of these little things go away the more you drive the car. under 3k miles I used to get the 2nd gear grind and now I don't

Lucky you. I still get the 2nd gear grind at 22k just not as much. I don’t even pay it any mind anymore.

 

[CaryH]

Yes operator error..meaning I did it.....not the car...if your going from and auto..back to a manual,like myself with this kind of car it will happen...

 

[saGOD]

I've noticed that the 2nd gear shift at lower speeds is a bit crunchy at times.
Do you guys think this is user error on my part or an issue I should take to the dealership?

 

[TypeRD]

If you can replicate it consistently, then yeah, take it to the dealership. Otherwise you know what will happen ; They will keep your car half a day and return it to you saying they couldn’t find anything wrong…which is a big waste of time.

 

[1971Camaro]

Coming from two 2003 Honda CRVs... (both with 150k+ miles on them), i got used to starting in 2nd gear. Tell me now, before i do anything bad, why i shouldn't start in 2nd gear on this car. Thank you.

p.s. - not all the time, of course (esp not starting uphill... duh)

 

[TheCanadian]

Coming from two 2003 Honda CRVs... (both with 150+ miles on them), i got used to starting in 2nd gear. Tell me now, before i do anything bad, why i shouldn't start in 2nd gear on this car. Thank you.

p.s. - not all the time, of course (esp not starting uphill... duh)

You are causing premature wear on the clutch. It's harder for the car to start moving, since the transmission in gear 2 will resist movement more than gear 1. This is because gear 1 is shorter, to increase mechanical torque.

 

[1971Camaro]

You are causing premature wear on the clutch. It's harder for the car to start moving, since the transmission in gear 2 will resist movement more than gear 1. This is because gear 1 is shorter, to increase mechanical torque.

Makes sense... so then, what if the car is not at a totally dead stop? Is any forward momentum enough to ease the load on the clutch? Is it the amount of time the clutch is engaged that causes the wear, or is it the drag on the clutch mechanism?

The reason i mentioned my prev cars is bc my personal car never needed a new clutch in 150k+ miles. I'm not sure if just by letting it start to roll slightly was enough that it was ok... or if i just got very lucky.

 

[TheCanadian]

If the car is already inching forward I usually slot it into second. That being said, I know the FL5 with rev match going into first. At that point I'd do whatever is natural to ya. As long as it's not a habit to start moving from a dead stop every time in second gear, you'll be golden.

Seeing you got 150k miles out of the last car I think you'll be just fine

 

[CTR]

Knock on wood but I'm at 1300 miles and no grinds for me. It can be notchy when cold but my S2000 was significantly worse than the FL5. I did grind that car occasionally so maybe that forced me to change my shifting method?

I also don't do a lot of hard 1-2 shifts due to my driving style. Second gear in this car has plenty of torque so I rarely feel the need to redline first gear.

 

[Truu]

To compare to my turbo 8th gen si i had when it was the king of grinding 2nd the FL5 transmission feels like they fix the syncros. I am at 2200 miles and been full sending it since day 1 and can say that when i leave off the line spinning i float the gears till 3rd spinning with 0 grind.

 

[TDC50]

This months Car and Driver had a review of the Type R, Golf R, and GR Corolla. No comments about either the Honda or VW grinding but they did comment for the Corolla if they shifted too fast the synchros couldn’t keep up and they would grind gears.

 

[Fresh]

Welp, my FL5 out of the blue had a second gear grind while I was on a conference call. Scared the poop out of me. It was like it was in gear but it wasn’t. I quickly popped it back up and then went to third and said screw second. I wasn’t even shifting hard nor driving hard.

Does a certain transaxle oil fix this?

 

[TypeRD]

@Fresh I would chalk that one up to not paying attention to your shifts. Hahaha! It happens. 99% of the time if I grind a gear, it’s because I was distracted and lazy shifted (shifted too softly). If you notice this happening a lot, then take it to the dealership to check out. Also Amsoil MTF is my recommendation if you still want to change trans fluid. The stuff is awesome and can get rid of notchiness. Personally I’d wait to put some miles on the car before swapping out the fluid. The engine needs break-in as does the trans. Plus I think our brains and motor skills have a break-in period with any new car too.

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