Hard to shift at high rpms? Am I the only one?

D15, D16, D17 and Mini-Me swaps
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Hard to shift at high rpms? Am I the only one?

By couch_c
- Fri Feb 24, 2012 6:30 am #296074 I have a stock d16z6 and was wondering if it's normal for my gears to be harder to shift to at higher rpms. I've researched but it's more than 1 gear, it's hard to shift to 2nd and 3rd, at WOT of course before redline and I'm not power shifting, never got to 4th. I've always thought it was supposed to be harder to shift gears at higher rpms which I thought would explain why people slam their gears while racing but I have to force it in so hard it sound almost like a pop. This is my first manual and I'm still learning as I go.

By RL-521
- Fri Feb 24, 2012 7:29 am #296080 ive wondered the same thing since i started driving manual :? can someone shed some light please ?
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By TrailerTrash
- Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:18 am #296084 something doesnt sound right... ive never had this problem ever. you shouldnt have to force or "slam" gears...

whats power shifting?
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By TrailerTrash
- Fri Feb 24, 2012 2:09 pm #296090 :facepalm:
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By teal_dx
- Fri Feb 24, 2012 2:40 pm #296094 First I'd check your tranny fluid and then the level in the clutch master cylinder. Either of those being low can make shifting more difficult.

How is your shift linkage? Any bad bushings? Did someone substitute a nut & bolt for the bitch pin on the linkage?
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By couch_c
- Sat Feb 25, 2012 2:16 am #296128 Everything seems to look fine, it's only hard to shift while in vtec or if I speed shift, for example. if I drive on 1st up to 5500 rpms(in vtec zone) and I clutch in and shift to 2nd slowly as in holding the stick shift down for a bit it'll manage to go in on it's own, but if I try speed shifting it doesn't go in smooth unless I force it in a little harder.

The biggest question I wanna know is, is it supposed to shift as easy as it does at low rpms, as in a smooth shift, mine is always smooth unless I'm engaging vtec.
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By couch_c
- Sat Feb 25, 2012 7:01 am #296145 I see, I've been thinking about a full tranny flush, that might fix the problem, how much does a full flush usually go for?
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By TrailerTrash
- Sat Feb 25, 2012 3:36 pm #296153 did you take a look at your linkage?
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By EG Love
- Sun Feb 26, 2012 7:57 am #296239 I'm not sure what they go for..

If you look under the car, the shift linkage goes from the transmission to the shifter. I think there's the 'bitch pin' that holds the linkage on on the shifter end? I had to pull back a rubber boot to access it. Maybe the pin was replaced with a nut and bolt combo which could be affecting ease of shifting
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By Blk95coupe
- Sun Feb 26, 2012 4:26 pm #296259 Sounds like your synchros are going bad or are just worn out.

My advice stop driving your car like a race car.

It will thank you
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By Apexracing
- Mon Feb 27, 2012 4:18 am #296311
Blk95coupe wrote:Sounds like your synchros are going bad or are just worn out.

My advice stop driving your car like a race car.

It will thank you


wheres the like button when you need one.
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By couch_c
- Wed Feb 29, 2012 3:45 am #296568
Blk95coupe wrote:Sounds like your synchros are going bad or are just worn out.

My advice stop driving your car like a race car.

It will thank you


I hope my synchros aren't bad, I was just testing out the car, finding what's wrong with it and fixing the little things, I don't get much power out of my little gas saver so I don't really have much of a heavy foot, I'm more focused on gas mileage than horsepower :)
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By d-mon
- Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:13 pm #296626 worn motor mounts can also make it hard to shift, and destroy transmissions
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