Dang it! - Finally botched an upshift

[nytehawk]

Well guys, after 9 years of driving a Honda Civic which had a longer shift throw but shorter clutch throw than the S2k I knew this would happen eventually. I don't dump my clutch, street race, or anything like that, but I was accelerating firmly and shifting 1 --> 2 at ~7,800 rpm when I either didn't have the clutch completely to the floor yet or (less likely) let the clutch out too quickly. Either way, the synchros let me know it! It did go into 2nd gear, but I heard it grind for a fraction of a second as I instinctively let off the gas when I heard the commotion and realized I had botched the shift. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Well, I certainly don't want to abuse the car but I am going to enjoy it and being human I am going to make a mistake once in a while. (This was the first such mistake in 8 months of ownership.) And I seem to recall the sales brochure for my 2007 S2k touting the "bulletproof carbon synchros."

Am I abusing my beloved ride, and if so how much damage have I likely done? Can the S2k tolerate this kind of mistake if it happens occasionally but rarely? Any suggestions on how to train myself not to make this mistake -- perhaps just slow down a bit and take it easy? :doh:

Thanks in advance...

[My_yella_s2k]

How many miles on the trans?
it may be due for a drain and fill :)
that happened to my 06, and I drained it, and refilled it, and been ok since then....

the older s's had a bulletin about popping out of gear, which i belive was updated to 08's as well...

[nytehawk]

Just a bit shy of 4,200 miles on the car since new -- purchased late Oct 2007. Tranny drain & fill is normally sched for 15k miles, is it? I did drain & refill my differential early at 3k miles after reading posts on this site, but wasn't planning to do the tranny until scheduled.

I've had no problems with it popping out of gear, although I do seem to have occasional difficulties making smooth rev-matched 1 --> 2 upshifts, even at much lower rpms. (Like shifting from 1st to 2nd at 3,500 rpm being gentle on the motor before it's warmed up.)

[My_yella_s2k]

oh... yeah, slightly to early..... im sure Dave (repiv) will chime in and give tons more help and knowledge that I can even begin to fathom :thumbsup:

[JonBoy]

You're fine. Yeah, you ground the gears but with a transmission this tight, it's bound to happen. I've done it dozens of times without issue (nearly 43K miles)...

[repiv]

Worry not! Most transmissions can take the occasional grind. On my AP1 tranny, I ground it a few times, sometimes, really good grinds. I now have an AP2 tranny and I've even ground it once or twice. It's no big deal.
Most of us do it now and then. We get lazy or we get inattentive and our clutch/throttle/shift syncronization is a bit off and one is done a bit faster or slower than the rest and then you grind. One thing that you can practice is the timing. Another good bit of advice is to move your seat UP another notch or two so your clutch foot doesn't have to stretch quite so much when pushing on the clutch. A 3rd thing to try is when doing the 1 - 2 shift, hold the stick against the left rail all the way down.
You've got a pretty new car, no fluids really need changing yet, except to perhaps the rear diff fluid just to get rid of the initial break-in crud and to clean the magnetic drain plug off. When dealing with new rear diff gear installs, I always recommend dumping that first fluid early and you've got a new diff, so the same applies.

[Vorlon]

I learned to drive stick in japan...with my left hand.... naturally when i returned to the US and got my S2k.....shift took a little while to get use to. During that time I would grind it occasionally (never extremely hard to long) but it happened. 40k miles later, not even a hiccup from the tranny ^_^

[nytehawk]

Many thanks to all -- both for the reassurance and advice.

Repiv: thank you for the quick reply!!! I do hold the left rail on 1 --> 2 shift, but will double-check to make certain of it. Also will see if maybe I need to move seat up another notch. (Learned from Corvette LeMans driver Johnny O'Connell that a person actually needs to be much closer than expected to the steering wheel for racing / aggressive driving.)

Also Repiv I want to thank you specifically for the early differential fluid change advice. Because of yourself and this forum, I did have my diff fluid changed to Mobil1 synthetic right at 3,000 miles.

[repiv]

Because of yourself and this forum, I did have my diff fluid changed to Mobil1 synthetic right at 3,000 miles.
Perfect!
Along a similar topic (clutch, etc.), you may have also noticed that the clutch fluid gets dark very quickly. Again, don't get worried. It's just the nature of the thing. For some reason, the fluid in the S2000 clutch system tends to pick up the color that leaches out of the rubber seals in the plunger. It can be disconcerting but I've actually done a electronic water test on dark fluid and it's appears to be fine. Just change it as prescribed.

[nytehawk]

Perfect!
Along a similar topic (clutch, etc.), you may have also noticed that the clutch fluid gets dark very quickly. Again, don't get worried. It's just the nature of the thing. For some reason, the fluid in the S2000 clutch system tends to pick up the color that leaches out of the rubber seals in the plunger. It can be disconcerting but I've actually done a electronic water test on dark fluid and it's appears to be fine. Just change it as prescribed.

Ha! I'm actually very glad you mentioned that. Just last night I was doing one of my regular tire pressure and fluid checks, and I wondered to myself, "Why does the clutch fluid seem to have darkened so much more than the brake fluid?" Now I know! Thanks again!