5th gear problem
 

My MS3 has started having issues with 5th gear recently and I wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this of has heard of a similar issue.

This just started last week.
While driving on the freeway at normal speeds, I would put the transmission into 5th gear, just above 3K RPM, and it would pop out as soon as I applied the throttle. I then tried to ease it into gear and it would then hold 5th with no issues. In last few days, when trying to go from 4th to 5th, I would hear a loud grinding noise and the transmission wouldn’t let me go into 5th. All other hears have no issues.

CAR:
-08 MS3 (1st owner)
-Only engine "performance" mod currently is a CAI + TIP
-120K miles (daily commute is 155 miles/day)
-CS RMM insert & Solid shifter bushings installed
-2nd & 3rd gear syncros replaced under warranty at 29K miles (new OEM clutch and flywheel installed at same time)

What's my worst case scenario here?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Worst case scenario? The car is going to explode the instant you put it in 5th, causing the section of the highway to be vaporized in a 3 mile radius.

Most likely problem? With 100k in, I wouldn't put it past me it's time for a new clutch + flywheel. Since you're not modded up the wazoo, OEM equipment should be good enough. Of course, I imagine others would have much better advice than mine.


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You @alex6speed; don't think it could just be a shift cable issue? I would probably check the shifter adjustment and see if that fixed it. Quick, easy to do. But I would also look around the cable for damage or something hitting it.

Could be a bent shift fork.

More than likely the plastic pads on the shift fork for fith are gone or worn out.
The parts to fix it are not expensive. But the labor will rape you unless you do it yourself.
Tranny has to come out and taken apart. No way around it.
I'd say count on about 20 hours total.
If DIYng it, replace clutch and release bearing while you are at it.

@06Speed6;

Was worried tranny would have to be taken out. I've never worked on a transmission and really have no time to work on a complex issue. Will prolly look at getting new clutch & flywheel if tranny comes out of car. Gonna have to dip into my deployment savings. :34:

+1

Before you pull the trans and replace the clutch make sure its the clutch that is slipping.

It would rape you 2x as hard if you replaced the clutch and found out it was this ^^^

The worn shift forks is what it sounds like.
Do some searching on the 2nd gear shift fork pop out issues. It usually happens in 2nd gear fork but I dont see why it couldnt happen in this shift fork just less common.

I'm having this same exact problem. Oddly for me, I just finished building my motor maybe a month ago.. And it's only been since the engine/trans were put back in. Never did it before. I've tried adjusting all the cables and everything to no avail. I have a TWM shifter too and I played with that for a bit (will say I got the rest of the gears to feel better), but nothing. The weird part is.. What you said.. Sometimes it'll go in like butter.. rest of the time it grinds. just trying to get a definitive answer before I rip the trans apart.

On my trans, the 2nd gear pads were completely gone, but all of the pads had cracks and were on their way out. I think people (me) just shift into second with a lot more force since the ratio difference between 1st and 2nd is greater than any other gear so the syncro takes a split second longer to synchronize.

If the cable adjustment and clutch pedal engagement height have been ruled out, the only thing left is the shift fork pads. I replaced mine myself and I think I put a write up about it in my build thread. It isn't too hard, if you built the motor yourself, you can probably do it.

Took it to a transmission shop in Cypress, CA, and after a test drive they said that most likely it's the syncros, but wouldn't be able to say 100% until they take the tranny apart. Labor cost estimate alone was over $2k :34:

It's either the forks or synchros, not sure why people are saying it could be your clutch. Hypothetically, if it were your clutch, it wouldn't just hate your 5th gear. It's isolated to parts with 5th gear.

Not sure if you can get the upgraded forks still but, I define wouldn't pay that much in labor and not replace more parts that could fail in a few more years or at the very least, upgrade some parts.

Can you do any of the work yourself? Drop the trans and take it to be rebuilt? Save Ya a little in labor doing that way.


Edit: also, there are some companies that will ship you a new Trans to your specifications, upgraded lsd, etc and then you ship your back and get a core charge refunded. Just a basic Trans rebuild would be about 500$ I'd imagine. I'll go look it up for Ya.

Either drop your trans yourself and take it to a rebuilder and buy the speedperformance forks or put the forks in yourself.

Or shift to neutral before you go to 5th (that helped me when my 2nd gear was going)

Or sell to some unlucky shmuck.

The trans guy is right there isnt a way to tell if its the forks or syncros until you take it apart. With all the trouble just about every transmission has had on these cars I would bet big money its the forks.

Took it to a different tranny shop a lot closer to me and they said 12 hrs of labor (which is what I was expecting) and $1k for labor + whatever parts cost.

Looking at getting an OEM clutch kit (since I plan on staying stock turbo + bolt-ons) and a Fidanza flywheel to replace the old parts.

I currently shift into neutral when I go from 4th to 6th.
I wouldn't feel right selling the car with this problem. Would rather just fix it and enjoy not having a car payment for a while longer.

Why would you shift to neutral going from 4th to 6th? Going up in gears you can you can go from 2nd to 6th in one shot if you want. No need to release the clutch in between.

Starting to get a slight grind occasionally going into 6th. Just doing it as a precaution.