majik

so... I had my tranny replaced under warranty at about 55,000 miles. I now have 110,000 miles (55,000 miles later) and tonight it had a hard time shifting into 2nd gear. Coming to a stop, everything was fine, but on take off (not pushing it too hard) I was at about 4,000 RPM and it just sat there, not shifting. I let off the gas and maintained it at about 2,000 and it shifted (not roughly really). I was able to duplicate the problem when shifting INTO 2nd gear at ~4,000 RPM's but if I kept it low, it was fine.

So.... I'm guessin this thing is gonna crap out on me pretty soon. Looks like I'll be swappin' to a 5 speed sooner than expected. I'm gonna keep this tranny as long as possible, to give me time to build my manual tranny and get the cash for it. 02.gif

So, any suggestions? I know absolutely nothing about manual trannies.
What parts should I upgrade before installing the tranny?
Clutch? Flywheel? short shifter? Which are supposed to be the best, and about how much will they cost?


I know, I know... there have been several topics about this and suggestions made, and I plan to search thoroughly and combine all suggestions and information, but it's late and not much action on the forums this weekend, so this will give some people something to post about. fing02.gif

------------------------------------
EDIT: Update
Alright... I came home and posted all this stuff above after having problems with my tranny.

The transmission would NOT shift from 1st into 2nd at high RPMs (4,000) but did fine at 2,500-ish.

TODAY... I took it on the road to test it. I can shift anywhere from 2,500 RPM's to 5,000 RPM's and it shifts perfectly fine and very smoothly... no problems AT ALL. Doesn't feel strange, doesn't feel laggy, doesn't have any problems.

Last night when the problem first happened, I was getting onto the onramp of the interstate, and a vehicle stopped and yielded for me to go ahead, so I took off and that's the first time I felt the tranny not shift (it just sat at 4,000 RPM). I thought it might have been my tires slipping on the wet roads at first... but it happened later on in the drive, and I was able to replicate the problem.

Today I can't make it happen. There are no problems at all. Did the transmission just find a soft spot or a worn out area, and it wouldn't shift? Was it possibly just a bad night with the engine? Do you think there is something seriously wrong and I just got lucky today and everything's working fine? I'm thoroughly confused now and don't know what's going on.

SwiftTiburon

Did you check how the fluid looks? I think thats your first bet in knowing if the tranny is going. If its dark brown/black and smells burnt then theres your answer.

When my tranny was messing up, third to fourth gear would skip or switch at high rpms. Sometimes it would do it and sometimes it wouldnt. I went to a tranny shop and they did a diagnostic test and it gave them a reading, even when i didnt have the check light on. So you could go and get a diagostic test done as well.

Check the fluid, get the test done. My tranny would first act funny and then itd go away..but ultimately it was telling me the tranny was going bad. I took it to the dealer and they said I needed a new tranny.

majik

ATF was changed 20,000 miles ago (after 35,000 miles).

interesting you should ask though... I went to check the fluid, and the freakin' DIP STICK is broken. I don't know if it broke off in the tube, or an idiot at the dealership broke it off or what.

Any ideas on what to do with that? I don't know if the stick is inside the tube or not. I put my pinky in there and couldn't feel it... I put some needle nose in there and couldn't seem to find any moveable metal sticks inside. How the hell do you break off the dip stick? There's only about 3cm at the top where it broke off, so there's a pretty long stick floating around somewhere.

---
When my first tranny died, it wouldn't shift from 3rd to 4th and actually dropped down into 1st when it failed to shift. I had it towed to the dealer, and once the dealer had it, they couldn't duplicate the problem. They changed ATF and gave it back to me. 2 days later, same thing happened. Dealer got the car again, and no tranny problems. I picked it up, drove it off the lot, and it immediately refused to shift into 4th. I got the Service Dept. Manager, told him to get in the car, and showed him the problem. He said he had personally driven it and it shifted fine. They opened up the tranny and "there were metal shavings EVERYWHERE" and they immediately ordered a new tranny.

REDZMAN

Ouch. I don't know much about the Auto tranny's man.

Let me know what you need help with for the tranny swap, you have a WHOLE new world of fun coming to you.