S2kNY

hi, I have an 01 and I bought it used, the car has 22,000 miles on it and should be running good, which it does besides for the shifting. It's not all the time, but usually when the car is just starting up it's difficult to put the shifter into 1st or into reverse. It feels like it won't go in, but then as soon as I put the clutch down and engage the shifter into 2nd,3rd,4th,5th (any gear other than 1st or reverse) just pushing the clutch down, not driving it will go right into 1st or reverse seemingly loosening or adjusting the shifter box. Sometimes when the car is warmed up and running for a while, the tension of putting it into gear is not as bad as when the car is first started. The clutch itself to me seems to be catching alright (not to high) and it catches smoothly. When I brought the car to honda to check out the problem. They said they have a mechanic who works specifically on S2000's and they told me he says that the problem is a severely worn clutch. That didn't sound right to me, that a car with 22,000 miles on it needs a new clutch. The car itself appears brand new, so it seems that it was really taken care of. Any help with any of this is greatly appreciated - thanks

you can lso e-mail with any advice (smjpcny@yahoo.com)

Rino

the way i was showen to see if a clutch was going is to hold down on the brake not to hard and start to release the clutch with it in first. if it starts movin then the clucth is fine. could just be the syncros not warm yet also

brerspidur

i had this same problem a few months after having the clutch tsb performed. i had trouble getting it into 1st or Reverse when the car was warming up, but as soon as i shifted into any other gear and held the clutch in, then i could easly go into 1st or R. the problem seemed to be worse with cold weather, and when the car was first started. when i took it into honda, they claimed that they forgot to lubricate something when they performed the clutch tsb, they took it for a couple days, and when i got it back it was fine. i cant remember the exact part they said they needed to lubricate, but it seemed to fix the problem

Boit

Sounds about normal to me....if I understand the unusual wording of the post. Try this: when you first start the engine, let it idle about 20 seconds and then depress the clutch pedal, shift slowly and gently through ALL the gears except reverse(this is happening while the engine is warming up). Shift into neutral. Now, release the clutch pedal and then depress it again and shift into first gear, then to second and THEN to reverse. Personally, I find the transmission is much more civil if I go through this silly procedure first. From the day my '03 was new, the transmission has been notchy when cold, but if I take a little time to go through this procedure, the transmission gets through the notchiness much quicker. I also have found that using Synchromesh FM helps MUCHO. Works for me. By the way, after about 20 minutes of driving time, my tranny is silky smooth.

jeffbrig

Like Boit I find that my '02 transmission is sometimes balky when cold (especially on the 1-2 shift). When the issue starts to increase in frequency, I change out the transmission fluid (Honda MTF for me) and the problem disappears again. It's been right about a year (and 6k miles) since my last change, and I just picked up 2 quarts to do it again this weekend.

For $10 in materials and a half hour's time, it's worth a shot to see if that makes a difference for you.

Boit

Yeah, when my tranny starts to show an extra notchiness, I also change the oil. I'm finding it needs changing about every 5000/6000 mile range.

wwwracer

in the owners manual at suggests changing the tranny fluid at 30k or 60K intervals if i remember correctly.

i changed mine at 30K. I'm probably going to change it again around 40K for the hell of it along with my diff fluid.