R154 Shifting characteristics

[KpSupra]

I just did a tranny swap and had it rebuilt, but I still have the problem of it not going into gear sometimes. I took it back to the guy and let him drive it, but his grandpa shifting proved no problems (forward slowly, over to the right slowly, and then forward slowly). He said shifting at a slant may not be as easy with this tranny (as he pointed to the shift pattern on the knob) and could be a characteristic of this tranny. Is this true? If so would a short shifter help?

You can also feel a crunch when shifting after it has sat idle overnight. Is this common also?

 

[Davismj711]

Have you adjusted your clutch pedal free play? Bled the system ? I had the same crunch as you call it until I adjusted free play as per spec.

 

[KpSupra]

Was your doing it all the time or just when it haven't been driven for several hours?

What about shifting also? Can you go from second to third with no problem or do you have to make more of a Z pattern?

 

[Poodles]

The tranny has just been rebuilt... it's going to take some time before it breaks in.

 

[Boosted516]

mine has difficulty going from 1st to 2nd, i feel it go from 1st to neutral to 2nd

 

[Poodles]

typical worn syncro in your case...

 

[IJ.]

Sitting overnight the Oil is thick and gluggy so it's not going to shift smoothly till it warms some.

A short shifter will amplify the issues

You might try a lighter weight Oil, in the old days I used to mix my own to get the shift quality I desired from the old steel case 5 speeds I ran in the tt V8 240z as when it was cold with straight gear oil you'd break the shifter off trying to move it.

 

[NashMan]

try redline mt90 works geat ps replaceing shifter bushings is a good idea as well if they ahve not bean replaced

 

[Poodles]

he's on a new rebuilt, he needs to break it in and let the parts heat cycle as well...

I remember replacing the gears in my truck and having to heat cycle them and break em in, they where pretty damn loud and just overall unpleasant while breaking in...

 

[NashMan]

yes i fully agree but mt90 is so nice great for break in as well so i have bean told

 

[KpSupra]

The guy that rebuilt mine used 20w50 motor oil in mine. He said almost every tranny will work with it. He did mention that it would take some breaking in for the crunch to stop, but my main concern is that it hangs up going from 2nd to 3rd fairly often unless I do the up, over and up pattern. I have never had a tranny you had to shift that way. I hope this one gets better. I don't want to miss a shift (or shift like a grandpa) when I take it to the track.

 

[supradjza80]

The guy that rebuilt mine used 20w50 motor oil in mine. He said almost every tranny will work with it. He did mention that it would take some breaking in for the crunch to stop, but my main concern is that it hangs up going from 2nd to 3rd fairly often unless I do the up, over and up pattern. I have never had a tranny you had to shift that way. I hope this one gets better. I don't want to miss a shift (or shift like a grandpa) when I take it to the track.

Well I think you will have to get used to the up over up philosophy. You can still do it in a pretty straight line but you do need to push it over a fair amount more then most transmissions. In all of my previous cars (fwd honda and nissan) all you had to do to get from 2nd to 3rd was push forward and it would just go to third. That doesnt work on the r-154 i have though, and my transmission is still in great shape, goes into every gear with no problems whether up or down shifting. It will just take some time to learn it. Once you get the hang of it though this trans is really really nice to use.