I have a 93 3.0 w/ a 5 speed manual trans. When shifting into 2nd gear (none of the other gears) it sometimes grinds. I have noticed that if I slowly shift, feeling my way, into 2nd it does not grind. However, if I have the clutch in and shift quickly from 1st to 2nd it grinds. It does not grind when downshifting from 3rd to 2nd. What could cause this? Could its be a sign that the clutch needs to be replaced? What other symptoms are there that it's time for a new clutch.

 

Sounds like maybe a bad syncro?

 

Not the clutch so much as the synchros going. to remidy this, you'ld have to take it to a transmision shop. to prevent it fgorm grinding too much druing shifts, you can double clutch on that gear. if you dont know what that is, simply push the clutch in, come out of gear, let clutch out(while transmision is in nuteral), push clutch in and proced to 2nd. it's nothing serious, they go after a while. you''ll know when you need a clutch when you lose all power to the wheels. sometimes they slip first, letting go, then grabing the gear again.

 

Before I replaced the transmission (due to a separate problem), the second gear synchros on my truck were pretty bad. I suspect it would have ground if I shifted it fast, but I never tried. I had to double-clutch going down*, and time it just right going up, though, or the lever wouldn't drop into gear easily. Didn't really bother me all that much, I just learned to shift the way it wanted, and all was good.

*Double-clutching a downshift requires revving the engine to the appropriate speed for the gear you're going down to at the speed you're travelling while in neutral with the clutch engaged.

 

Any estimates on what the synchros fix would cost?

 

If it were me, I'd be looking at a rebuilt transmission. My guess is about $500. Plus a new clutch, slave cylinder, etc... seems foolish to reuse old ones...

Oh, and I'm assuming you swap it yourself... don't know what the labor would cost...

 

I'll throw in my 2 cents on the synchronizer issue. My tranny in the 94 Ranger has been grinding or refusing to go into gear for 75,000-100,000 miles. Since I'm the only driver, I have learned my truck's particular tricks. Eventually, I'll get a rebuilt, but as long as I'm not throwing money into this truck (which is the best one I've owned and probably will own), I can throw money into other toys, hence the list below.

What you can expect:

It'll get progressively more common for the shift from 1st to 2nd to grind/engage with difficulty.

Eventually, you will have trouble downshifting if you don't have your RPMs just right or if the moon is just a bit out of alignment with the "OK, I'll let you shift" planet (I dunno, but sometimes it just doesn't seem all that enthused about working properly.)

Then you can be prepared to have trouble getting it to shift into 1st gear. At times, if you can't double clutch it enough to cooperate, you might have to kill the engine when you are sitting at a light, put it in 1st, and just keep the clutch in until the light changes.

The description of symptoms sounds pretty bad, but, like I said, when you have figured out what the best way of getting by is, then it's not so bad. I think I read somewhere that it's actually a rule that a vehicle over 10 years old should have some tricks.

 

Thanks for all the info. For now, it shifting up and down into every gear except 2nd without any trouble. As long as I take my time and feel it into 2nd, it's fine also. I guess I'll just keep going as it is until either it get much worse or I come across a great deal on a rebuilt trans.