1-2 Grind

[ScorpioGTX1]

So I've noticed that when I try to do a 1-2 shift rather quickly around 3k rpm, sometimes the gears will grind and the transmission will refuse to go into gear. At first I thought I was accidentally lifting the clutch too early, but it happened again today and I was absolutely certain that my clutch was 100% in. I have to shift to neutral and declutch before it will work again. I ALWAYS rev match downshift and the car only has 12k km on it, so I doubt the synchros are worn, I'm guessing that I'm just asking too much of them too quickly. I've had it happen a couple times on the 4-5 shift, but never on any other gear.

This really doesn't happen often, and if I really focus on proper engagement it never happens. Just curious if anyone else has had this happen when slamming it into second a little too carelessly. I hope nothing's fracked in my trans.

 

[utmorpheus]

Try a trans fluid exchange with Ford Motorcraft full synthetic. Its part number is XT-M5-QS and was designed for the Focus doing this exact problem. It's expensive, but three quarts should do it. It's called 'magic juice' by the Miata and Mazdaspeed community due to the fact that it relieves most synchro problems after about 500mi, even on 200k+ transmissions.

 

[ScorpioGTX1]

Thanks, if it becomes a bigger problem I'll give that a shot. Right now it happens so infrequently that I don't think it's worth any intervention, it's really only happened a handful of times. Always embarrassing though, haha.

 

[ScorpioGTX1]

Okay, so I did some testing this morning and I'm certain now that it's only been a problem with my technique the few times it's happened. I could easily pull off 1-2 shifts in a quarter second without any meshing difficulties whatsoever. I think when it grinds, I probably missed the gate by not keeping the lever far enough to the left. I played around with it a bit and found that it can get caught between the 2nd and 4th gear gates if you're not careful, so I'm pretty sure that's what happened.

 

[utmorpheus]

Okay, so I did some testing this morning and I'm certain now that it's only been a problem with my technique the few times it's happened. I could easily pull off 1-2 shifts in a quarter second without any meshing difficulties whatsoever. I think when it grinds, I probably missed the gate by not keeping the lever far enough to the left. I played around with it a bit and found that it can get caught between the 2nd and 4th gear gates if you're not careful, so I'm pretty sure that's what happened.

Come to think of it, I was having the same problem in AutoX before I replaced my rear engine mount with a far too hard AWR mount. Now the NVR is unbearable, but my shifts are disturbingly accurate(combined with the CS short shifter).