"Sticky" gearbox?

[black mamba1]

About 3 weeks ago I got into it w/ a Z06. I missed a shift b/c I could not tell which gear I was going into under hard shifting, I recovered and walked the guy, but...

Last week while playing around w/ Viper Tony the same "sticky" feeling came when I was trying to shift really fast. It seems as if its hard to come out of my existing gear, and it is difficult to tell which gear I am going into during really hard and fast shifting. There were at least 3x I did not go into gear when Tony and I were playing b/c I could not tell what gear I was going into...and..

Yesterday I came across a convoy of Evo's w/ numbers on their cars returning from some kinda race. We decided to play, and again, the same phenomenom. This time I actually missed a shift, and missed it badly b/c this "stickiness" things seems to be getting worse.

Whats happening? Are my gear teeth wearing down or something? Anyone know what I am talking about?

 

[plumcrazy]

im lost on that one......have DLM fix that problem as well as your hp...

 

[black mamba1]

At first I thought it was my imagination. But it is now starting to affect how I can drive when driving aggressively. I told Tator about it. Interesting to see what exactly is going on.

BTW, hey, nice recovery on your car!! Stroker motor hunh!! And blown??!!! Yikes!

 

[chimazo]

Sometimes a "sticky" feeling gearbox can be the result of a frisky wife/GF, or looking at **** while you drive. Be careful out there!

 

[grcforce327]

Sometimes a "sticky" feeling gearbox can be the result of a frisky wife/GF/Obama, or looking at **** while you drive. Be careful out there!

 

[Viper X]

Not sure what shifter, clutch, flywheel or gears you have, but I get a similar sticky feeling sometimes when I do a lousy job of timing my shifts, i.e. pulling on the shifter before I get the clutch completely disengaged (no criticism here, I think we have all done this when exicted).

I also have a light weight aluminum flywheel (not sure if you do) in the car that I have the most "quick shifting" issues with. The light flywheel does flex when depressing the clutch if you try and shift really quickly. If you doubt this, have someone depress the clutch next time it's on a lift and you can see the flywheel. You can see the deflection in the flywheel as the clutch pedal is depressed.

Is you clutch fluid fresh? If you have headers and the line from the
clutch fluid reservoir is run close to the headers and not well insulated, you may have overheated your clutch fluid.

Hopefully, your clutch / slave unit is OK. I've gone through a couple of these.

Is your trans fluid fresh?

Hope you get it sorted out.

Dan

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Aggressive shifting can cause a torque on the shaft from the shifter to the forks. Once this rod is bent a very little bit the sticking will worsen until the trans fails because of it. have it looked at before it cost you more in the end.

The flywheel flex thing is news to me. We have installed hundreds of Fidanza flywheels and I have NEVER seen or heard of this issue. Is the flywheel you are talking about a Fidanza or another brand?

 

[black mamba1]

Thanks Viper X and mjorgensen. I am calling Tator tomorrow to see if he can squeeze me in this week. I drive my car quite a bit and I can tell when she's off. And this shifting is deff off.

Again, thanks.

 

[black mamba1]

Kentucky hunh? I am not surprised.

 

[black mamba1]

Not sure what shifter, clutch, flywheel or gears you have, but I get a similar sticky feeling sometimes when I do a lousy job of timing my shifts, i.e. pulling on the shifter before I get the clutch completely disengaged (no criticism here, I think we have all done this when exicted).

I also have a light weight aluminum flywheel (not sure if you do) in the car that I have the most "quick shifting" issues with. The light flywheel does flex when depressing the clutch if you try and shift really quickly. If you doubt this, have someone depress the clutch next time it's on a lift and you can see the flywheel. You can see the deflection in the flywheel as the clutch pedal is depressed.

Is you clutch fluid fresh? If you have headers and the line from the
clutch fluid reservoir is run close to the headers and not well insulated, you may have overheated your clutch fluid.

Hopefully, your clutch / slave unit is OK. I've gone through a couple of these.

Is your trans fluid fresh?

Hope you get it sorted out.

Dan

All my transmission parts are stock. It is probably time to change the tranny fluid. And yes, I have noticed that it happens after I have driven a while, when my Belangers have had time to heat up the fluid.

 

[DII]

All my transmission parts are stock. It is probably time to change the tranny fluid. And yes, I have noticed that it happens after I have driven a while, when my Belangers have had time to heat up the fluid.

If you have the stock shifter then thats a major source of that vague shifting. I know EXACTLY what you mean when you say you don't know what gear its in. The tranny and engine move ALOT when you drive this car aggessively and that makes it easy to mis shift.

Get a B&M short shifter, and also practice shifting quickly when your NOT speeding. It helps get the technique down.

You can short shift at lower speeds and you will get a feel for what your currently doing wrong. Good luck!!

 

[black mamba1]

If you have the stock shifter then thats a major source of that vague shifting. I know EXACTLY what you mean when you say you don't know what gear its in. The tranny and engine move ALOT when you drive this car aggessively and that makes it easy to mis shift.

Get a B&M short shifter, and also practice shifting quickly when your NOT speeding. It helps get the technique down.

You can short shift at lower speeds and you will get a feel for what your currently doing wrong. Good luck!!

Thanks, all my friends have the short shifter. I have been hesitant to get it b/c to me they are harder to find and grab on a road course, but Viper Tony assures me that the shift is precise w/ the short shifter.

Gearbox moves around during aggressive driving?? What the hell was Dodge thinking?

Great info, thanks again!

 

[chimazo]

On a more serious note, change the fluid and throw in a B&M. If you do it yourself, you'll be out $250 and an afternoon of time. It's a lot less than a tranny repair, which you'll find out is your problem if your shifting is still ***** after you've done the mods.

Also, while I know it's somewhat sacreligious to mention the "Corvette" word - on the corvetteforum, it is common and often reiterated that the clutch fluid reservior should have its fluid changed frequently. Simply use a turkey baster to get the old fluid out of there, and pour in fresh fluid. If the fluid is quite dark when you go to change it, you should do this a few times over the course of driving it, until the fluid is clear when you go to change it. It couldn't hurt, it won't cost you anything to try this, and I look at it as preventive maintenance.

 

[ViperTony]

Thanks, all my friends have the short shifter. I have been hesitant to get it b/c to me they are harder to find and grab on a road course, but Viper Tony assures me that the shift is precise w/ the short shifter.

Gearbox moves around during aggressive driving?? What the hell was Dodge thinking?

Great info, thanks again!

I have the SVS short throw shifter assembly. Shifts are precise now but I still use the stock height shifter knob so finding the shifter when Mamba is passing me is not a problem. This may not explain a sticky gearbox but last year I changed my engine mounts to Woodhouse poly mounts and I also changed my transmission mount to the energy suspension mount. HUGE difference regarding transmission/gearbox movement. There is no movement whatsoever. The shifter stays put and I haven't missed any shifts since the swap. Prior to the swap, the shifter would bobble around and I would miss shifts when I needed them the most.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Since Hurst and B&M merged I believe these shifters are not only scarce but closer to $450! I think the only real choice is the MGW but unfortunately they have nothing for the Gen2 cars.

On a more serious note, change the fluid and throw in a B&M. If you do it yourself, you'll be out $250 and an afternoon of time. It's a lot less than a tranny repair, which you'll find out is your problem if your shifting is still ***** after you've done the mods.

Also, while I know it's somewhat sacreligious to mention the "Corvette" word - on the corvetteforum, it is common and often reiterated that the clutch fluid reservior should have its fluid changed frequently. Simply use a turkey baster to get the old fluid out of there, and pour in fresh fluid. If the fluid is quite dark when you go to change it, you should do this a few times over the course of driving it, until the fluid is clear when you go to change it. It couldn't hurt, it won't cost you anything to try this, and I look at it as preventive maintenance.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Another couple of things from here. The tranny will get stickier when hot because if you have a bent internal shaft there is more drag when the aluminum expands. It will shift\ easier when cold and gradually get worse, good indication this is the real issue. (thanks to Rick maxwell for that tidbit!)

The clutch fluid does need to be changed but the correct way to do it is **** out the reservoir as stated but if you don't bleed the system properly after it does not work nearly as well.

I see nobody replied about the question I posed about the aluminum flywheels. Have any of you seen the problem besides this one gentleman? Just need to be sure you are all OK with the purchase from me and if there is any follow up that need s to be done with them.

Thanks again,

 

[fireball]

1) I'd start with the clutch fluid - CHEAP and easy.
2) Then I'd at least look at the motor / trans mounts - still cheap and easy.
3) The do what the other guys say because they're smarter than I am. I'm just cheap and easy....

 

[Solid Red 98]

Sounds familiar, my GTS is a bit balky going into 3rd under a hard press--particularly when hot. I had the motor mounts inspected, the clutch fluid changed, and race mix gear oil put in. Situation unchanged. My Viper tech linked the problem to the aluminum shifter fork in the tranny beginning to deform.

My shifting solution has been to properly double-clutch between shifts. It helps with timing, as the engine rocks back into a predictable position. This also seems to momentarily unload the syncs for lowered shift effort. Since employing this more aggressive technique I haven't missed a shift under pressure. It also sounds real good Works for me....

 

[Viper X]

Mark,

The aluminum flywheel flexing issues I have had (two cars, one GTS, one SRT-10) are not with a Fidanza unit.

Dan

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Glad to hear that Dan I appreciate the reply.