Slight crunch into second

[drifty]

Hi all,

I've only had my DC5 a month and it's used as my every day car. I've recently noticed that first into second there is sometimes a slight notch or crunch, is this normal? I've had a hunt around and seen a few different answers from adjusting the clutch to gear box oil.

Also, another minor thing is that when the car is first started it seems to rev high (around 2.5-3000) which makes it a bit awkward to crawl along in traffic, again is this normal?? It calms down once it's warm.

Help much appreciated!

Cheers
D


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[spooke]

Hi all,

I've only had my DC5 a month and it's used as my every day car. I've recently noticed that first into second there is sometimes a slight notch or crunch, is this normal? I've had a hunt around and seen a few different answers from adjusting the clutch to gear box oil.

Also, another minor thing is that when the car is first started it seems to rev high (around 2.5-3000) which makes it a bit awkward to crawl along in traffic, again is this normal?? It calms down once it's warm.

Help much appreciated!

Cheers
D


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Pretty typical for 2nd gear to crunch, mine's always done it too. It was actually worse before I fitted the K-Tuned shifter spring & pivot ball (now billet arm) and I had it pop out on me a couple times. Probably worn synchro potentially the gear.

Cold idle shouldn't be any higher than 1,800-2,000 RPM, perhaps your car has a vacuum leak, dodgy TPS, IACV or maybe even low temp thermostat/switch??

Did you buy it from a dealer/importer at all?

 

[drifty]

Yeh I got it imported from Torque GT in Feb. Crunch doesn't bother me just wanted to know if it was a common issue, I'll give them a call to see what they suggest. If I'm driving hard, third gear seems to want to 'pop' out quite quick, again it's never come out on its own but I'm completely new to these.

Thanks for you help spooke


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[MilanoChris]

Is it all the time or at high rpm? If the former then it could be a worn syncro or needs the gear oil changing, if the latter then most likely the clutch is on its last legs.

Engine revving that high is unusual, mine gets to about 2k from memory.

 

[nails]

My Accord Type R used to catch a bit sometimes into 2nd, I think it is a one of those things with Honda gearboxes once they start getting old. Changing the gearbox oil helped with the Accord but didn't eradicate it.

The high idle, one of my Prelude's used to do this and it turned out that the dials were not reading correctly, I swapped a new (used) set of dials in and it was fine after that, but that was on a Prelude so probably totally irrelevant.

I am a little concerned as I plan on buying my DC5 from Torque GT, and I wouldn't expect to spend £9k+ on a car with these faults from a dealer. Have they offered to rectify the issues?

 

[wj51fut]

Does the car 'hunt' at all? Revving that high is strange. Did it do it when you picked the car up? As mentioned before, high idle is 2k Max then after a few minutes will start to drop down to about 800-900rpm.

As for the gearbox/shift change its more than likely a worn synchro cone. But I would try the ESMM's first as the engine does like to move a fair bit when the old mounts are worn. If the clutch pedal is high then I would suggest getting that changed too.

 

[drifty]

So the second gear 'notch' seems to get less when the car's warmed up a bit, I'm pretty sure engine oil & gear box oil were all changed upon import but will have to double check.

When going from third - fourth driving hard, say from 7k rpm it seems to come out of gear quite easily (it doesn't pop out on it's own, but doesn't take much for me to shift to fourth!) I read somewhere that that's normal... I'll keep an eye on it, probably just me being a noob :xaiweb6:

Regarding engine revs, I got that wrong, it only starts at just below 2k then dies down, so that seems to be ok.

Thanks for the help all!

 

[spooke]

So the second gear 'notch' seems to get less when the car's warmed up a bit, I'm pretty sure engine oil & gear box oil were all changed upon import but will have to double check.

When going from third - fourth driving hard, say from 7k rpm it seems to come out of gear quite easily (it doesn't pop out on it's own, but doesn't take much for me to shift to fourth!) I read somewhere that that's normal... I'll keep an eye on it, probably just me being a noob :xaiweb6:

Regarding engine revs, I got that wrong, it only starts at just below 2k then dies down, so that seems to be ok.

Thanks for the help all!

It's pretty common, worth asking if TorqueGT changed the gearbox oil though, if they haven't definitely change it. 3rd to 4th is a pretty easy shift mine is pretty similar where sometimes it's very easy to change gear.

Regarding the revs that's all fine then!

 

[wj51fut]

I very much doubt they would have changed the gearbox oil unless requested. Get 2 litres of MTF 3 from Honda and a garden hose and knick a funnel from the kitchen. Should take you about an hour to change it. 👍🏻😂

 

[wj51fut]

I am a little concerned as I plan on buying my DC5 from Torque GT, and I wouldn't expect to spend £9k+ on a car with these faults from a dealer. Have they offered to rectify the issues?

Don't let this put you off. The high revving is normal (if it's below 2k!) and the notch between gears is common on K20 gearboxes. Always do a good service on these cars ASAP. You don't know the true history of the car from Japan.

 

[kazmo]

I am a little concerned as I plan on buying my DC5 from Torque GT, and I wouldn't expect to spend £9k+ on a car with these faults from a dealer. Have they offered to rectify the issues?

regardless what you pay for it what are you expecting from a 15+ year old car??

 

[spooke]

I very much doubt they would have changed the gearbox oil unless requested. Get 2 litres of MTF 3 from Honda and a garden hose and knick a funnel from the kitchen. Should take you about an hour to change it.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-FMYO2UhM8[/media]

Don't let this put you off. The high revving is normal (if it's below 2k!) and the notch between gears is common on K20 gearboxes. Always do a good service on these cars ASAP. You don't know the true history of the car from Japan.

Yeah you never know what you're going to get when you're buying a car by 3 crappy webcam photos and the judgement of someone else. However TorqueGT provide a good customer service and 3 months warranty covers engine and gearbox from mechanical failure.

 

[drifty]

Cheers guys. Will definitely sort the gearbox oil asap.

Nails - I can't recommend Torque GT enough, great to deal with and the car itself is excellent and as others have said good customer service with a 3 month warranty.

These aren't really 'faults' but minor niggles you get with having a 15+ year old car. Having never owned one myself I'm just getting an idea on what's common and really learning on the go


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[Jvzr]

Mine does the "wanting to pop out" from 3rd to 4th since I got it.

Always wondered was it just mine or was I overly handed without noticing.

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[hondamad2204]

Just to point out...it shouldn't crunch, nor should it want to pop out. Thats not normal I'm afraid.

I had this issue three odd years ago, and at 100k ish miles, a combination of a warn clutch and worn synchros between first and second, and the hub had started to make the drive horrible. No amount of oil change was going to fix it.

Now it could well be just gearbox oil, or a worn clutch. I budgeted for worst case, and in the end as it was all apart i took a big gulp and got TGM to fully rebuild and stick in a new clutch.... The single best purchase i have ever treated the teg too. ZERO crunches from cold, NO popping out of gear, just slick, precision gear changes all the way through at any revs. Its bliss! I have done about 30k more and although at the start it was "new car stiff" it has got very very slick now, and its awesome.

Get it checked out by a specialist after you have changed the oil, and if you are still not happy.....Get saving, you will not regret it one bit. At least try a clutch change if funds allow.

 

[drifty]

Just to point out...it shouldn't crunch, nor should it want to pop out. Thats not normal I'm afraid.

I had this issue three odd years ago, and at 100k ish miles, a combination of a warn clutch and worn synchros between first and second, and the hub had started to make the drive horrible. No amount of oil change was going to fix it.

Now it could well be just gearbox oil, or a worn clutch. I budgeted for worst case, and in the end as it was all apart i took a big gulp and got TGM to fully rebuild and stick in a new clutch.... The single best purchase i have ever treated the teg too. ZERO crunches from cold, NO popping out of gear, just slick, precision gear changes all the way through at any revs. Its bliss! I have done about 30k more and although at the start it was "new car stiff" it has got very very slick now, and its awesome.

Get it checked out by a specialist after you have changed the oil, and if you are still not happy.....Get saving, you will not regret it one bit. At least try a clutch change if funds allow.

Thanks mate, will do the basics first, but it sounds as if you maybe right I'll get saving!


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[nails]

regardless what you pay for it what are you expecting from a 15+ year old car??

At the time I posted that I thought drifty also had high idle issues, if that was the case, the supplying dealer should have rectified it before selling. However, it turns out drifty's idle is fine. As for the 2nd gear thing, I don't expect them to rebuild the gearbox before selling, unless the issue is severe.

Cheers guys. Will definitely sort the gearbox oil asap.

Nails - I can't recommend Torque GT enough, great to deal with and the car itself is excellent and as others have said good customer service with a 3 month warranty.

These aren't really 'faults' but minor niggles you get with having a 15+ year old car. Having never owned one myself I'm just getting an idea on what's common and really learning on the go


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Thanks drifty, it's good to know what niggles you are coming across anyway, as I will be in the same boat as you in a few months time :xgrin:

 

[MilanoChris]

Just to point out...it shouldn't crunch, nor should it want to pop out. Thats not normal I'm afraid.

I had this issue three odd years ago, and at 100k ish miles, a combination of a warn clutch and worn synchros between first and second, and the hub had started to make the drive horrible. No amount of oil change was going to fix it.

Now it could well be just gearbox oil, or a worn clutch. I budgeted for worst case, and in the end as it was all apart i took a big gulp and got TGM to fully rebuild and stick in a new clutch.... The single best purchase i have ever treated the teg too. ZERO crunches from cold, NO popping out of gear, just slick, precision gear changes all the way through at any revs. Its bliss! I have done about 30k more and although at the start it was "new car stiff" it has got very very slick now, and its awesome.

Get it checked out by a specialist after you have changed the oil, and if you are still not happy.....Get saving, you will not regret it one bit. At least try a clutch change if funds allow.

I was going to post this, it is not normal. At least the clutch will need replacing, maybe synchro's too.

 

[Danith]

My Ep3 crunches when cold in 2nd - mega common issue on the EP. Fixed by replacing the synchro. Mine's been ok though since an oil change, will still catch a bit when cold but fine when warm. Same for the popping out of gear.

In fact my Civic, 330ci and Megane were identical in these respects - massively improved by a gbox oil change. Not going into gear at high revs though was a definite clutch change on the Ep

 

[subtronics]

Mine does the same, spoke to Area motorsport, and they quoted £350ish to change the synchro for 2nd and they can do it in a few hours while you wait. They will will stick in a new clutch without any labour costs while they are at it too.

I was going to get mine done, but it got loads better when I fitted the K-tuned shifter box.