I HATE SYNCHROS!!!! - CEG Archives

My last 2 cars have had the synchros in 2nd start to go out on me. Luckily I got rid of the Honda before they got really bad, so my question is this: How long before they are completely shot? Right now 2nd gear only grinds when I shift fast, as long as I shift as in normal driving, or if I double clutch it, they don't grind. But the minute I try to shift fast or anything the gears don't mesh properly.

I'm just wondering, so that I can know wether to fix it now, or if it can wait.

The blocker rings & cones are shot.If you continue to 'beat' the sycros and grind the gears the next part to be damaged will be the 'dogs' on the actual gears themselves.As a price chech a NEW Focus MTX75 'out the door' from a Ford dealer will cost in excess of $2000, I suggest you take it easy on the trans until its fixed.FWIW I can tell you that if you bought each 'bit' within a MTX75 Vs a whole trans you are close to $4000!!! with care...

What would repair costs look like on that? My car does it in 3rd but only when I shift it quick. I should have brought it in under warranty!!!

Originally posted by Cappuccino911:
What would repair costs look like on that? My car does it in 3rd but only when I shift it quick. I should have brought it in under warranty!!!

If you have the stealership do it, it will cost you minimum $1200. It's 9 hours of labor, min!

-Lance

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, just take it easy, which is what I'm doing now. No more quick shifts to 2nd, I guess I won't be winning any "stoplight acceleration to speed limit"

contests.

how long will the tranny last if I just take it easy and never grind again? I just need the car to get me through the next 2 years of school, then I buy new.

so in other words, cheaper to buy a junkyard tranny and have that thrown in and hope that the same thing doesn't happen?

I just found a MTX in a junkyard near where i live for $1,200!!!!!

w/ labour that would be like $2,000, I deff. can't afford that. I think I'll just drive nice till it gets really bad.

Just get the trans pulled and ship it here...,I can assure you fixing on or two syncros will not cost $1.200..! That yard is way over cost,but the moral is you may buy a trans worse than the one you have,no X Ray eyes around so it would have to be stripped and checked at the ver least,unless you want to 'roll the dice'...

Terry
you see there's 3 issues with me sending my tranny to you.

a) I'm from canada, shipping/brokerage fees would be MUCHO denero

b) I'm from canada, that's $1,200 CAN$ roughly $800 US$, so for every dollar that you charge I pay 1 1/2 times as much.

c) This is my only vehicle, I'm SOL if I have no other vehicle.

Terry, you know I'd love to send my tranny to you to get "fixed"

, but the cost/shipping/vehicle issues prevent me from doing that.

Thanx for offering though.

Originally posted by Winnipeg Tour:
...Right now 2nd gear only grinds when I shift fast...

Originally posted by Cappuccino911:
...My car does it in 3rd but only when I shift it quick...

[pontification]

C'mon, guys, the MTX-75 isn't shift-by-wire (like BMW's SMG); the shift lever is directly connected to a mechanical device that has to obey the laws of physics. Trying to force a quick shift really bashes the synchros, as you've found. Maybe performing the "throttle hang fix" would help by dropping your revs faster?

Don't take this personally, you two... This post just reminded me of other posts where people gripe about the MTX-75 because the shift lever doesn't work like a light switch. Okay, maybe this gearbox doesn't stand up well to abuse, but to me, anyway, abuse is abuse.

[/pontification]

k, I didn't take that personally, but just some info for ya here.

I don't mean ripping fast, I'm talking any faster than normal shifting. I did not abuse my tranny, never have, never will no matter what vehicle I drive, when I shift fast I don't "slam" it into gear. Also I have done the throttle hang fix. Now another thing is I bought my vehicle used, I have no idea how the owner before me treated it, he could have beat it for all I know.

And last but not least, I'm not complaining, syncros go on every transmission, If I came across as complaining, I didn't mean to. Everyone knows, since Terry's infamous speech at spring zing (wasn't there but have heard bits and pieces) that this tranny doesn't take very well to abuse. This is a high maint. car, I'm okay with that, it ain't no honda. But it sure is a heck of a lot more fun than one.

Actually it is shift by wire, well cable atleast as opposed to the bars on the older ones. 98+ I believe is cable, I know my SVT is.

I didn't abuse mine either and I don't give a damn how you shift, you shouldn't be having problems at 30,000 miles!!!!

Terry, I am having some difficuly with my tranny and since you are the guru thought I would ask. Many, many times as I am driving and I come to a spot where I need to put her in reverse she just won't go. At the same time that this is happening if i try to put in first to get away from the spot, it won't go either. After many presses of the clutch and some patience it goes into a gear. My dealer is awaiting an ESP rep to give the go ahead to tear it down, but right now they say that the synchros for 1st, 2nd and reverse are shot. Does this sound right? Or could it be something else.

Thx for any tips you can offer.

Fern

The 2000+ / 'Focus' MTX75 selector forks and shifter tower cure the rev/1st problem ...but...there was a batch of bad SVT clutches that also gave bad gear engagement,a TSB was issued on these I beleave....

Originally posted by SVT power:
Actually it is shift by wire, well cable at least...

D'OH! Ya got me there.

In that respect, we all have drive-by-wire throtles too.

Now, here's the provocative question (brought on by SVTFern's post): Are some of these reported synchro issues actually incomplete clutch disengagement? That, in my mind, is certainly one cause of the "difficulty engaging 1st / reverse" syndrome. If you start the car with the shifter in first or reverse and the car "rocks" a little bit and it's hard to pull the lever out of gear, then for whatever reason your clutch hasn't completely disengaged. I encounter this every so often (even after bleeding my clutch with a vacuum pump), and double-clutching usually does the trick.

I guess the flaw in my logic in trying to apply this to the synchro question is that a partially-engaged clutch would create problems with ANY shift, not just 1-2 or 2-3.

EDIT: And Terry, can you give us a TSB number for that? I can't find it on ALLDATA, at least not for 1998 'Tours.

Hey....
I just got done repairing the same symptoms, but it WAS NOT the syncros.

Shifting fast into 2nd, was IMPOSSIBLE (nearly).. slow was allright, and it would grind sometimes even when I thought that the gear was all the way "in", and let go of the clutch.

The shifter tower was the culprit( the bolt had sheared, and there WAS no shifting, when it finally broke), and Terry sent me another one for CHEAP. I had the mechanic install, and payed labor only... walked out of the door for less than $300, parts and labor...

Ironically... after posting my trouble, and terry recommending to go easy on it, I started babying her, and THAT is when it broke. so.. moral: fix it... NOW.. before you are stuck and have to tow it, and be without.. worth it, trust me..

Ray

I had the "1st/reverse" problem. Dealer gave me three - count 'em - three new trannies, to no avail, before they finally agreed to consider the clutch as a possible cause.

New clutch - problem vanished, and has not re-appeared.

The clincher on this one was the little "yank" the car would give on occasion when starting in 1st or reverse. Obviously the clutch was not engaging (disengaging? I can never remember which is which) fully all the time.

I don't know anything about a TSB on this...perhaps it was issued after mine was fixed (july 2001).

Originally posted by steener:
I had the "1st/reverse" problem. Dealer gave me three - count 'em - three new trannies, to no avail, before they finally agreed to consider the clutch as a possible cause.

New clutch - problem vanished, and has not re-appeared.

The clincher on this one was the little "yank" the car would give on occasion when starting in 1st or reverse. Obviously the clutch was not engaging (disengaging? I can never remember which is which) fully all the time.

Bingo... That's what I'm seeing. Since it's an intermittent problem at this point, I'll just keep an eye on it. For now, when it happens, a loooooong double-clutch is enough to help things sort themselves out.

Just wish I knew exactly what part of the system was causing all this... Your experience suggests a defect with the clutch plate, unless the dealer told you they found, say, a leaky slave cylinder while replacing the clutch.

I don't remember them saying exactly what was wrong with the clutch, but IIRC, the parts list on the work order didn't mention anything other than the usual clutch bits; nothing about master/slave cylinders.

Mine was intermittent too...used to drive me crazy, never knowing when I'd get stuck at a stoplight wrestling with the gear lever while the guy behind me leaned on his horn.