Manual Supra: Anyone having difficulties shifting into 3rd gear?

[Hellobye]

I recently bought a manual Supra and I have no troubles shifting until I shift from 2nd to 3rd gear. I feel like there is some resistance when shifting into 3rd so I had to be extra forceful. I have no trouble with the other gears but 3rd gear isn’t as smooth as the rest. There were times when I thought I shifted to 3rd but actually missed and the car ended up in neutral.

Idk if this is an issue with all manuals but I had an STI that had a similar problem that was somewhat fixed when they changed the transmission fluid.

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[BMWAF]

I think its just a coincidence and nothing more, but the third gear synchro in all FN2 Type Rs was borked. It used to just pop out sometimes and generally feel a bit shit. After months of whining, Honda eventually recalled the gearbox and replaced the offending synchro and then it was happy days.

I haven't heard of anyone complain specifically about the Supra's third gear before though.

 

[Hellobye]

I always have bad luck with these things. I’m taking it to the dealer today to get the gps install, maybe they can take a look at it

 

[BMWAF]

I always have bad luck with these things. I’m taking it to the dealer today to get the gps install, maybe they can take a look at it

It'll be okay. Get the stealer to take a look.

And try not to stress too much.. new cars always have stupid shit go wrong. Once you go through the headache of getting it sorted, it'll be fine. My Type R was the same. Third gear borked; Suspension bushes creaking;. Dealers acting like dicks and refusing to acknowledge, let alone fix the problems.. but after some whining, calls to Honda Corporate and more whining, it eventually all got sorted and the car was perfect. Still is 15 years and 200,000km later!

Sure, it sucks while you're waiting for your brand new car to behave like its brand new.. I get it.. but give it some time (and headaches) and it will all come good.

 

[RyanA90]

First time ive heard of this problem. I don't have that problem but I got 99 others lol.

 

[robotvoice]

My 3rd gear feels fine but reverse on the other hand was a total pain the first few hundred miles but has gotten MUCH better the more I drive it.

 

[Slurm818]

Mine has been fine. I was definitely surprised at the amount of force required to get into R but I don’t mind it.

 

[lucky phil]

Mine has been fine. I was definitely surprised at the amount of force required to get into R but I don’t mind it.

Try this. Instead of disengaging the clutch and shifting straight into reverse try select another high gear like 4th then go from there into reverse and see if it selects reverse easier.
Is the reverse selection harder when the gearbox is cold?
Phil

 

[lucky phil]

I recently bought a manual Supra and I have no troubles shifting until I shift from 2nd to 3rd gear. I feel like there is some resistance when shifting into 3rd so I had to be extra forceful. I have no trouble with the other gears but 3rd gear isn’t as smooth as the rest. There were times when I thought I shifted to 3rd but actually missed and the car ended up in neutral.

Idk if this is an issue with all manuals but I had an STI that had a similar problem that was somewhat fixed when they changed the transmission fluid.

How are you driving the car? Carefully and short shifting it? Gearboxes need to spin for the syncros to work efficiently. If your short shifting it at low rpm and road speed try a 2nd to 3rd shift at around 5000rpm and see if it's better. I don't mean you need to do a shift like your going for an ET at the strip but get some road speed up and shift it positively and see if it improves. Many gearboxes get very baulky shifting at low road speeds. The Tremec T56 is a prime example especially into 2nd and 3rd. The higher revs and road speed in second will help the syncros work more effectively

 

[Hellobye]

How are you driving the car? Carefully and short shifting it? Gearboxes need to spin for the syncros to work efficiently. If your short shifting it at low rpm and road speed try a 2nd to 3rd shift at around 5000rpm and see if it's better. I don't mean you need to do a shift like your going for an ET at the strip but get some road speed up and shift it positively and see if it improves. Many gearboxes get very baulky shifting at low road speeds. The Tremec T56 is a prime example especially into 2nd and 3rd. The higher revs and road speed in second will help the syncros work more effectively

I been driving like a granny shifting at low rpms for the break in period lol. You may be onto something. I’ll try shifting at higher rpms. I haven’t been above 4000 rpm once yet haha.

 

[CdnSupes]

Generally I find the car most happy shifting around 2500-3500rpm. No issues with third gear at all, 1-2 shift a bit odd but if you shift at 3k and gas before you let go of clutch it’s great.

 

[DrSupra]

I haven't run into this at all but I only have about 1400 miles, probably a little less now. Like others mentioned, reverse was a bit tough but in reading as much as I could about the MT before I got the car I was expecting that. It has loosened up a bit. Second to third is smooth for me so far and I was doing the break in by the book like you. Maybe try double clutching or let the revs drop to about where they would before putting it into third and see if that helps? I know it's basically unnecessary in a car with synchros and I'm certainly no expert but it's just a thought (also not a solution either if you dont want to always do that). When I double clutch, the car pops right into third and higher gears with almost no vibration or even resistance from the shifter at all (which my clueless self interprets as the synchros not having to do much)

 

[SuupYota]

Yeah, like everyone has said, just give it some time. Don't get too down and sad about it. It'll improve and be sorted. Lots of vehicles have crunchy 3rd gear syncros. Both my Evos had a rough 3rd and also my Subaru. They were fine, I had them looked at and nothing was wrong. I learned when to shift with them for perfect shifts. They seemed to have an rpm range and shift motion unique to them.

 

[s219]

The same gearbox in BMWs will have a little extra resistance when making lazy shifts into 3rd, say when just tooling around at part throttle or shifting at lower RPM. If you notice the behavior go away when really getting on it and shifting at higher RPM, then I'd say it's normal behavior.

I've only ever noticed this with 3rd. Never researched it to try to understand why. It feels like the selector sleeve maybe has a little resistance going across the synchros into 3rd. There's just a little extra hitch in the motion and then it snicks into gear.

 

[6SPDA91]

I have not had an issue getting into any gear. 2nd is a little buzzy on the shifter but everything works fine.

As for the reverse, it actually doesn't surprise me. Reverse lockout is important so needing the extra resistance is great so you don't accidentally miss your gear. I think it's a good amount of necessary force.

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