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Issues with K20s

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Old Nov 23, 2006
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Issues with K20s

Ok, I bought the engine with less than 10,000 miles on it and have put 6,000 on it myself. It has been through 1/2 season of being tracked about everyother weekend. I now have my 1st problem, my syncros are going bad. I have the tell tale slight grind going into third and if I don't rev match when I downshift it is pretty bad. I new I was going to have issues and from what I read the tranny is the weak point on the K20s, I guess this just confirms it
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Old Nov 23, 2006
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yes.. its a common problem with the k20s... happened to me just last week. lol.

Is your gearbox getting tight and stiff?
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Old Nov 23, 2006
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no problems for me... i have had my swap for almost 2 years
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Old Nov 23, 2006
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Well you can do double cluching for now.
My 240sx had worn syncro on the 3rd gear, but that car had 120mi+, poss more if dealer had time to "kosher" the speedo before I bought it.
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Old Nov 23, 2006
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you can read more about it on clubrsx....

there are a few things you can do. First, let me know if your gearbox is feeling tite and really stiff. It could be the shifter cable. They tend to get a kink in 'em.
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Old Nov 23, 2006
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^ yup, heard of that before... also you can try doing a tranny fluid flush... that'll usually help a bit too. But I guess since you track it, that might be a reason why the problem has started to arise so early.
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Old Nov 23, 2006
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^^^ what they said..I did a tranny flush and messed with the shifter cables a lil bit and everything went back to normal. you should try that
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Old Nov 23, 2006
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did you ever wonder if maybe all the racing did it?
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Old Nov 23, 2006
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ofcourse, pushing the motor continiously will ware out components of the car quicker... when i had issues with m shifter, i changed the cables, helped alot, and now that i've got a new transmission, car runs really smooth.
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Old Nov 23, 2006
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Originally Posted by HondaLuver
no problems for me... i have had my swap for almost 2 years
you haven't had your a3 swap for 2 yrs, right?
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Old Nov 24, 2006
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the A3 for a year now. the tranny... i have had all this time already...
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Old Nov 24, 2006
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yeah its all about how yoiu drive my friend shifting and double clutching! Its not the trannys fault you dont know how to properly shift and drive.
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Old Nov 24, 2006
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I will check the cables for kinks. The bushings should be good because they are the upgraded brass bushings. These bushings do make shifting feel a bit tighter, but I have had them on since I did the swap. I have changed the fluid to the GM FM sycromesh and still has the same problems. The way it happens I have to think that the sycros are going bad. I would agree that if the car was driven "normal" it would not be having these problems.
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Old Nov 24, 2006
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I think I may be giving these guys a call in the near future
http://gearspeedinc.com/products.htm
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Old Nov 24, 2006
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Originally Posted by EMK20a2
I will check the cables for kinks. The bushings should be good because they are the upgraded brass bushings. These bushings do make shifting feel a bit tighter, but I have had them on since I did the swap. I have changed the fluid to the GM FM sycromesh and still has the same problems. The way it happens I have to think that the sycros are going bad. I would agree that if the car was driven "normal" it would not be having these problems.
Driving properly and hard wont worn out transmission (engine, yes) components - this is a fact.
Bad syncros - resuls of trying to shift while "forgetting" to press clutch.
Ask yourself if you "missed" gears more then several times. If not, then it has to be cable or bushings, but I think you should start with cables. Cables most likely, because they can suffer from track use. Also you may look into worn out part in the shifting mechanism where cables attach in transmission.
Not enough thikness of tranny fuid can affect shifting.

All in all, unless you missed gears, look for the problem elsewhere.

Keep it updated.
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Old Nov 24, 2006
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I don't miss gears to often, not saying that it does not happen but it is rare. I would think that shifting hard at real high rpms would wear on the sycros because it causes them to "work harder" to match up the speed of the tranny.
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Old Nov 24, 2006
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change some penziol or GM synchromesh fluid into the tranny and see if it helps. Honda does have issues with their synchros. it's hit or miss really. I hope mine is fine in the long run.
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Old Nov 24, 2006
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Originally Posted by EMK20a2
I don't miss gears to often, not saying that it does not happen but it is rare. I would think that shifting hard at real high rpms would wear on the sycros because it causes them to "work harder" to match up the speed of the tranny.
I see what you mean, but an occasional beating at the track not going to "kill" a tranny. Start focusing ot the cables and shifting mechanism before switching to tranny.
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Old Nov 25, 2006
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i heard they fixed that with the 05-06 tranny, my friend did a a2 tranny on his z1, and the a2 tranny took a dump in 2 weeks. the tranny builder said it's the bearing at the end of the gear shaft on the other side. it's a 02 type r transmission
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Old Nov 25, 2006
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if you've done tranny flush and fluid and you're still getting it, i guarantee you that its your cables. It recently happened to me, i thought it was tranny too... but it wasn't. Its normal though with the k20 as i mentioned earlier... there's a whole thread on clubrsx regarding this issue.
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Old Nov 25, 2006
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I have just changed to GM Syncormesh FM, and it still kept it up. What happens with the cables, what do I need to look for??
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Old Nov 26, 2006
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yup, i tried that too and didn't help me either. rsx shifter cables, they're like 150 brand new i think
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