3rd gear miss! help please!

[on-tec]

hey guys, im kinda new to this so im sorry if i posted this in the wrong section ..... but hear goes.

OK so i have an eg 3dr hatch back and its got a b18cR [b18c7] motor in it, dc2R gear box and a few mods such as [ Headers / Intake / and i think its got some sort of brass button clutch witch makes it kinda hard to ride in the clutch ] etc.

i don't know if my ECU has been re mapped or flashed because vtec kicks in at 6000 not 4500 and redlines at 9000 instead of 8200.

anyway hears my Delmar when im driving normaly [i.e changing gears between 3000 - 4500] gear change is smooth and enjoyable........ BUT!! when im changing gears between [ 8000 - 9000 ] going from 2nd - 3rd gear 90% of the time i hear a crunch ! , some times it wont make any noise and feels fantastic but most times it crunches ! , now i have tryed different techniques i.e change from 2nd to 3rd closer to 1st gear, then tryed closer to 5th gear , and obviouslt the striaght forward 3 gear. the only way for me to minimize the risk of a crunch or shaveing sound is by slowly change from 2nd to 3rd........ but then agian it depicts the point of keeping in vtec -_-

i dont know whats making it crunch or shave sound but its realllllllllllllyyyy anoying! it feels like my gear box is going to shit its self!

please someone help me!!!!!!

[dougie_504]

hey guys, im kinda new to this so im sorry if i posted this in the wrong section ..... but hear goes.

OK so i have an eg 3dr hatch back and its got a b18cR [b18c7] motor in it, dc2R gear box and a few mods such as [ Headers / Intake / and i think its got some sort of brass button clutch witch makes it kinda hard to ride in the clutch ] etc.

i don't know if my ECU has been re mapped or flashed because vtec kicks in at 6000 not 4500 and redlines at 9000 instead of 8200.

anyway hears my Delmar when im driving normaly [i.e changing gears between 3000 - 4500] gear change is smooth and enjoyable........ BUT!! when im changing gears between [ 8000 - 9000 ] going from 2nd - 3rd gear 90% of the time i hear a crunch ! , some times it wont make any noise and feels fantastic but most times it crunches ! , now i have tryed different techniques i.e change from 2nd to 3rd closer to 1st gear, then tryed closer to 5th gear , and obviouslt the striaght forward 3 gear. the only way for me to minimize the risk of a crunch or shaveing sound is by slowly change from 2nd to 3rd........ but then agian it depicts the point of keeping in vtec -_-

i dont know whats making it crunch or shave sound but its realllllllllllllyyyy anoying! it feels like my gear box is going to shit its self!

please someone help me!!!!!!


Gear 'crunching' means that your 2nd-3rd synchro is on it's way out. Very common. Will require removal of gearbox and replacement, which is expensive (I doubt you could get it changed for less than a grand). If you don't want it to crunch then don't change at high-revs, or you can rev your car to 9k in 2nd gear but let the revs drop down to about 2-3k RPM before putting it in 3rd, but then if you're going around 100KM/hour and change into 3rd at 3000RPM or so you will put a lot of strain on the gear itself as the revs will need to jump up.

If you keep crunching it then the synchro will sh!t itself.

This is something you should check for when you buy a Honda.


Also, VTEC is normally about 5200-5500 RPM. After a tune it will often engage around 6000 RPM.

[on-tec]

yeah man i thought it might be my synchro but "apparently" my gear box dosent have synchros from what iv been told ! lol so i dono :S
do you think it could also be my gear box oil running low??

thanks.

[dougie_504]

No, it's your synchro. Whoever said your GBox doesn't have synchros is wrong. Only the reverse gear has no synchro.

Changing the oil to a good reputable oil (IE. 'Redline') might prolong the life of the synchro but you'll have to get it fixed. Just get it done properly IMO.

[on-tec]

Ok thanks man , do u know any good places that will replace the syncro ? And ruffly how much u recon it would cost ?

[koevi]

im doing my 1st and 2nd gear synchros and also my clutch and flywheel whilst its out. It's going to cost me about $450-500 for labour to remove gearbox and another $300 to open the gbox up and change the synchros, soo say about $800 just for labour. Its a big job so its pretty expensive

[dougie_504]

Yeah. You can probably save money by using a reputable non-genuine part like something made by Synchrotech as the OEM Honda ones are expensive. If I were you I would put aside easily $1g for parts + labour.

[Benson]

I would change gearbox oil first. Usually that will do the trick. If the problem is still there, then change synchro's. Give Castrol Syntrax gearbox oil a go

[dougie_504]

Yep agreed above. At least it will give you more time. 'Redline' is also popular GBox oil for these problems. A friend of mine reckons it gave his GBox another 5,000-10,000 KMs of life before he rebuilt it.

[on-tec]

Farkkkkkk guys !! Lol that's a lot of money for 0% increase in power :((( but I gues I'm going to have to do it !! Ahhh !! Thank you guys all very much for helping me ! I'm very surprised that there were that many people out there that cared :)) thanks again all and I'll let you guys know what worked best for me !!

[Super-DA9]

+ 1 to redline, helped my 2nd-3rd. :) farkin' expensive though. lol

[on-tec]

I shall try that brand :)

[Lukey]

whats the weight of the redline gearbox oil?

[Super-DA9]

75w-90 fully synthetic, it's a very strange colour though lol

[dc2r-0636]

noob question, how much oil does a b series gearbox hold ?

[Bludger]

2.2 - 2.3 ltr

[dc2r-0636]

cheers Bludger! :)

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Bludger again.
lol

[dougie_504]

I only got 1.9L into my B16A box last time. Maybe because only the front was jacked...?

[Bludger]

I only got 1.9L into my B16A box last time. Maybe because only the front was jacked...?
Maybe, says on the manual.
fill - 2.2ltr
total - 2.3ltr

Maybe a lot of reasons.

[jeremydawg]

I only got 1.9L into my B16A box last time. Maybe because only the front was jacked...?

i jacked up the front of my eg b16. it took 2.2L

i had slight crunching in my gearbox once, changed to oem fluid, problem solved. smooth shifting no crunch whatsoever.

[Limbo]

OEM fluid is the way to go on a dc2r. the OEM LSD has issues with redline, do a google.
Redline stuffs as many gbox as it fixes them.

Try fresh OEM oil, and bleed your clutch slave with OEM brake fluid.
Hondas are particular with their gbox & brake fluids