[Doug Cooley]

Hey gang,

New to insight scene. Just picked up a used 2000 5-speed (that's the good news).

The bad news is I may have a 2nd gear syncro going out, as I have some "grinding" as I down shift into second. All other down shifting and upshifting OK. Would love to repair, but not wild about pulling eng./tranny.

Any advice or others with similar. Of course any warrenty is now gone. Car has 80K miles.

Thanks,
Doug

 

[Holicow]

All the usual disclaimers apply:

Change your transmission oil before you do anything else... Might be all you need, at least for a while.

 

[Rick]

Make sure you have fluid in the clutch master cylinder too.

 

[Sparky5501]

Seems strange that you are only grinding when downshifting. Usually when a syncro goes you get grinding upshifting as well.

Are you matching revs as you down shift? Is the clutch all the way depressed when selecting second? Have you tried double clutching?

 

[DarkWolf29805]

grinding

Hi guys, I get the same thing only I get it while upshifting. The local dealler said they could not find anything. I noticed that it dont grind if i double clutch. It has done this since I got my Insight (new). 2000 Dont seem to be getting any worse.

 

[kapps]

Yea double clutch all your downshifts. It should really be a mandatory lesson to all 5 speed Insight owners since the tranny uses lower weight oil to reduce friction. The higher the weight of the oil, the more it protects the syncros. We have an '00 with 65k miles and actually just replaced the transmission fluid. The syncros were never very good to begin with so just waiting for the revs to drop a little while shifting really helps. Luckily, I knew about double clutch downshifts so I always do that (parents don't :roll: ).

If your grinding while doing regular shifts and not grinding while double clutching, then it's definitely the syncros. The lower gears are always the 1st to go because the rpm drop between them are larger than the others. If you don't want to worry about double clutching into 2nd every time, you should just try shifting slower. Let the revs fall a bit before you grab the next gear.

 

[Guillermo]

I agree with Kapps but the transmission fluid is the same as other hondas.

 

[predrag]

2nd gear sinchro failure

Hi guys!!!!

I see it has been a while since the last post here. My 2000 maunal Insight has just developed the problem you describe here: synchro ring for the 2nd gear has completely failed, and unless I wait about 2 s for the rpm's to drop while shifting from 1st into 2nd gear, I get grinding.

This is quite a nightmare to fix, obviously... And the problem is in the very design of the Insight's transmission!!! There is such a big gap between 1st and 2nd gear that, if shifting is performed with a normal speed, there is a huge mismatch in the gear speeds that need to engage, and synchro ring gets too much work! In other words, engine rpms are to high for the 2nd to engage, and one needs to wait (a long time...) for them to come down - which is almost impossible on steep climbs, for example.

If anybody has any experience with this problem going away in any way, PLEASE LET ME KNOW HERE! Before I go to take the transmission apart, that is!

Thank you!
Predrag

 

[downloader]

Hey 2nd. gear grinders here is something to try. Change the oil in your trannys and use Automatic tranny fluid. It might do the trick for worn syncros. Note if the syncro is too far gone only an overhaul will fix it. Good luck

 

[kapps]

Hey 2nd. gear grinders here is something to try. Change the oil in your trannys and use Automatic tranny fluid. It might do the trick for worn syncros. Note if the syncro is too far gone only an overhaul will fix it. Good luck

http://www.bluewhippet.net

I thought ATF is more slick than MTF. That would cause the syncro's to engage even worse...hurting the other gears as well. :?:

 

[Dougie]

Learn to double clutch. Series I and II Land Rovers didn't have synchromesh on first and second and there are plenty of them being driven around. Loss of synchromesh is a hassle but you can live without it forever.

 

[predrag]

Hey, I forgot to mention that I always double clutch on the downshift... However, from my post it seems obvious that due to the insight's small engine and short shifter, there's no reason to double clutch while upshifting: the engine speed is too high, not to low when the 2nd is engaged! One actually needs to WAIT for the engine to rev down, and that's a drag.

 

[Dougie]

No, you can double clutch both when shifting up and when shifting down. Truck drivers do it all the time. The point is to get the gears going the same speed, which may result in slowing them down or speeding them up.

 

[kapps]

No, you can double clutch both when shifting up and when shifting down. Truck drivers do it all the time. The point is to get the gears going the same speed, which may result in slowing them down or speeding them up.

Exactly. Double clutching a downshift requires a blip of the throttle while an upshift doesn't.

 

[predrag]

You've got the point! Engine revs down faster than the gears can slow down on the upshift... Will try double clutching on the upshift!

 

[dfiore]

solution

I had the same problem. It cost less for me to buy a good tranny from a junkyard (yes they're out there), then it would have been to have it rebuilt. Less time too. check with car-parts.com you may as well have them rebuild your clutch while they have it apart, if it's getting close.
Dan