i just installed my b&m shifter with energy bushings and for some reason when i go into reverse it doesn't fully go in all of the time. it'll like only go in half way. and when it does go in its kind of hard, i really have to like shuv it in there. is this normal?

 

It's probably hitting your catalytic converter heat shield. Does it rattle at all?

 

na huh it doesn't rattle at all.

 

work out more?

I really have no idea why..I know sometimes it's a little tough for me too but I bet that it's just w/ the longer shifter you have more leverage. Could be wrong

 

soo i see. oh and sometimes when i shift hmm this is kind of hard to explain but, like lets say i'll put it into first and it'll go in super smooth like butter but other times i'll feel like like a clink going into my gears. likeee lets say your in first and you go into second you know how you can feel neutral and then it'll pop into second? kind of like that but it does it when i go from like neutral to first or neutral to third etc. is that normal??

 

Thats how mine acts. When it sticks half way, i just let the clutch off just a little and it grabs it with no grinds or anything. Got used to it already. My buddy told me its very very common with hondas and he works at a honda shop.

 

perfectly normal, although i would check the heat shield, its a royal bitch sometimes, i took mine off. ive driven everything from civics to s2ks from honda, although id love to drive an nsx it hasn't happened yet. The "sticky" shifting is in probably 40% of the things i driven. only thing i can say is tryin some lubricant, and maybe check trans fluid if it is "clinking or clicking". Most the cars ive driven i have to "pop" the gears in, but be careful doing it, as if you decide to slam it into the wrong gear you might lose a few things. but once you get used to it, clutch to the floor, shove hard into gear, and then go, one motion, eventualy you will get used to what it takes.
(short throws make it a little more noticeable because of the higher effort required)

 

My car does the same thing. I've replaced shifters, shift rods, bushings... it's just how they are, finicky.

 

I had this happen to me when I installed my B&M short throw.. All I have to do is push the clutch in, put it in reverse and push clutch back in, put it in neutral, and put it into reverse... Works every time

 

This happens because you've changed the geometry of the shift linkage and that's not a good thing. Honda engineers designed the shift lever to work specifically with the internals of the transmission in such a way that it's nearly impossible to shift faster than the internals are capable of changing gears. When you give yourself a way to change gears faster than the transmission internals were designed to you're going to severely shorten the life of your transmission. I know snicking off gears like you're in a race car is fun but ultimately it will kill your tranny. Besides, consistent, accurate shifts will always be faster than shortening your throw by 20%.

 

While in theory this may seem like the case, it is simply not true.

I've had an AutoZone short shifter in my GS-R since sometime back in 2001. In that time I've put well over 200K miles on the original engine and transmission. No grinds (except user error), and no problems going into any gear. Shifter height is the same as stock, but throw is probably 40% shorter.

The idea that short shifters break transmission internals is a complete myth, 100% false.

 

I didn't know we had a Honda engineer on the board, how fortunate for us!

While anecdotal evidence is fun it's also patently useless. You're the exception, not the rule. It comes down to very basic geometry and is in no way refutable. Also, the "short" in "short shifter" has nothing to do with the height of the exposed shifter inside the cabin. Throws are shortened by lengthening the bottom of the shifter, the point that attaches to the linkage. What IS true is that you can out shift the synchros even with a stock lever, a short shifter just makes it that much easier and more likely.

 

Well, guess what guy, there are MANY people on H-T and elsewhere that use short-throw shifters with ZERO problems.

And yes, I know exactly how short-throw shifters work. I mentioned the height because there are some crap shifters out there that shorten the height of the stick inside the cabin, which accomplishes nothing positive. Add to that the people who simply cut the stock shifter or other shifter down so it's shorter. This is why I pointed out that my shifter is the same height as stock, but with throws about 40% shorter than stock.

Additionally, my light flywheel almost necessitates a short throw shifter to keep the engine RPM from dropping too low between shifts, which forces the transmission to bring the engine back up to speed in the next gear, which puts more wear and stress on the whole drivetrain. A short shifter makes it much easier to keep the RPM from falling too low, although it still does it sometimes when driving with A/C on.

Transmission problems after using a short-throw shifter are most often user error. Indeed, sometimes I actually engage the clutch too early (or don't disengage it enough) and I end up scratching a gear a bit when upshifting. No it is not synchro wear, it's user error, and that's it.

 

There are a lot of people that do a lot of things that don't make sense, adding a short shifter in a street car is one of them. Just because something is popular doesn't make it right. You're severely narrowing the window for error in the shift and, unless this board consists exclusively of race car drivers that have the supporting modifications to their cars (which i seriously doubt), you're just introducing more wear. To guarantee that you don't you have to shift slowly and deliberately and that defeats the purpose. Done arguing about it though, have fun trashing your trannies out while avoiding common sense!

 

i have the same problem with mine, i just let off clutch then press again and it works usually, also i was told that short shifters have that kink of linkey feeling to them and thats normal..im not 100% sure though

 

ive have never seen a tranny issue from a short throw shifter ...

 

Well I don't know what else to tell you. 200k miles with a short shifter, 160k of that with an 8 lb flywheel, on all original trans internals has to say something.

 

I noticed a huge difference in the amount of time it took me to change my gears from when I had a stock shifter to when I installed my B&M. I used to have to "search" for gears with my stock one. The B&M just feels shorter and quicker and a lot easier to me. I also havent had any problems out of mine except reverse gear, but then again my tranny has 244k miles on it and a horrible clutch which is in the process of being replaced.

 

Exactly. In my opinion almost every manual trans car can stand to have a bit shorter throw from stock. Just about the only stock shifter I can stand is the Miata. S2000 feels pretty good but even that could stand a touch shorter throw.

Part of it is just me preferring to be able to shift without having to move my whole arm. But another part is that most Honda stock shifters feel like a POS. Long throws, rubbery feeling, etc. like when you're in gear the shifter can move a bunch side-to-side. My short shifter got rid of all of that. And yes I'm using stock rubber (although new) shifter bushings.

 

That's exactly it, he's probally one of them geniuses that uses synthetic in his trans

 

not really loving short shifters on FWD..

 

What does the length of a shift have to do with if the cars fwd, rwd, awd, etc?

 

maybe the fact that the shifter isn't connected directly to the trans like it is on a RWD car. The 2 cars I mentioned above that have nice stock shifters are both RWD.

But I do have to say that I like the feel of my car with short shifter better than my friend's S2000 with stock shifter when I drove it.

Don't even get me started on stock BMW shifters. My boss had a Z3 I6 5-speed and its stock shifter feels AWFUL!

 

This seems to be a good place to ask my question with out making a new thread. So I to have a B&M short shifter. Its new and It was installed on my dads track car for about 5 mins before we figured out it was a basket case and it got burried in our shed. The thing is so freaking stiff you cant even move it unless its hooked up to shift linkage. When we had it hooked up it felt as though it was moving the entire transmission. So I've had it burried in our parts shed for about 3 or 4 years. I decided to do some cleaning before winter gets into full swing and I came across it. I have greased the entire moving area with heavy duty tractor grease(ghetto I know) and it still will not budge unless its hooked up to shift linkage. I was considering putting it on my teg but the damn thing is so damn stiff I'm afraid it might break something. So just looking for the thoughs of the ht community on this one. Is there any way to get this thing to loosen up? Should I give it a ruphie collata?(probably butchered the spelling on that)

 

wait so if it wasn't connected to anything but bolted to the car it wouldn't move at all? Sounds like it's not the correct application for your car.