So for the past few days, when I'm shifting out of first, or going down from third into second gear, it grinds like I don't have the clutch in, but it's to the floor. It only happens when going into second, but every other gear is a smooth shift. I'm new to manual tranny and it was my second time driving a manual when I bought it, but it was smooth right away. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

Also, what is the max tire size with out a lift I can go with? Still have the 235/75R15's on there.

 

How high is the idle? And 32-12.50-15 are the biggest you should go.

 

you never said what year of truck or what tranny is in it. so im guessing here but yeah without any lift 32,s are prob as big as you can go. i have a 95 f150 with 3in of susp lift and 33x12.5x15 they clear well but rub when i turn sharp (on the radius arms). as for the tranny. are you leaking fliud? i have a rebuilt mazda 5 speed man and when my slave cly went bad it leaked but i could never see it on acount of it was stayn in the bell houseing and not leaking on the graound. tho it did do the same thing yours seems to be doin. mine was first and second that just didnt want to go into gear but the rest were fine. did they replace the slave cly when they rebuilt it? they did NOT on mine so i had to replace it myself. or how new is your throw out bearing? we all need more info on this before youll get many answers. bleed your clutch? replace the slave or thro out? i will say that with my rebuilt(a year ago) it helps when i put her into second while im waitn and THEN put her in first, i dunno why. good luck and more info.

 

I have a '95 XL, single cab, long box, 2wd. I'd say it's the Mazda 5 speed as it seems to be in a lot of the 90's Fords. Engine and Transmission are original, no major work done on it, except regular maintenance. No leaks, it's all dry under the hood and under the truck. I'll have a look at lunch time and get you guys the right info and not just guesses.

 

I have driven several manuals. Including 2 mazda MTs. Second gear was always a problem in my mazdas. It is the syncro that wears down over time. Try to rev match so you leave 1st at 3000 rpm, and get into second at 2500rpm. Then if it shifts relativly smoothly it is a warn syncro. Does it make the grinding downshifting from 3rd to 2nd?

If this is the case then you will probably need a new trans. Or just learn how to double clutch.

 

It didn't do it to me once yesterday. But it happens mostly on down shifts from 3rd, to 2nd. I was thinking maybe I had the RPMs too high. (Can't tell you the exact RPMS, I don't have a tach) Going by sound right now. I was thinking of getting an aftermarket Tach, but it might be too much of a hassle to get it working?

 

Well each gear has a syncro up and down. So there is one going from 1st to second, and another one from 3rd to 2nd.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/transmission.htm The last page has info on syncros.

As I mentioned I had a similar problem with my Mazda transmission. I found that changing the shifter to a shorter fulcrumed shifter made the grinding much less often.

But for now I would try to rev-match when downshifting to 2nd. And getting a tach might definitely help that. In fact I am surprised a manual wouldn't have a tach.

Good Luck!

 

Ya, that buggered me up when I was looking at it. It's not the original cluster, one of the lights on the dash says 4x4 and has airbag lights, which I don't have either of

Tach's are expensive, $80 for a tiny one. I'm shopping around right now.

 

Perhaps you can just replace the cluster? Maybe even swap out the speedo/ odometer so the mileage is the same. Although if it was swapped out before, then the odometer is probably wrong anyway.