I noticed my car grinds from 5th to 6th gears shifts most of the time unless is is shifted in slow motion. At first it only did it if you skipped 5th gear, going from 4th to 6th on an upshift.

I took the car to the local dealer, and the tech takes the car around the parking lot, never going over 10 mph and says the trans is "screaming" from a bad INPUT SHAFT BEARING. I always thought is was slightly loud gear whine and reminded me of my brother's old 5.0 Mustang.

Anyway, they order me a new tranny like it's no big deal and I'm going to drop the car off to have it installed tomorrow.

I've already had the slave cylinder fail and replaced, now I need a transmission. I don't abuse the car, drive mostly highway, and only have 21k on it.

I have mixed feelings about this, but at least it wasn't a fight at the dealership to prove the problem existed. Stay tuned.

i had mine replaced at 10k. took them one day. theres some people on here that say the manual says not to skip gears, which is ridiculous, especially in traffic driving at a normal pace. 5k later no problems.....yet

I see your problem... you skipped gears and by doing so, you are causing premature wear to the synchromesh.

how is it ridiculous to say not to skip gears when these trannys are not designed for it... read you manual....

Well, the servive manager said it should't be the grinding, especially from upshifts. These are close ratio transmissions with a non overdrive 6th gear. I would think the spacing should make it less prone to problems from a skipped gear.

i dont understand what you mean by the service manager saying "it shouldnt be the grinding"?? if you mean it shouldnt grind at all, then yes i agree but if you meant he said that gear skipping shouldnt have caused the grinding, i will have to disagree... the service manager would likely know less abut the car than the engineers and manufacturer who designed it. the synchros on these cars are pretty soft--my tranny was replaced at about 36k due to fifth grinding(it would grind under 45mph, smooth as butter at 80mph<<thats how i knew it was beacuse of worn synchros) as well and i did skip gears before i actually did some research about it..

Either way, the tech wanted to replace is based on the noise of the trans at a low speed in first gear.

The skipping gear issue I brought up talking to the service manager. Discounting the service writer's experience because he is not currently a mechanic is fair to him either.

This is the first transmission problem I have had driving manuals for 14 years. Most of my ealier cars were driven rather hard.

my tranny was replaced at 8-9K due to a grind going into 5th, and i was also given the "don't skip gears" lecture. it took 1 day, and i haven't had a problem since!

i dont skip gears and have over 21k+ miles on original tranny that shifts like butter (it has the most precise gates and is a well built tranny iv ever used), i have no grinding but do get the cluncking sound once in a while while shifting into 2nd other than its great and i hope its stays this way, no regrets and hopefully it stays like this....

i have the klunk TOO in second, ...
not sure if i should get it looked at

I did get it checked and they showed me others on the lot that did that as well, i wont be too worried as it happens every now and then and other than that it shifts fine with no grinding or hesitation, my $0.02...

Well, I got the car back last night. The metalic noise is down about 90%. Of course the grinding is fixed because it's a new trans. I guess I was lucky that another problem warranted a new trans and I can start over with the gears.

I still think it is completely ridiculous to have to refrain from skipping gears when it's perfectly acceptable with every other manufacturer. And to say that it would kill the 6th gear synchro in 20k miles when spends the majority of time cruizing in gear on the highway doesn't seem appropriate.

Please do not skip gears. It will take a fair amount of time, but you WILL wear out your synchros prematurely.

for those who don't know skip shifting is a bad idea for any manual trans. regardless of the manufacturer. the only purpose of synchros are to equalize mainshaft and countershaft speeds for the given gear you select. if you want to drastically reduce your transmission life then skip shifting will do it.

Question: Does the "no skipping" rule apply to downshifting?

What if you're in 6th on the highway and need to quickly pass? I sometimes
drop to 4th to quickly pass.

Is this bad as well?

I am pretty sure corvettes, in order to satisfy CAFE standard, almost Make you go from 1st to 3rd or 4th gear,, maybe some other cars also,, not sure though,, however i think its the dumbest thing i have ever heard, that you Can't skip gears,, I have done it on every car with a manuel i have had, I drive for a living,, either way, glad i have a X with auto.....