Transmission oil changed; odd sound from 2nd gear?

[pandemonium]

Hey guys. Appreciate anyone that can offer some input for my problem.

I just changed my transmission oil out after ~25k from Honda MTF to Honda MTF on my '06 Acura RSX (total miles 92k) since the colder weather was really starting to get the notchiness going. I didn't open the transmission case, shifter levels, or mess with the clutch what-so-ever. All I did was drain the fluid out for new. I even had a level across the most level place I could find on the car - upper sway bar, lol.

During my commute to work second gear started sputtering with a "card in spokes" type sound that would increase with speed (the 4th or 5th time I hit second gear during the commute). The sound is only when second gear is engaged; once the clutch is pressed it's gone and 1,3,4,5,6, and R have no problems at all. My guess is that some fragment of metal that was perfectly resting prior to the change became loose and found its way onto my second gear synchro or a bearing. My google foo found this thread about the input shaft bearing being the culprit but I'm hoping that's not the case since my problem is specific to 2nd gear.

I went to both a transmission shop and the Acura dealer to get some input and both left me with very little options. I was told that a fluid flush is the only cheap option prior to opening the transmission and diagnosing the problem. Thing is, this is just a silly that I'm getting an odd sound coming from 2nd gear (with no apparent adverse effects to function) and that all I did was drain the transmission oil, and refill with new Honda MTF with a leveled car up to the point that it started to come out the fill hole (which was about 1.8quarts - the required amount from service manual). My luck sucks. :/

I'm going to try another drain and fill with new fluid again to see if it'll fix the problem; running through the gears at the same time to hopefully knock whatever loose. Acura wanted $110 to do it...lol.

Any transmissions experts out there that can provide some input? Appreciate your time!

 

[LTC8K6]

If there was a big enough fragment of metal to make a racket, loose in a trans with only 25k on it, it does not bode well...and your fluid change wouldn't have been the cause. Such a piece of metal was going to move eventually.

 

[manimal]

If you were higher mileage I would assume the trans is shot. I cant tell you how many times I have seen a high mileage trans go out after a fluid change.

Is it throwing any transmission codes? If you see synchro error the trans is probably on the way out.

 

[NutBucket]

Uh, I didn't know 6MT could throw codes!

 

[IcePickFreak]

It does suck, but they're pretty much right on with the only thing they can really do is try a flush before digging into the trans. The car doesn't tend to pop out of 2nd (or any other gear for that matter?)

 

[MrChad]

I had problems shifting into 2nd gear due to synchro issues on my 2002 RSX-S. Acura issued a TSB about it and the dealership replaced them under warranty. Not sure if the 2006 model has similar problems.

 

[hdfxst]

a bad input shaft bearing gets louder as you go through the gears and goes away completely in 4th.When you took out the drain plug how much metal was on the magnet.

 

[CraigRT]

Just my 2 cents, if you are going to be draining that fluid again, I would go with some Amsoil MTF. I put some in my Civic and the shift quality is A1. I love Amsoil for manual transmissions, its always superior.

 

[wirednuts]

i changed the fluid in my ranger with 180000 miles on it. lasted about 2 months before the reverse band snapped, leaving me going forward only.

probably was an easy enough rebuild, the tranny was still strong... but for $600 i found one with 30,000 miles on it and i just slapped that in there. runs like new after i filled it with fluid all the way (takes 10 quarts, not 5 dad. you have to fill up the torque converter too). what sucks is i sometimes (rarely?) a shimmying motion in like 3rd gear when i have just a little on the gas... i think i did some damage when i ran it on half fluid. 40k miles later though and its still going good. i love having a truck with 220k miles on it, makes me feel so genuine.

op's problem does not sound good at all... trannys should never make noises and when they do, it normally doesnt just go away

 

[pandemonium]

I knew there was a reason I posted this here. I posted this on clubrsx forums and got no responses at all. You guys rule! 😀

Note: I should've been more clear. The fluid I changed out had 25k miles on it, not my transmission. AFAIK it has 92k on it (is what's on my odo).

a bad input shaft bearing gets louder as you go through the gears and goes away completely in 4th.When you took out the drain plug how much metal was on the magnet.

Ya, I wasn't really thinking it was the input shaft bearing since it's only 2nd gear. I didn't see any fragments in the old oil, but the drain plug isn't magnetic. It's the stock plug. I actually looked into getting a magnetic plug but decided it wasn't necessary since there's a giant magnet in the bottom of the case anyways, and no shops carry a transmission plug...only for oil (seems kinda backwards to me!).

Just my 2 cents, if you are going to be draining that fluid again, I would go with some Amsoil MTF. I put some in my Civic and the shift quality is A1. I love Amsoil for manual transmissions, its always superior.

I've had that sitting and waiting for me at home and is now in my front seat as a reminder. 🙂 I actually intended to use Honda's MTF as a flush, then a couple days later put Amsoil's Synchromesh in. I've done a lot of reading regarding the differences and apparently the Honda genuine stuff is better for mileage; Amsoil better for wear/tear and handles higher temperatures more readily. Amsoil is definitely win. 😀

FWIW, Honda's MTF is good stuff, it's just designed with mileage in mind. Right now my shifting is pretty smooth. I just have an odd noise, that's all. >.>

i changed the fluid in my ranger with 180000 miles on it. lasted about 2 months before the reverse band snapped, leaving me going forward only.

probably was an easy enough rebuild, the tranny was still strong... but for $600 i found one with 30,000 miles on it and i just slapped that in there. runs like new after i filled it with fluid all the way (takes 10 quarts, not 5 dad. you have to fill up the torque converter too). what sucks is i sometimes (rarely?) a shimmying motion in like 3rd gear when i have just a little on the gas... i think i did some damage when i ran it on half fluid. 40k miles later though and its still going good. i love having a truck with 220k miles on it, makes me feel so genuine.

op's problem does not sound good at all... trannys should never make noises and when they do, it normally doesnt just go away

Ya, fluid levels are designed to be exacting; especially for transmissions. When I filled mine I made sure I was within level bubble range and kept pouring it in until it came out the fill hole (which equaled out to about 1.8q, or the recommended amount per service manual).

Thanks for the reassurance (I'm honestly not be sarcastic). It's good knowing this isn't a fluke and definitely needs looking into. I wasn't assuming it was going to fix it itself, but there's always a small part of me that hopes that it would. 😛

I had problems shifting into 2nd gear due to synchro issues on my 2002 RSX-S. Acura issued a TSB about it and the dealership replaced them under warranty. Not sure if the 2006 model has similar problems.

It does, it's for all DC5 years. However, my car is out of warranty range now. :/

Edit: now I'm wondering if my whole issue revolves around that... /doh

 

[manimal]

Uh, I didn't know 6MT could throw codes!

my bad, reading comprehension fail on my part. Thought he had auto.


never mind lol

 

[wirednuts]

just take it to the dealer and find out if it is a TSB problem. if it is, at least u can get any indy tranny shop to fix it for you for a lot less then the dealer would... and since its a TSB you know what they will be doing, and they shouldnt do anything extra