Sbuxlackey

I've got an '09 tc manual, and overall it's a very well-behaved vehicle. I had to replace my clutch plate about a year and a half ago when it wore out at 30K miles (not happy about that), and it was fine for a while after that. Towards the end of last winter I began to have a problem with occasionally grinding gears when I shift...

Right now it's very predictable. I grind when I down-shift into 3rd, but only when I first start driving. After the car warms up the grinding completely goes away. Shifting into 5th can be a little rough, but nothing I am concerned about. In the winter things were much worse, but again the problem would go away once the car warmed up. In fact, I haven't taken it to my mechanic because it stops grinding by the time I would get there.

I know my way around a car, but have historically avoided transmissions. If this is something I can fix myself, I'd be very happy. It's annoying right now, but I'm worried about it getting worse once it starts getting cold out again. If anyone has any insight, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

TigerDude

I suspect that between a worn out clutch at 30k & now worn out synchros you are doing something wrong in how you shift.

How often do you downshift into third? That's not a very common shift. If you are downshifting into a high-rev engine speed you're probably forcing the cones. You might be doing it on upshifts, too if you're shifting very quickly & forcing it into gear.

Grinding gears means the synchros are worn out & all you can do is a rebuild or learn how to rev-match ("heel-toe" shifting). You shift into neutral, rev the engine with clutch out to where the revs will be at the down shift, & then shift into the lower gear.

Thermos2003

Unless it was a faulty clutch/transmission, x2 on the not knowing how to drive a manual correctly. With proper shifting, a clutch should last nearly the life of the car, if not at least a good amount of miles 100,000 or so.