I've had my M/T '08 Fit for two weeks now, putting about 550 km (344 mi) on her so far.

The last few times I've took her out, I noticed shifting up is getting progressively more clunky, especially from 1st to 2nd. I would chalk it up to my inexperience with M/T, but searching the net and Fitfreak itself indicated others have had similar issues with second gear. Some were solved by shifting at higher RPMs (which I've been avoiding for fuel economy's sake), waiting to match revs, or by waiting for the car to warm up before driving.

There are no grinding or bumping problem when shifting through all gears at a dead stop, only once the car's in motion.

I'll quickly describe how I've generally been driving, please tell me if I'm doing anything wrong.

- at a complete stop, I'll clutch up partway so the car starts pulling forward, giving me enough time to go from brake to gas, especially on an uphill. As I gas down I slowly let up on the clutch, and add more gas as I do so.

- between 3000 and 4000 RPM in 1st, I smoothly clutch down and lift the gas up at about the same rate and time. I pull the shifter down to 2nd in about one second, with a brief pause halfway. Clutch and gas are (smoothly) exchanged as soon as gear is locked. (As it goes into 2nd it feels like it's grinding slightly before locking in gear. This started a few days ago and seems to be getting more pronounced)

- usually shift to 3 and 4 between 2000 and 3000 RPM. There are similar but much smaller "bumps" in the shifter when doing so, that I didn't notice before. They don't feel like regular passage through the "neutral zone" when car fully stopped. No issues (yet) going into 5th at similar RPMs, though I do have to push it a bit harder to get into gear.

While stopped at a light, I've occasionally left the clutch in the "pull forward" zone just above stall point (with brake firmly on) so I'm ready to go. This is partly holdover from my A/T days, partly since I'm still afraid of stalling on a start. How bad is this habit on clutch and other components?

When navigating my building's parking lot, I'll shift from 1 to 2 at about 2300 RPM while reaching a max speed of about 15 km/h (9.4 mph)

When parking, I lift the e-brake and put the car into 1st or Reverse. I sometimes forget to reset it to Neutral before starting, which might be bad on the starter but shouldn't affect the shift mechanism

Generally haven't been engine braking; just coasting to a stop for now.

Should I be concerned with the grinding feeling shifting into 2nd (and to lesser extents 3 and 4), enough to take it in for warranty servicing? Anything I should be doing differently?

Thanks

 

mines the same way, its the car, it smooths out a bit eventualy

 

Hopefully not because the gears or the clutch synchro were worn down a bit

I'm concerned because it *was* smooth for the first week or so, and the demo car I drove didn't have this issue either. A friend's '06 Civic was fine too, despite her learning M/T by herself when she bought it (and presumably making the same newbie mistakes I did).

 

yeah mine is the same way too
i'm at 10,000 miles now so i'm gonna wait a bit and
put in some new tranny fluid and it might change the shifting feel a bit

you could consider a shifter hard mount kit from hfit.com
it says it improves 'shifter feel'
i'm just throwing ideas out

-Ricky

 

i had the same issue, i found the stock shift knob to be super light weight... i switched to a skunk 2 knob (weighted to 440 grams) and found it MUCH better

 

Took me a few minutes to figure you meant h-fit.com

If it's simply a matter of a heavier shift knob with more momentum, would simply pushing down while throwing the shifter harder accomplish the same thing?

Thanks for the suggestions about a different knob and shift mount. I'm not against the ideas, though I'm hesitant to mod my car to fix a problem that shouldn't exist.

How tolerant is the Fit to new M/T drivers? Is it less forgiving of newbie mistakes that might cause this problem to develop?

 

i learned stick on my Fit, its very forgiving i have even taught a few others on it. as for not wanting to mod, a shift knob is not a mod per say, and would in no way void a warrenty, it takes all of 30 sec to unscrew the stockie and screw on the new on new one, i know the shift bugs shouldnt happen, but lets face it, its no $50,000 sports car, a tiny hiccup that is easily fixed is nothing! good luck with your Fit! and happy driving!

 

Did you ask a dealer about it, possible warranty fix?

 

Cars are made to satisfy the lowest common denominator. For some reason not everyone likes a direct feeling shifter. A little adjustment here and there isn't a big deal. Even on my Mazda I had to change the clutch line to get the feeling right, and you are pretty much sitting on the transmission in that car. (no cables)

 

Haven't asked the service department yet; I wanted to ask around first to see if it's a known issue or just a minor annoyance.

Don't want to become the equivalent of a new parent rushing to the emergency room every time the baby coughs. I don't want them getting too used to me, especially if it's over trivial issues.

 

By mod, I was referring more to the shifter hard mount kit mentioned by GD3-Fit

Any idea why a simple, weightier shift knob solved the problem for you?

thx

 

feel free to correct me if i'm wrong: a heavier knob just makes the shifts feel smoother because the shifter works kinda like a lever. if one end of the lever is a lot heavier, it helps with leverage i guess, and the shifter feels more like it's just falling into the gears.

 

doctordom said it, the extra weight gives it more umph going into gear works real well! good luck getting it to go smooth!

 

My Fit's shifter feels smooth, no problems.
But maybe its because I drive an SM420 equipped FJ40...........

 

Mine feels fine, I think I've felt what people are talking about. I would say my complaint for the clutch is that the pedal is feather light. I miss my accord and my cluth pedal that was like a workout.

 

the gate entry smoothness is also based on how you roll off the gas.

i think the gearbox is ok, just needs your input adjusted.

 

Honda reformulated the MTF for M/Y 2007 and it is the best it has ever been...there should be no grinding under normal circumstances. I personally find the shifting to be too quick and slick, so I plan to put 8 oz of Mobil1 75W-140 in when I change the fluid to see if I can get it to feel "just right."

 

sounds to me that your driving style is going to lead to premature clutch failure, and when it happens and the dealer finds the disc worn and nothing else guess who is going to pay... here's a hint NOT honda

 

Which part(s) of my driving style will lead to clutch failure? I know I might be driving M/T improperly somehow, but a non-specific "you're driving wrong" and saying the dealer won't cover damage because of it isn't very helpful...

 

i dont think your driving wrong... if the shifter is not not smooth and your clutching is, then you wont have clutch wear... if your clutching not smoothley, well than your clutch will wear early... but really unless your riding the clutch or or burning it up... i wouldnt worry.... and if u do kill the clutch! our good friends at Exedy are coming out with a ceramatalic clutch for us this summer!