# grinding gears??



## Russell (Sep 11, 2005)

sometimes, while shifting down to first, my sentra will have a grinding noise. kind of sounds like trying to put my old transfer case in 4lo not in neutral. im wondering if i have a bad clutch. someone inform me. 2000 sentra SE, my first 5 speed


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## Biscuit (Mar 5, 2005)

Most if not all Sentras do that when you shift into first. How fast are you going when you shift into first? I know my b12 will do it when im doin 20 mph or more.


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## Jarek (Mar 29, 2005)

Russell said:


> sometimes, while shifting down to first, my sentra will have a grinding noise. kind of sounds like trying to put my old transfer case in 4lo not in neutral. im wondering if i have a bad clutch. someone inform me. 2000 sentra SE, my first 5 speed


On my spec it wont let me engauge first gear smoothly unless im at a stop. I would think first gear is a gear you would want to only engauge while crawling anyway or at a stop (duh)


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## Russell (Sep 11, 2005)

i ususally do it going about 5 mph, as in just getting to a stop sign. even when im completely stopped, its still more difficult to get it into 1st. like i said, it doesnt do it all the time, just once every now and again to bug the poop out of me.


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## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

Switching fluid will likely help your problems


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## B13boy (Dec 16, 2004)

Might also want to give it a little blip of throttle to rev match before shifting into gear, this will allow it to enter a gear a little easier. I do it almost everydownshift!


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## Russell (Sep 11, 2005)

thanks for the help, getting the fluid changed soon as i get the $$$


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## B13boy (Dec 16, 2004)

How many miles do you have on your car? At my shop we change the fluid at 30k intervals


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## Russell (Sep 11, 2005)

32k, so im guessing its never been changed. i just got the car like a month ago. havent checked into a lot of details yet. i did switch over to synthetic oil last saturday. this is kind of why i dont like used cars, you never know what kind of maintainance was kept on it.


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## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

IIRC Nissan's reccomended flush interval is 33k miles.


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## Russell (Sep 11, 2005)

sounds like ill be getting dirty soon :banana:


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## matt123 (Dec 2, 2004)

If it doesn't engage smoothly at a stop, or when you blip the throttle while stopped, you may have a worn synchro. If it's still under warranty, can't hurt to have them take a look at it.


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## Russell (Sep 11, 2005)

just checked the manual, change at 30k, and use SAE 80-90. uhhh...im not familiar with manuals or fwd cars. someone want to inform me on how/what to do?


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## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

Russell said:


> just checked the manual, change at 30k, and use SAE 80-90. uhhh...im not familiar with manuals or fwd cars. someone want to inform me on how/what to do?


What do you want to know?


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## onefastspecv05 (Sep 25, 2005)

well depending on how fast your moving when you're trying to shift into 1st it could be your syncros just not baing able to match up with the gear speed at that vehicle speed. are you stopped when it's grinding or are you rolling and if you are rolling how fast. i used to have the same problem in other cars when i was driving agressively in turns


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## Russell (Sep 11, 2005)

i want to know how to change the oil in there. is there any sort of filter kit? sorry to be such a noob. sometimes i can shift it into 1st at 40 mph, then sometimes it grinds around 10. of course i dont downshift into 1st while going 40, im coming to a stop. this happens rarely, but worries me when it does.


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## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

you would have to ask someone who has changed the tranny fluid on their manual spec v. bror jace is the man to speak to.


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## Strange1 (Aug 18, 2005)

Russell said:


> i want to know how to change the oil in there. is there any sort of filter kit? sorry to be such a noob. sometimes i can shift it into 1st at 40 mph, then sometimes it grinds around 10. of course i dont downshift into 1st while going 40, im coming to a stop. this happens rarely, but worries me when it does.


Why would u even downshift to 1st??????explain.I downshift to 2nd to slow down but 1st never heard of such a thing.That must be the reason why its grinding.U only go to 1st on a complete stop,   and yes I know if ur going slow enough u can manage to put it on 1st but why would u do so?


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## redshoes (May 30, 2005)

you cant have a worn synchro for 1st, becuase 1st gear isn't synchronized. In a modern manual transmission, all the gears (minus reverse, which is straight-cut, and 1st, which isn't designed to be down shifted to on a commuter car) are synchronized with brass fittings on the end of the shafts that decide which gear you are in, so they slowly engage each other while matching the others speed. This makes upshifts smooth without having to match the speed of the intermediate (rev-matching). That grinding noise you hear isn't from the actual drive gears, but from the un-synchronized shaft you are destroying jamming your shafts together going at drastically different speeds going 20 mph. And you are not going to be covered under warranty for abusing your trans this way, and you don't want to have to shell out for anyone to rebuild it. Just stop doing that shit. It's really, really not necessary. use 2nd or just stop all the way.


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## Russell (Sep 11, 2005)

im not driving it in 1st that fast. i do it like 10 feet before a stop sign going like 20 with the clutch in. if i dont stop, i put it in 2nd and then go.


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## Jarek (Mar 29, 2005)

Russell said:


> im not driving it in 1st that fast. i do it like 10 feet before a stop sign going like 20 with the clutch in. if i dont stop, i put it in 2nd and then go.


Interesting... with my spec i have to be at a full stop or pretty darn close. For good reason, but ya interesting.


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## Russell (Sep 11, 2005)

yeah i definately go into 2nd if i dont stop.


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## redshoes (May 30, 2005)

it doesn't have anything to do with the clutch in this situation. It has to do with your transmission not being designed to be put into first while you are going at all, unless you are REALLY good at rev-matching. Whether you have the clutch disengaged or not, you are still going 20 mph, and so is your intermediate shaft. So if you have an unsynched gear (1st) you have to match the speed or do damage.


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## SCORPIO (Dec 13, 2004)

i go in tomarrow to get the recalls done i got 95500 miles and my car dies while im driving they will still do it correct ? its a recall they have to and it shouldnt cost me anything should it ?

Also im having grinding gears when i go into 3rd and sometimes when im stopped i cant go into 1st it wont lock in i have to push it in as much as i can and then give it gas then it locks in.. i dont think thats natural anything that can fix that as well while im there ?


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## redshoes (May 30, 2005)

your post is outta left field, but if your car has an uncompleted recall the dealership will cover it. I'm assuming you have a b15 sentra of some sort because you didn't specify... But from the way you described the way you treat your gearshift, AND the fact that you have almost 100,000 miles on your car, (therefore no warranty left) you will end up having to pay for it. Why would you try to force the shift into gear like that? I don't mean to offend, but how could you not realize that is doing damage? It makes a REALLY fucked up metal on metal grinding noise that makes me want to cry for the car that is on the business end of that abuse. But I guess it is your car to destroy. Enjoy it!


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## Strange1 (Aug 18, 2005)

redshoes said:


> your post is outta left field, but if your car has an uncompleted recall the dealership will cover it. I'm assuming you have a b15 sentra of some sort because you didn't specify... But from the way you described the way you treat your gearshift, AND the fact that you have almost 100,000 miles on your car, (therefore no warranty left) you will end up having to pay for it. Why would you try to force the shift into gear like that? I don't mean to offend, but how could you not realize that is doing damage? It makes a REALLY fucked up metal on metal grinding noise that makes me want to cry for the car that is on the business end of that abuse. But I guess it is your car to destroy. Enjoy it!


Yup,redshoes got a point you destroyed your car and now u wanna blame the recall good luck!!


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## Flying Vv (Apr 10, 2003)

the sentra transmission has a gate that locks out 1st gear over 25 mph IIRC. It wont let you re-engage 1st gear ( without force) until you slow down past 10 or so mph. It also depends on the method you're using as well. Make your stop, shift into 1st and then go.


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