# grinding problem



## chuckone (Aug 4, 2002)

whats up. i have a ?. i have a 94 sentra and lately when the car gets hot and i shift in to 2nd gear the clutch grinds.it only does it going into second gear.and it only does it when the cars been runing for a long time.any help would be appreciated.i replaced the clutch with an act street clutch about a year ago and it started doing this recently.


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## new94 (Jan 9, 2004)

Mine does the same thing once and while, my tranny fluid looked good so i left it but i think it's better to put some good synthetic in it. This will hopefully eliminate alot of the 2nd gear grind if not totally!


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## DanTheMan (Jan 12, 2003)

*ACT stage1*



new94 said:


> Mine does the same thing once and while, my tranny fluid looked good so i left it but i think it's better to put some good synthetic in it. This will hopefully eliminate alot of the 2nd gear grind if not totally!


Yeah, so does mine. I have a 1.6 with the ACT stage 1 street clutch and an UR crank pulley. Lately it wants to grind and is getting hard to shift into any gear.
Could this be bushings wearing out? Is it tranny time?
It's only got 77k mi on it but I am guilty of burning the stock clutch up like warm butter...mmmmmmm. I'm goin' easy on it but it started I think from trying to shift too early in turns...
gotta wait for the car to slow down to the shift point before you can slip it in gear....it's like the f**n tranny locks you out . Maybe I forced it into gear or something when it wasn't ready? I dunno but this cars been a bitch to shift ever since I bought it brand new in 97'. Maybe the tranny was made on a friday night. I've played with the clutch adjustment cable and made sure the release lever and pedal are set correct and it seems to help a little but the prob. is still there.

Anyone with clutch/tranny knowledge or who has actually rebuilt one please advise....


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## toolapcfan (Jul 10, 2002)

The clutch has nothing to do with how the gears would shift. And certainly a UR crank pulley wouldn't either. The gear synchros are what prevent you from shifting into a gear at the wrong RPM's, or what would cause grinding when shifting. You could try a heavier gear oil, maybe it's getting too thin once it's warmed up.


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## Hybrid93eg (May 16, 2004)

toolapcfan said:


> The clutch has nothing to do with how the gears would shift. And certainly a UR crank pulley wouldn't either. The gear synchros are what prevent you from shifting into a gear at the wrong RPM's, or what would cause grinding when shifting. You could try a heavier gear oil, maybe it's getting too thin once it's warmed up.


Don't know much about trannies do you? The synchros are there to assist in matching the speeds of the input shaft and the countershaft... Not to prevent shifting into any specific gear like you said. Also, thinner oil would be BETTER for the synchro teeth as they must first cut through the gear oil in order to "lock onto" the respective shaft. If anything, heavier oil would make the problem worse.

And one more thing, clutch problems CAN lead to issues with shifting. Contrary to what you posted.


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## lawabidn (Mar 28, 2004)

yep, and aftermarket clutches and throw-out bearings can be the cause of it.

I've had two sets come with a throw-out bearing too thin that cause occasional hard shifting into gears.

just an idea

-corey


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## DanTheMan (Jan 12, 2003)

*Aw Shiznit*

Well I think it's the synchros. And as far as a tranny rebuild I wouldn't know where to start so to the tranny shop we will go (after about another 25k mi of work&back). 
In the meantime I had synthetic fluid put in but I dunno if it's thick/thin all I know is it's 100% synth. and has helped alleviate the symptoms.
I have a pace-setter short-shifter sitting in my garage so I'll prob stick that in and see if it helps. I think the ball half-way up the thread is a good spot to start I hear.
Anyway, I don't know gaga about trannies and understand what the synchros do but like, what happens when they go?
You get locked in gear?
I doubt its the throw-out bearing because the clutch is still not slipping, and it engages and disengages just fine. It's only got 16k mi on the clutch!
So what do new trannies run?
How about a rebuilt one or to have mine rebuilt.
I live in AZ.
I was also thinking of dropping in an SR20DET with Tranny and doing the swap but I dunno if any of the shops here would be able to really do it right and still have a fair price.
Any help or suggestions is appreciated.
Thanks you guys.


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## DanTheMan (Jan 12, 2003)

*ACT stage 1*

Yep, that was it! 
I took it to nissan dealership (brown and brown in AZ at the tempe autoplex)
They said it was the clutch not the tranny.
I told them it had only 16k mi on it and they said "yeah high performance equals high maintenance"
So much for my favorite clutch (because it grabbed so well) now I have a new stock unit for 1109 total with a new cable too.
I'm also out the 325 for the ACT and 600 for that install.
So it had over 12k mi on it and was 1 and 1/2 years old that means the warranty is "up" and I'm just stuck with it.
I think I'll write ACT a nasty letter anyway!
What kind of clutch lasts for 16k mi? A real piece of junk thats what kind!
Too bad, it did clamp down like hell and I could peel out at will but oh the price of high performance!
Lets hope I don't burn up my new stock clutch (that all the original did!) our clutches suck so bad stock I hated to put another stock unit in but I wasn't about to get 16k mi on another ACT clutch and I can't wait for a JWT unit in the mail.
Besides, I don't think JWT would do better than a 1yr 12kmi warranty anyway and they would only charge more for the part.
Anyway nuff' said just avoid ACT like the plague!
I will never buy an aftermarket clutch again (or a stick-shift car either)
I am also leary of nissan trannies in general because this one with the new clutch still doesn't slide right into gear (maybe the tranny got damaged with the old act clutch? But 1st and 2nd gear have been a pain in my ass since day #1 because you've gotta be going like 2mph to get into 1st and like 25 or 30 to put it in 2nd so like if I wanna downshift to 2nd and drift a turn at 40-50mph forget it because all you can use is 3rd gear at that speed, it just refuses to downshift into 2nd until you slow to 30mph! 
What a piece of crap econo-box tranny we have!!!!!!!!!!
I won't miss the clutch pressure on the ACT pedal though, you have to practically stand on the clutch to depress it with an act unit!!!
Funny, thay said twice the clamping power, they didn't say 10 TIMES THE CLUTCH PEDAL PRESSURE!!!
That should sum it up!


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## Hybrid93eg (May 16, 2004)

DanTheMan said:


> Yep, that was it!
> I took it to nissan dealership (brown and brown in AZ at the tempe autoplex)
> They said it was the clutch not the tranny.
> I told them it had only 16k mi on it and they said "yeah high performance equals high maintenance"
> ...


Ok, wait a minute here. So you are bitching about a performance clutch (ACT) that lasted you fro 16k miles of abuse and this makes it a piece of junk? You just got through displaying that you liked to "burn out" with it and crap.. It wouldn't surprise me if you thrashed it with your dumb ass driving habits if thats the case. Your also bitching about how the Nissan transmission is crap because of the shifting problems you are having... Dude, you beat the piss out of ANY transmission and its going to have problems. I don't know a whole hell of a lot about Nissan, but I can tell you that the trannies mated to the Ga16DE were not ever designed to "race" as a lot of people here seem to think they were. Its an econobox car with cheap parts made to keep production costs at a minimum. They didn't design it with the idea of some kids trying to go 0-60 faster then the 11 second stock times. The SR20 trannies, I have no experience with those... But I assume they are a little stronger due to the fact that they must handle the added torque which is a tremendous additional load.

Also, what kind of a person buys a clutch listed as having "10 times the clamping force" and then wonders why the hell his pedal is soo stiff? Especially on a car with a damn CABLE TRANNY. Your comment about bitching about the stiffness just made me laugh. How else do you think they increase the holding capacity of the clutch? By increasing the stiffness of the springs in the pressure plate.. Ok, well, if the pressure plate is stiffer then its GOING TO TAKE MORE FORCE TO GET IT TO RELEASE. Its plain and simple and more then obvious. This will be noticeable especially in a cable clutch setup but also makes a difference even on a hydro clutch setup. 

In general, yeah, I could see all your problems coming from running a clutch that was too "performance" for your application. I could see it stretching the cable, I could see it wearing out tranny... It just makes no sense to buy something which obviously is going to increase the stress on the drivetrain, and then to bitch about it when you start having problems as a result of it.

On a side note, please dont read his response and think that ACT makes crappy clutches, because they don't. I ran one on a boosted car for many miles with no trouble at all. They hold very well and perform as they should for the application they are designed for. They also wear extremely well. Any clutch is going to have accelerated wear if you take it out and race it.. Thats just all there is to it.


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## DanTheMan (Jan 12, 2003)

*Clutches*

Yeah, yeah. I didn't burn out all the time (like I see everyone do even when not racin'!) hah!.
16k mi was all street driving in stop/go and an occassional burnout (more like a chirp anyway on a 1.6!) 
So following that it is a 1.6 it would be real hard to burn out "all the time" considiering you can only chirp 1st gear anyway.
I didn't slam-shift or play speed racer or anything.
Besides if I knew anything about trannies or clutches I would have connected the two points you do make; Increasing clamping pressure Increasses pedal pressure.
All I'm saying is this car never shifted well period. A high performance clutch should last 16k mi of drag yeah, maybe less. But 16kmi of street with an occasional burnout or fast start, BS! It should go even longer than the stock unit with street driving shouldn't it?
And the dealer says my tranny is "fine" but it still is resistant to going into gear at certain times/speeds. i.e. when downshifting from 5th to 4th and 4th to 3rd it doesn't go "right in" like stock it first feels like it hits a blockage and then goes in without grinding. IS this normal or normal for the wear of 78k mi? Otherwise it's going into 1st and 2nd again with no trouble at all.
I'll keep her at least 3 more years and then prob. do the trans. if not I'll sell privately at that time for whatever I can get and get a new car with a real engine and a trans I don't have to shift but can push-button the gears! even better! or a cvt tranny!!! Not to mention an extended warrranty!
Since you admit you don't know something (had me fooled) the SR20 trans can't take too much more power either, not that the clutch is the prob. the actuall trans housing slams into a support beam with every hard launch and likes to crack when you add too much power (i.e. nos or turbos) but they know about it and can weld it or buy a pre-welded trans.. 
Now you learned something for the day!


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## Hybrid93eg (May 16, 2004)

DanTheMan said:


> Yeah, yeah. I didn't burn out all the time (like I see everyone do even when not racin'!) hah!.
> 16k mi was all street driving in stop/go and an occassional burnout (more like a chirp anyway on a 1.6!)
> So following that it is a 1.6 it would be real hard to burn out "all the time" considiering you can only chirp 1st gear anyway.
> I didn't slam-shift or play speed racer or anything.
> ...


Well, sorry for not knowing more about the sacred SR20 drivetrain. I am a Honda guy myself and honestly probably wouldn't own a Nissan Sentra if it weren't for the fact that I got the car for $150.


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## siliconmatrix (Feb 25, 2004)

I wouldn't even bother with getting an ACT on a 1.6 or 2.0 sentra. The ACT is really not nessisary unless you are running like 350+ HP and then you are gonna want some PAR stacks and have everything cryo'd and shotpeened, have your tranny case welded and reinforced as well as get some halfshafts that can stand up to the abuse.....I went with just a good 'ol LUK repset...DSMs run 11's using the LUK and it's only $100 at pep boys....and if you have the 5th gear popout problem don't bother getting a different tranny or getting the revised replacements from the dealership, I got the revised replacement 5th gear set and the popout dissappeared for like 2 months and then started doing it again....if you do any kind of regular long-distance commuting or plan on doing a long road trip and you have the popout problem invest in a small bungie cord to hold it in 5th.....your synchros should stay ok for a while unless you plow into gears too quickly......also if you ever have to pull your tranny make sure to check the circlips on the ends of the halfshafts real good.......I went through 3 halfshafts within the first month of having my car and 2 of which left the ends of the splines past the circlip inside the transmission....those wonderful pieces 3 months later found a nice home right up against the diff ring gear....fun stuff.....one thing I haven't tried yet is to get a 5th gear set and have it cryo'd and shot peened before installation....that may help fix it.....good luck to all of you on all of your endeavors


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## toolapcfan (Jul 10, 2002)

The easiest thing to do is to buy an LSD tranny from a g20t and swap out the hydraulic clutch for the cable operated one. It's not hard to do at all and the newer tranny is a lot stronger than the old ones and won't have the popout issues either.


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## Astrin (Apr 4, 2005)

Just a little thing to say here... 190k on my stock GA16DE and I can peel in first, chirp 2nd and 3rd. There's plenty of power in the engine, just need a good clutch/pressure plate combo.


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## d_baldguy_24 (Jul 12, 2002)

*agreed...*



Astrin said:


> Just a little thing to say here... 190k on my stock GA16DE and I can peel in first, chirp 2nd and 3rd. There's plenty of power in the engine, just need a good clutch/pressure plate combo.


same here, and mine is about 201K.


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## B13turbo93 (Nov 19, 2004)

I LIKE THE ACT, BUT ONE THING IS FOR SURE THE MORE PREESURE YOUR CLUTCH IS DEALING WITH THE SHORTER ITS LIFE SPAN WILL BE!(1 year is pretty good on that clutch,with a clutch dump here and there) A good clutch is going to give a lower horsepower car some more balls,your probably looking at a .300 sec difference in ET's. it is Proven.


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