A torque brace will not help once the synchro is broken. All it does it minimize engine and trans movement to keep everything aligned, and reduce the chance of missing a shift.

 

I noticed that your bidding on that right now Boosted FD. Once I get my engine mounts I think I will get one of those. Not a bad price at all. We should make an Fd post od nice parts for cheap via Ebay. cool!! I have that fith gear grind too but if you learn to match the rpm them your good.

 

That's basically all it boils down to. If the synchros are good, just let your RPM's come down before shifting. If that doesn't fix it, look into the synchro.



The torque brace should help as well.

 

Totally... i'm gonna start one right now..

 

FYI: NP.com user Jburer has an '97 J-Spec FD tranny for $700 w/ only 20K miles on it.



$700 is usually cheaper than the labor a shop will ask for to do the syncros, so it makes more sense unless you're doing it yourself. And for $700 you get the benfit of knowing that your tranny won't crap out again.



Kevin

 

This is how I shift and it's been working pretty well...



Clutch in, go from 4th to neutral

Clutch out, blip engine, go from neutral to 5th slowly.

As you start moving into the gate for 5th, put very slight pressure towards the left and ease it in. Sounds crazy but it works (pulling shifter toward you).



You want to blip the engine with the clutch out so that the input shaft on the tranny comes up to speed to match with the output shaft.

 

It is a common problem. There was a TSB on the 5th gear synchro way back when. In 94 and later the 5th gear synchro and the "shift select spindle" were upgraded. If you can find another owner/member whose has fixed this, it is not a tough job. Most of the work is really just getting the tranny out. Another option would be to remove the transmission yourself and and then take it to a shop. Takes less than 1 hour for someone with the right tools.

As stated already, neither transmission braces or engine torque braces will help. Neither will new fluids. And don't wait TOO long. The 5th gear synchro is just a small brass gear that typically cracks. Mine was broken in two places and when I tried to pull it off the shaft it sits on, it broke in two pieces. I believe it's unsupported when your car is in reverse and if it would have fallen off inside while I was driving, the whole transmission would have been junk. Ray Crowe at Malloy is great and will know exactly what you need. Change front and rear seals too while the transmission is out. They're inexpensive and take less than 5 minutes to install. Cheap insurance.

 

i heard power shifting through the first gears pushes the 5th synchro outta place. if you need a trans i got one for sale.