3rd gear pop

[chriswashburn18]

My 99 Ti pops out of third gear when i get off the gas. Does anyone know why? It is fine when i am giving it gas but as soon as my foot is off the gas it keeps tryin to pop outta gear.

[ChrisS]

A few possibilities, and more that I'm missing too:

1. Dog clutches are worn
2. Dog teeth missing/worn down
3. Worn tranny mount allowing movement
4. Engine mount doing the same (maybe?)
5. Shifter not engaged entirely (seems unlikely to me)
6. Perhaps bad choice of tranny fluid or something else wrong with fluid (i.e. old or low)

The solutions to each are fairly straightforward. My thinking is to start at the easy parts and the mounts are easy for a tech to check. The fluid should be changed regularly anyway, though my hunch is that it's the dogs. This means a tranny rebuild or replacement.

Good luck. Like I said, there are probably more possibilities.

[chriswashburn18]

wow thanks for the helpful info, would u or anyone know where i might find a slightly used tranny that can be shipped to my house in Ohio?

[ChrisS]

I believe (confirm it to be sure) it was common to the 318's so there should be a few around. Likewise spare internals might be fairly easy to come by; then it's just a matter of finding a tranny tech to rebuild for you. The rebuild route takes more time with the car parked though.

You could call to some salvage yards maybe?

[J!m]

If all the shifter linkage bits are original (as I'm sure they are), it may be worth the small investment to get new wear parts for the shfter assembly.

There is the plastic 'bearing' the the shifter ball rides in as well as the little yellow washers on the bar from the shifter to the transmission.

Changing these small parts makes a WORLD of difference in the shifter feel and action.

It was mentioned, and may be true: it is possible the transmission is not going all the way into gear three. If this is not corrected, the gears could be damaged...

[chriswashburn18]

is it possible the clutch is going out?

[ChrisS]

I think it's more likely one of the other items. Could also be a clutch pilot bearing.

That's not to say that the clutch is good, only that it's probably not causing this particular problem. It would be a good time to replace some worn clutch items while the transmission's out of the car.

[chriswashburn18]

if i put a new clutch kit w/ twin mass flywheel and put m3 shift linkage in do u think it will fix the problem? And how hard are those to replace? I am used to workin on hondas at my friends import shop and helped out some.

[aceyx]

J!m, about how long do you think it would do to change all the bushings? i've thought this might be my 2nd gear cold problem.

[J!m]

The fix is easy, but getting to the parts in question is what takes the time. All the heat shields have to come down from under the car. The 'bearing' is accessable from inside the car (pull shift boots off and twist it out with special tool- I used a set of large snap-ring pliers I think).

The plastic washers are accessable from below. You need a circlip tool (sometimes a wide, thin screwdriver works well) to get the clips off the linkage, then just slide the shaft out. There is a yellow washer on each side of the two pivot points.

Best to do this cheap fix whenever the shifter is changed, or tranny work is done. MAYBE is $10.00 for the parts, but dealer labor would be high...