Manual Gear Shifter Very Stiff.

[Whoa Black Boaty]

Ok my gear shifter is very hard to put into certain gears. up and downshifting from second to firsts is the worst. up shifting from third to 4th is easy.
I want to know how i can make it a little easier. for doing pulls and shifting quickly it sucks.
My mums car is like nothing. it's too easy to change gears. my car i have to put my muscle into it. someone in between would be ideal.
Any other way to make it easier besides lubrication?

Cheers.

[GTSBoy]

Depends on what you mean by "stiff". If you hurry it, will it crunch? If you hurry it, will it just resist the force you apply, making you push harder? If you hurry it, will it just bounce off the gate?

Do you know what synchros are and what they do and what they feel like when worn?

What did you mean by "lubrication"? Did you mean putting some oil on the shifter? If so, then that's not a workable idea. If you meant changing the transmission lubricant....then that could be a good idea. You might find it needs to be swapped to smurf blood (Redline shockproof).

[MrStabby]

If shifting is hard cold but not so bad hot, then synthetic oil of the correct viscosity may help. If you've never changed the gearbox oil, then now is a good time to do it. Lightweight shockproof is great if the sychros are worn - its sort of a band-aid to defer the inevitable rebuild. If you've got a short shifter, swap back to the stock shifter.

[Whoa Black Boaty]

I have no idea about this. I just know how to use one haha
If i try to shift quick it sometimes in resists and throws it in the previous gear or finds neutral. It's usually my fault for half assing it. I prefer it to be a little hard over putting it in gear like butter. I kind of like ripping it into gear with muscle. but than it sucks if i f**k up the gear change.
anyway
It does not crunch if i have the clutch engaged.
Not sure exactly what synchros are. but if you explain i might know what it feels like.
Pretty sure transmission fluid is new. because i just bought the car from a dealer a month ago. i might try the product you mentioned. I was thinking about lubricating the end of the stick shift so it glided a little easier.

Stabby; doesn't matter if hot or cold, usually hard even when driving for a couple of hours.
I'm not sure if it a short shifter or not. I have a short nismo knob but could be stock or short shifter not sure.



Cheers guys i will try out everything you mentioned,

[Whoa Black Boaty]

Oh and the strangest thing it's only hard going in between certain gears. like i mentioned 1st to 2nd is the worst. followed by 2nd to 3rd. 3rd to 4th is easy. 4th to 5th is not to bad either. So i'm thinking it's the ones that get used the most.

Edited December 18, 2014 by SkylineR33RB25

[MagicMikeZ32]

Is the car new (to you)? Or have you had it a while? Has it always been hard to shift? Has any work at all been done to the car recently?

Edited December 18, 2014 by MagicMikeZ32

[Whoa Black Boaty]

new to me Only bought it about a month ago. yes always hard to shift. and no work done to it (by me or that i know of).

It's not a huge deal, it's still driveable. just a preference to making my car 100%

Edited December 18, 2014 by SkylineR33RB25

[GTSBoy]

I'm not going to say that you don't have a problem at all, because that would be foolish of me. But you do realise that you're not rowing the gear shifter on a tiny little 4cyl gearbox in a shopping trolley, yeah? The RB25 turbo gearbox is a massive thing with big heavy gears inside that does take at least a little bit of effort to change. I'm just asking and saying in case the problem is almost nothing at all.

The main advice I can give you, without using your gearbox myself to feel what it's doing, is to shift smoothly and positively, at the appropriate revs. If you are changing down, for example, don't let the engine revs fall real low either before you clutch in or during the change. If you do, then the synchros will have to do a lot of work to match the speeds of the shafts in the box together. If you are upshifting at medium revs and are not in a hurry, pause for a fraction of a second in the gate between gears, or move the shifter at a moderate speed. Not too slow, because they don't like that either. If you are running to the top end of 1st gear and want a quick change to 2nd, don't f**k about with it. Make the shift straight down through the gate - again at a reasonable speed. Don't try to throw it through, don't allow any sideways motion of the shifter in the gate.

[MagicMikeZ32]

Check the linkage from the shifter to the shift rod. I have seen the bolt (and nyloc nut) done up too tight, making the shifter very tight and hard to move. Wind the nut back a quarter of a turn.

[Whoa Black Boaty]

I have a rb25de (n/a) but yes it is a heavy powerful car and i understand that it should be harder to change than a point a to b car. I know how to rev match but i don't think that's the problem because it happens no matter what speed/rpm i'm going.
I should probably drive another one or drive someone else's to see if the same but don't know anyone.

Yes mike. That could be what it is. Definitely feels like somethings done up way to tight.

I sound like a bitch complaining that it's to hard to move a stick haaha

[Whoa Black Boaty]

Oh also when i wiggle it in neutral to make sure it's out of gear before i release brake or clutch I can hear the noise from underneath my car when i have to windows down. Is this normal?

If anyone else has a r33, gts or gtst can they wiggle it in neutral and see if they can hear it.

[Ben C34]

It's a heavy not powerful car.

[GTSBoy]

The NA box is half the size of the turbo box, but still pretty big.

Check the shifter nut as Mike suggested, or take it to a mechanic.

[Whoa Black Boaty]

It's a heavy not powerful car.

Compared to a point a to b car yes it is. has almost 3x the hp of lets say a nissan micra.

For p plate legal, it's only just under the power laws in nsw.

[Ben C34]

Sweet.

[Hadouken]

Change oil. Come back with results.

All this sounds like is your oil is shit or you are changing gears weird. I suppose you are still a novice and with time will come experience.

[Dylan454]

When I first got my car it would crunch really bad changing to third. Also I would have trouble finding gears. But I have had it about a year now and it doesn't do it anymore. I reckon it was my crap driving lol and also the box wearing to how I drive.

[Whoa Black Boaty]

Yeah i'll try out everything that people suggested and see if that helps.
I know how to change gears I have been driving manual for a year and driven a ford fiesta and nissan dualis with no problem in term of effort. I could change gears with my finger tips with both cars. In the skyline i have to muscle it into gear. there's no problem finding gears if that was the case it would on be 2nd to 3rd and 4th to 5th only.

Cheers everyone

[Hadouken]

A year is not a long time. And the age difference in the cars. The skyline is 20+ years old. They are supposed to be muscled. To a extent Ofcoarse.

[Ben C34]

An na skyline is a muscle car compared to a dualis and fiesta.