Syncro Rings

Where do these go, and is it hard to fix?

I'm just curious, wondering if I'd be able to do the job, or should I take in the whole car to the mechanics, or just take a specific part out and get it fixed.

synchronizer:
A cone or sleeve that slides to and fro on the transmission main shaft and makes the gears rotate at the same speed to prevent clash when the gears are about to mesh. Whenever a vehicle is rolling, the transmission main shaft is turning and the clutch gear is spinning. Even though the clutch is disengaged, the clutch gear continues to spin until friction slows it down or stops it. Thus when the driver shifts into another gear he is trying to mesh gears that may be moving at different speeds. By using synchronizers, the possibility of broken or damaged teeth is reduced and shifting effort is lowered. A transmission using synchronizers is called a synchromesh transmission.

The teeth on the syncro. ring become worn and do not allow the proper engagement of the selected gear.

I do not think this would be a job for someone who has never had a transmission apart. It will require you to dissasemble the entire transmission.

You will need to get a new ring they can not be fixed.
Good luck

The only snchro worth replacing yourself is the one for 5th gear. All of the others require pressing the gears off and on the shafts, and that then requires resetting the bearing clearances when you reassemble the tranny. So it essentially requires a basic tranny rebuild. ;) Many a bad 2nd gear synchro has been cured (for another 20k miles or so at least) by switching to BG Synchroshift fluid though. ;)

I'll try that first ;) Thanks :D

I don't know if this is related...

It seems to happen with all gears, but mainly second.. there's 'something' you have to get past while shifting to get it into gear.. and the faster I try to shift, the harder it is to get into gear. Sorry if i suck at describing this, but think of it this way:
If i go from 1st to 2nd and back a few times.. it's really easy to shift into those gears, but normally if I try to move along quickly, I can hardly get it into 2nd gear when trying to shift fast. Slowly goes like this.. you are pulling (or pushing) into gear.. and it won't go in at first, but a moment later it seems to let you in.

Again, I have no idea how to describe this better, and it may even be normal as I've never driven another DSM before. Good luck decoding that paragraph :)

And 2nd is the first synchro to go, by the way.

yea, i know what your talking about Joe, it happens to me with all the gears sometimes.

O ya and check you fluid level as well. IF it is low that would cause the syncro not to function properly.

how do i check the tranny fluid?

EVery DSMers should have the 10 dollar haynes manual for the car. Very useful for simple tasks like this :)

There is a fill plug on the front of the turbo trannys. Pull the plug and fill it until it drips over. Put the plug back in. NT 2Gs are on the side somewhere, I'll let someone else point that out.

yea, i got it, i couldn't find anything like that, it was in the beginning of the manual doi! hehe thanks... i got a 1G... and thanks :D