# 2013 M32 6-speed manual 6th Gear Grind - No Synchronizer?



## chevrasaki (May 1, 2015)

Steelmesh said:


> This trans has 22k miles on it. 2013 LUV 1.4T MR5 LT
> 
> I first noted grinding when skip shifting 5th gear, so going from 4th gear to 6th gear. I try to wait a couple seconds to let the RPM's drop closer to where the gear should be, but it will still grind some amount.
> 
> ...



There is a pretty well known issue with these gearboxes being under filled with a very thin facotry gear fluid. This causes the 5th and 6th gear shaft bearings to wear out. The fix is to slightly overfill the transmission fluid with a beefier synchromesh fluid. There is a whole thread on how to change it here.

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/129-...627-how-change-manual-transmission-fluid.html

Also, block shifting without double clutching does add more wear to the synchros, I would not recommend skipping gears.


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## chevrasaki (May 1, 2015)

PS, your transmission is the Getrag M32 with the MR5 package final drive gearing just like mine is  I replaced my manual transmission fluid with the Amsoil Synchromesh 5w-30 to remedy the 1st to 2nd gear grind I was suffering from and it has transformed the feeling of the transmission.


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## pandrad61 (Jul 8, 2015)

> Also, block shifting without double clutching does add more wear to the synchros, I would not recommend skipping gears.


ive been skipping gears on all my manuals since i was 16, my Toyota pickup and supra, Honda civic, gmc sonoma, and my samurai... all of them had absolutely no issues with my skip shifting and they each all had 250k miles on original trans. lost the sammi to tough financal times, supra was not needed in driveway and taking to much space, sonoma DUI hit us and totaled, civic cousin bought for cheap. Toyota tough times as well


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## chevrasaki (May 1, 2015)

pandrad61 said:


> ive been skipping gears on all my manuals since i was 16, my Toyota pickup and supra, Honda civic, gmc sonoma, and my samurai... all of them had absolutely no issues with my skip shifting and they each all had 250k miles on original trans. lost the sammi to tough financal times, supra was not needed in driveway and taking to much space, sonoma DUI hit us and totaled, civic cousin bought for cheap. Toyota tough times as well


I still don't recommend it, as I have not been skipping gears and I have the same success rate. however I have heard of others who do skip gears with not such great success.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

There is a big yellow warning in my owner's manual about not skipping gears when accelerating, stating that it may lead to premature clutch wear. For downshifting it says you may lose control of your car, but nothing about clutch wear.

The only time I'll skip a gear accelerating is when I have been in WOT and I'm at my final speed. Then I slow shift to let the engine speed match the target gear at that speed.


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## Steelmesh (Jan 16, 2016)

chevrasaki said:


> PS, your transmission is the Getrag M32 with the MR5 package final drive gearing just like mine is  I replaced my manual transmission fluid with the Amsoil Synchromesh 5w-30 to remedy the 1st to 2nd gear grind I was suffering from and it has transformed the feeling of the transmission.


M32 is what I was looking for, was mistaken


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## Steelmesh (Jan 16, 2016)

obermd said:


> Steelmesh, are you asking about a Cruze or a Toyota MR5? In either case this isn't right.


Opps, I am asking about a Cruze, I mistook MR5 for the transmission designation, it should have been M32 as chevarski deduced


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## Steelmesh (Jan 16, 2016)

obermd said:


> The only time I'll skip a gear accelerating is when I have been in WOT and I'm at my final speed. Then I slow shift to let the engine speed match the target gear at that speed.


This is my intent, accelerate to the speed I want to cruise at in 4th, then go to 6th to just cruise at this speed.


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## pandrad61 (Jul 8, 2015)

When you say skip gear what do you mean? when i skip gears im cursing at 50 and instead of going from 4th to 5th ill jump to 6th. or if i know im going to be doing 40 mph for a while ill, jump to 4 vs going 3rd then forth


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Steelmesh said:


> This is my intent, accelerate to the speed I want to cruise at in 4th, then go to 6th to just cruise at this speed.


Just keep the clutch in the entire shift. No reason to let the clutch out and then go back in. Also, have you changed your synchromesh? The GM synchromesh is very thin and for the 2013s we're under-filled by half a quart. I personally wouldn't go more than 15K miles on the GM fluid.


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## au201 (May 18, 2013)

Is skip shifting really bad? Does anyone know why it would be a problem mechanically? I skip shift my mustang all the time, I frequently go 1-2-3-6 or 1-4-6 and then down from 6-3-N. And almost never go through all gears (now that I think of it, fifth gets almost completely ignored lol). I don't see any mechanical problem as long as you REV MATCH. Upshifts AND downshifts. If I skip from 1-4 I let the revs drop from around 4.5k to the 1500 or so it'll be in 4th. (In my area, we have a lot of stop lights on 60mph roads - people like to accel very quickly to around 40 and then lazily get from 40-60) 


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App


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## pandrad61 (Jul 8, 2015)

and all new corvettes come with a mechanical skip shift that does 1st to 4th unless you are driving hard and fast. if skip shift was bad why would gm make it so that their halo car does it for you, to avoid the skip shift you have to install a part that allows you to do so..

*au201* on all my manuals i do the same as well, heck to do 32 mph i put the supra from second to 4th and just let it idle and it did just fine


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

au201 said:


> Is skip shifting really bad? Does anyone know why it would be a problem mechanically? I skip shift my mustang all the time, I frequently go 1-2-3-6 or 1-4-6 and then down from 6-3-N. And almost never go through all gears (now that I think of it, fifth gets almost completely ignored lol). I don't see any mechanical problem as long as you REV MATCH. Upshifts AND downshifts. If I skip from 1-4 I let the revs drop from around 4.5k to the 1500 or so it'll be in 4th. (In my area, we have a lot of stop lights on 60mph roads - people like to accel very quickly to around 40 and then lazily get from 40-60)
> 
> 
> Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App


Rev Matching is key here.


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## blk88verde (Apr 30, 2011)

I no longer have my ECO 6MT, however it clearly stated in the owners manual to not skip gears and I took that as up and down. The ratios are so wide in that transmission that the synchros struggle with just normal shifting. Skipping would be more stressful on the synchros. In my 320i I do not skip gears, even if I only briefly shift in and out of the gear. By the way I never had any grinding with my ECO. I did have a 1980 SAAB 900 Turbo 5MT and the owners manual for that car advised for best fuel economy to shift 1 to 2 to 4 and then 5th. My 2004 GTO from the factory with the 6MT Tremec had a 1 to 4 skip shift for fuel economy (I have programmed that out) - drove me crazy.


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## pandrad61 (Jul 8, 2015)

> My 2004 GTO from the factory with the 6MT Tremec had a 1 to 4 skip shift for fuel economy (I have programmed that out) - drove me crazy.


that or a gas guzzler tax lol, at least its easy to defeat


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## Steelmesh (Jan 16, 2016)

pandrad61 said:


> When you say skip gear what do you mean? when i skip gears im cursing at 50 and instead of going from 4th to 5th ill jump to 6th. or if i know im going to be doing 40 mph for a while ill, jump to 4 vs going 3rd then forth


Yes, so lets say I am on a 50 mph road clear ahead, I will accelerate as normal, take 4th gear to 50 mph, then jump straight to 6th. I just went to lunch with a colleague, and he said he had the same grinding in his Cobalt SS when he skipped to the final gear.


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## Steelmesh (Jan 16, 2016)

obermd said:


> Just keep the clutch in the entire shift. No reason to let the clutch out and then go back in. Also, have you changed your synchromesh? The GM synchromesh is very thin and for the 2013s we're under-filled by half a quart. I personally wouldn't go more than 15K miles on the GM fluid.


Possible misunderstanding, I double clutched randomly while coasting off the freeway this morning (I'm not use to leaving it in gear while slowing down, habit I am working on). I noted that I could make 6th grind every time doing this.

For my normal driving when I skip to the last gear, I don't do anything fancy, I just clutch as expected.


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## pandrad61 (Jul 8, 2015)

hmm ok. on my Toyota the only gear that would grind ever was going into reverse. you had to wiggle in neutral and it would then slide in reverse flawlessly. i guess some cars have tough enough trans to handle it. the corvette makes you do so as does the gto, my supra and Toyota pick up did fine too.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

You should be able to put the car in neutral and let the clutch out to coast, then put the clutch back and shift as normal as long as the target gear is in range for the end of the shift (don't try this at 90 MPH and try for 3rd, for instance).

Heck, I've restarted my car at 80 MPH. Clutch in, key off, key on, clutch out. Drove the stabilitrack system nuts but I didn't grind 6th gear.


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