Is this a grind or what?

[TheLocust]

Hey guys, im new at driving a stick I've been driving for awhile but just recently got my S13 back together after buying a gutted shell a year ago. I found that driving it was a lot easier then expected I only have one problem, The 1-2 shift can be a bit notchy at times. Its not like the 3-4 that just slides in on a smooth motion. I drive shift at about 3500 and go to shift and I take the car out of gear and go to put it in 2nd and it kinda like stops then goes into gear. It feels like its grinding a bit but you can only feel it you can't hear it at all. My dad has driven m/t cars all his life and told me that "its just the car going into gear, its not grinding" I don't see how thats true because its nothing like the 3-4 shift. Can someone tell me if im just paranoid or is there a problem? Also the car is hard to put into 1st sometimes too. Like when im coming to a green light turning left and yielding and waiting for traffic to clear but still moving a little bit(about 5 miles an hour) I see a break in traffic and go to put it in 1st and it won't go I have to put it back into nuetral for a second then try again. I dunno if its just me not being used to driving a 5spd car and being worried about every little tick noise and vibration I feel or what.. Also something is up with the front end. I replaced the outter tie rod ends and got a front end allignment because it was pulling after I put it back together. But now the car is fine but when im going through like a sweeping long but not sharp turn the car tend to jerk and veer real quick to the side im turning.. Anyone have any ideas on what could be wrong here? I had my dad look at it and he said looks straight and we compared sides but something is up. I noticed it happens most when I go over a small bump in the road it just gets squirrely and jerks.. Someone help me figure out what I need to fix. Thanks.

[gogg]

Hey guys, im new at driving a stick I've been driving for awhile but just recently got my S13 back together after buying a gutted shell a year ago. I found that driving it was a lot easier then expected I only have one problem, The 1-2 shift can be a bit notchy at times. Its not like the 3-4 that just slides in on a smooth motion. I drive shift at about 3500 and go to shift and I take the car out of gear and go to put it in 2nd and it kinda like stops then goes into gear. It feels like its grinding a bit but you can only feel it you can't hear it at all. My dad has driven m/t cars all his life and told me that "its just the car going into gear, its not grinding" I don't see how thats true because its nothing like the 3-4 shift. Can someone tell me if im just paranoid or is there a problem?

This sounds normal to me, make sure your pushing in the pedal far enough.

Also the car is hard to put into 1st sometimes too. Like when im coming to a green light turning left and yielding and waiting for traffic to clear but still moving a little bit(about 5 miles an hour) I see a break in traffic and go to put it in 1st and it won't go I have to put it back into nuetral for a second then try again.

I'm pretty sure this is a safety feature, all 240s do it.

dunno if its just me not being used to driving a 5spd car and being worried about every little tick noise and vibration I feel or what.. Also something is up with the front end. I replaced the outter tie rod ends and got a front end allignment because it was pulling after I put it back together. But now the car is fine but when im going through like a sweeping long but not sharp turn the car tend to jerk and veer real quick to the side im turning.. Anyone have any ideas on what could be wrong here? I had my dad look at it and he said looks straight and we compared sides but something is up. I noticed it happens most when I go over a small bump in the road it just gets squirrely and jerks.. Someone help me. figure out what I need to fix. Thanks.

Like the rear end is floating? Kinda like the body of the car is seperate from the wheels? If thats what your talking about then its the mushy stock subframe bushing, I'd suggest reinforcing them with metal subframe spacers.

[TheLocust]

thanks man that made me a bit more at ease, and no its not like that a friend of mine already suggested that. Its something in the front end. Say im just driving along and there is a curve in the road. I start to turn and don't even move the wheel after I start turning. Then all of a sudden the wheel jerks out my hand and the car veers really fast to the side im turning. Like I said, it seems to happen when im on a bumpy road but has done it on smooth roads. It scares the **** out of me sometimes just driving normal down a side street with cars parked on the side and the dumb *** coming at me doens't yield like he is really supposed to and im squeezing by them and the parked car while at a slight turn and the wheel jerks, this is when I first noticed it and that could have turned ugly quick

[KRUZNBY]

Also the car is hard to put into 1st sometimes too.

I also found this frustrating when I first learned how to drive a stick. You can rev match when you downshift and it should go into first alot easier. Basically, just blip the throttle to bring the RPMs up and it should slide into 1st.

[gogg]

Have you done an inspection of all your front link suspension components? Make sure all the bolts are there and torqued down. Also inspect all your bushings especially the tension rod ones. Just do a double check on the tension rods.