I just got an '07 HHR LS 5 speed this week. In driving it around, I've noticed that if you go quickly from 2nd to 3rd, the gear grinds. I'm not talking about slamming the gear, but just going quickly. If you shift out of 2nd and hesitate a bit in-between gears before going into 3rd, then it shifts ok. What could cause this? Is this a powertrain warranty issue?

 

Its certainly not normal. I have had an 07 LS five speed since new, and have never heard gear noise of any sort. I would certainly expect the transmission to be part of the five year 100,000 mile warrantee. If its a clutch problem, I'm not sure it would be covered.

 

I'd change the fluid in the tranny to see if it helps. Has to be a tranny problem if it's only the 2-3 shift. A clutch problem should show up on every shift.

 

I'm sure its not a clutch problem. It either has to be something in the shifter linkeage or the trans itself. I will probably go ahead and change the trans fluid as soon as I get back home in a couple of weeks. I've already bought fluid from the dealer. I suspect however that changing the fluid isn't going to do it either.

I just wonder if the person I bought it from rammed it into third gear a lot and maybe wore the shifter down or something. I will probably take it to a dealer and have it looked at. Somehow I'm sure they will find a way to try to tell me that its not covered.

 

Might be the Hyd clutch slave cylinder getting tired ?

Is the Brake Fluid dirty in the master ? Since the juice clutch shares that fluid..

 

Could be a bad synchro...or the shift fork tip could be broken or worn.

If you double clutch...does it do it. If it doesn't then it is the synchro. If it is the same as normal when you double clutch, then the shift fork tip is bad.

 

I don't know what the tick is with this shifting thing. If I shift from second into neutral, hesitate, then into third, it doesn't grind. If I double clutch, it doesnt grind. If I shift very quickly from 2nd to 3rd, it doesnt grind. If however I move the shifter at a medium speed with no hesitation in neutral between 2nd and 3rd, it grinds every time. The rpm I'm at when I go to shift doesn't seem to have any bearing on whether or not it grinds. For now I'm just shifting it from 2nd to 3rd so that I know it won't grind. I'll have to let a dealer () check it out.

I get the feeling that the guy I bought it from was hard on the shifter from 2nd to 3rd.

 

If it's inside the transmission, yes.

 

I took my HHR in Thursday morning to the dealer to have it looked at. I got it back Friday afternoon. They adjusted the shifter cable, which helped with a bit of rough shifting I was experiencing between gears, but as I expected, they didn't fix the grinding issue. Given that the grinding only happens depending on how you shift, I'm not surprised. I'm going to make sure that I drive it with a service person from the dealer next time so that I can show them the grind.

I must say though that I'm very impressed by the courteousness of this dealer (Integrity Auto in Chattanooga, TN). When I called Friday afternoon, they had just gotten the car off of the rack. The service guy told me what they did, and wanted me to drive it a bit and see how it does. He said that if this didn't fix the issue, I could bring it back in and he would get with a GM service advisor. The cable adjustments today were at no charge. They even go around and introduce you to their staff by first name, and wash and vacuum your car.

 

My 06 standard will grind occasionally. You have found the solution, take it easy on shift, double clutch, hesitate before changing into 3rd. All of these eliminate the grind. I think it's just the way things are for this car.

As for the dealership being so courteous look beyond that. They are striving for a 5 star dealership. Don't be surprised if you don't get a follow up phone call or letter asking you to fill out their (how did we do) survey.