I recently had my clutch replaced for the first time after 75k miles on my countryman s. I'm the only owner and driver of it. It's never had any transmission issues and this isn't my first manual car.

After the clutch replacement by my local shop, I had some major issues shifting after things warmed up. I couldn't downshift from 6th to 5th while at speed. I took it back to them and they said they never touched the gearbox besides lowering it out of the way. The thought some air got into the line for the hydraulics, so they bled that, then did a full transmission fluid flush. They said the old stuff was really dirty, but no metal or anything in it.

Well, all the shifting is now perfect... except for when I'm trying to shift from 4th to 3rd. There's a momentary grind. This doesn't happen when I'm upshifting at all though. It goes in butter smooth into 3rd. If I go from 4th to 2nd, then to 3rd it also goes in butter smooth (all while clutch fully pressed and coasting).

I can get the grind to replicate if I put it in 3rd then 'slowly' put it in neutral and then back into 3rd again.

The shop has another transmission fluid they have on order and want to try when it gets in, but I'm hoping y'all might have some idea's as to what to have them look at. Should I just take it to a full transmission shop or bite the bullet and buy a replacement tranny at this point?

 

Here’s the first three things I would look at:

1. Air in the clutch hydraulic line such that clutch is not fully actuated. Bleed it again.
2. Clutch transmission fluid. I’ve used Redline MTL exclusively for years and strongly recommend it.3. Clutch actuator arm not installed properly. Inspection on a lift and observe for proper actuation and release.
Were the throw-out bearing and the pilot bearing replaced as part of the clutch replacement? They should have been but unlikely they would have contributed to the problem.

Jeff