Payne, I too had a very mushy 2nd gear when I bought 4695. According to Steven Wynne, the plastic clutch line kept the clutch from disengaging 100% and would make the gears crunch a little; the weak spot in the system is the rollpin for the 2nd gear synchro, which had become bent as a result. This made shifting into 2nd problematic. It's simple enough to correct, if you consider splitting the transmission simple. If I recall, the repair cost was nominal. Gus Schlachter Austin, TX 4695 --- In dmcnews@xxxx, "Payne" <bpayne@xxxx> wrote: > Ever since I bought #2975 she doesn't like to downshift to seccond > gear. It will up-shift to seccond just fine, but feels very > indirect and not nearly as precise as the other gears feel. > payne