Missing 3rd Gear. Sometimes... Options

[yeahmag]

Had my first autocross in 3 years this weekend and everything went better than expected. Towards the end of the day (dual entered the car), 3rd gear started acting up on me. It was acting like it was physically locked out... It wouldn't go in without a fight even in the pits.

I simply ran the last two runs in 2nd and figured I was out of luck. Packed up and low and behold, 3rd was back. A bit notchy compared to the other gears, but didn't grind and really didn't make much of a fuss.

Anything I should consider other than a linkage issue?

Here is my current setup:

Rennshift
Bronze side shift console bushing
Swepco 201
...everything else normal.

I have one of Chris' fancy firewall bushings to go in, so I'll be taking everything out (linkage wise) to inspect. I half wonder if that bronze bushing worked it's way out...

[Dr Evil]

Definitely always check and rule out external things like linkage, bushings, screws, mounts.

For this to be an internal problem you would need something to stop the slider from engaging. Since no grinding, the slider is not even getting to the teeth on your hub so either:
A) something is blocking it.
B) Ya got some hillbilly teeth in there (IMG:style_emoticons/default/teef.gif)

In A, a broken block inside the synchro band can do this. It forces the band outward and keeps it from collapsing which prevents the slider from going into place and keeps it from hitting the teeth of the hub, often. Sometimes an up or down shift seems to resolve this issue momentarily.

In B, well you would have had some grinding to get to this stage.

If external stuff checks out, pull the stack. Id be happy to help, it would be an easy fix of just the stack.