UPDATE: Hard Shifting ... Tranny Problem?... I think its dead!

[SHOWYA]

This happens often once the engine is warmed up. I will be at a stop and when trying to shift to first it will be really hard to do. I can force it in and it will not grind. Somtimes i will have to rev up the engine a bit, engage the clutch and then it i'll be able to shift into first. Also, if i force the gear in and let go of the brake the car will slowly begin to move forward even with the clutch all the way in.

I replaced the clutch about 2 yrs ago. I installed the SS HiRevs Race clutch which has about 3500lbs pressure plate. Clutch is very stiff but its not a problem for me, gotten used to it!

My point about the clutch is that being in my newbie stage when i replaced the clutch i did not replace or reground the flywheel. Is this my problem or am i looking for a tranny rebuilt already?

<small>[ November 21, 2003, 02:48 PM: Message edited by: SHOWYA ]</small>

 

[Blue-By-U]

How many miles on your tranny?

I see you didn't regrind your flywheel; I'm not too sure exactly what this will do, but I think it will cause premature clutch wear. It only costs about $25 at a local machine/auto shop to grind that flywheel down. You can also purchase a pre-ground flywheel from Josh at SHO Nut Performance and send your old one back to get the core charge refund.

I hope more experienced people respond as I'm curious to see what your problem is. I really think you need a new PP/disc combo since your pedal is already stiff.

Good luck!

 

[SHOWYA]

The car has 126K miles on it. If i do need a flywheel i think i'll just get the 8lb'er instead.

 

[SHO_Driver]

Not resurfacing the flywheel could cause clutch chatter. Sounds more like the clutch is not fully disengaging, could be from premature wear. How hard was it driven?

 

[MOSHO92]

If the car actually starts to roll forward on flat ground in first gear while the clutch is disengaged, then the clutch is not actually "disengaged". Try to adjust the clutch cable.

 

[SHOWYA]

Like everybody else its my daily driver. I might race it once in a great while when somebody pulls up to me trying to drag. But i dont dog it down. I do travel alot, about 80miles on the weekend.

I did try adjusting the cable ... is that having it in first puling on the clutch pedal and then pushing it back in? Is that the proper procedure? Because nothing happens when i do so.

 

[SHOWYA]

last night i ran the car after i replaced the battery cables ... it needed it bad!

This morning after turning on the car i was ready to go to work ... clutch in ... shift to .... wait ... it wont shift to any gear. Reverse grinds like crazy. Had to turn off car to get it into gear. Did my clutch just die?? HELP!

 

[MO-KAN SHO]

I'd guess clutch, but I'm no expert...

I did have an experience with my rod shifter... the bolt holding the support rod to the tranny housing backed out and I had to replace it. Since it was not supporting the shift, it was nearly impossible to shift. You might check for that.

Directly under your shifter, you'll see two long bars that extend to the tranny... just make sure they're both connected. But that's assuming you have a rod shifter, not a cable shifter. I don't know what year they switched to the rod.

 

[AutoSHO]

Sounds like a Throw-Out Bearing Problem.

 

[autobahnsho]

AutoSHO:
Sounds like a Throw-Out Bearing Problem.

I agree- but check the shifter assembly to make sure it's tight.

Then double-check the clutch cable.

good luck!

 

[DHMag]

i agree, TOB is your root cause. im surprised it wasnt mentioned when SHOWYA spoke of being on flat ground in 1st and the car rolling. thats usually the third indication that your TOB is not functioning properly.

the first is that god awful grind or inability to shift into any gear. second is hearing a *POP* when you press the clutch. what happens is the TOB wears on the pressure plate fingers. as they both wear, the fingers get thinner, the bearing gets tired. pretty soon, youll snap a few tips of fingers off. if youre lucky, they wont get flung into the now open races of the bearing. the next time you press the clutch, one of the broken fingers will hang up on the TOB, thats the pop youll hear...the finger releasing from the TOB. also, with missing a few fingers, you wont be able to fully release/engage the clutch.

when i did my clutch, i did not regrind the flywheel either. what i DID do though was...with oil and a honing stone, went over the flywheel to remove any blemishes caused by the rivets just starting to get into the pressure plate. i worked the stone over the flywheel for about an hour before i called it good to go. 13K later, no clutch chatter nor any other clutch related problems.

<small>[ November 22, 2003, 07:33 AM: Message edited by: DHMag ]</small>

 

[autobahnsho]

Also, DO NOT drive the car!

I did for a little while (taking it to shops to check on getting it fixed), and damaged the tranny. headbang

It doesn't go into first without grinding unless I go second then first.

So next summer after I do my upper gaskets, then driverside muffler, my next big job is a tranny rebuild...

 

[SHO--ripper]

Start with the easiest first. Do you have trans fluid? Is you linkage hooked up correctly? IF those are fine TOB frown

 

[PanamaPat]

SHOWYA:
This happens often once the engine is warmed up. I will be at a stop and when trying to shift to first it will be really hard to do. I can force it in and it will not grind. Somtimes i will have to rev up the engine a bit, engage the clutch and then it i'll be able to shift into first. Also, if i force the gear in and let go of the brake the car will slowly begin to move forward even with the clutch all the way in.

I replaced the clutch about 2 yrs ago. I installed the SS HiRevs Race clutch which has about 3500lbs pressure plate. Clutch is very stiff but its not a problem for me, gotten used to it!

My point about the clutch is that being in my newbie stage when i replaced the clutch i did not replace or reground the flywheel. Is this my problem or am i looking for a tranny rebuilt already?

You have the SS double diaphragm clutch (Hi Revs) that puts quite a strain on the clutch cable in that the cable is being asked to pull in twice the original diaphragm spring pressure. What I found was that it stretches the clutch cable and eventually breaks it. But before it breaks it gets longer and longer to the point the clutch cable was not able to disengage the clutch completely, thus making it very difficult to shift when the engine was running.

So you might try a few things:

1) Get a new clutch cable (I ordered mine thru Napa for around $45 - but they had to bring it in from another store)

2) Temporary fix - Where the clutch cable slips into the tranny housing there is a yellow plastic/nylon bushing with a rubber washer inside. Take this appart and got to the hardware store and find some washers and stack them inside such to effectively make the cable outer sleeve sit further back in the bushing. The purpose is to effectively shorten the cable to make up for some of the cable stretch. Note - this is not a great description, but you will get the idea once you take the cable off on the tranny side. Also, this is but a temporary fix at best.

And lastly, you may have to pretension the clutch cable. The description for pre-tensioning is at:
http://www.shoforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=17;t=008539

Good luck!

 

[SHOWYA]

Thanks pat ... im going to try forcing the clutch adjustment to click a couple of times see if that helps before i order the cable. Hopefuly thats what it is because i only have about 15000 miles on that clutch.
The only reason i got that clutch is because I had ordered the hi revs competition but since they had problems with those they upgraded me to the race one.

 

[SHOWYA]

Well, the clutch cable was replaced and it did the trick. Shifting is very smooth, but when its cold it is still somewhat hard to shift to first gear. A quick shift to sencond and then to first and it goes right in.

I bought the cable off of NAPA ($45 w/tax)

thanks for the help people!

 

[PanamaPat]

SHOWYA:
Well, the clutch cable was replaced and it did the trick. Shifting is very smooth, but when its cold it is still somewhat hard to shift to first gear. A quick shift to sencond and then to first and it goes right in.

I bought the cable off of NAPA ($45 w/tax)

thanks for the help people!

 

[PanamaPat]

Glad it worked out

 

[SHOWYA]

Well the cable only worked for about a day ... does that mean that the TOB is really gone now?

Can i just get a pressure plate or is it necessary to replace the clutch?

 

[DHMag]

SHOWYA:
Well the cable only worked for about a day ... does that mean that the TOB is really gone now?

Can i just get a pressure plate or is it necessary to replace the clutch?

do what ya want, but id replace everything.