Page 1 of 1

hard to get into gear

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 12:41 am
by victim
when i am stopped at a redlight or when i am moving very slowly it is very hard to get into first or 2nd gear

i literally have to slam the shifter into gear, 3rd,4th and 5th all work perfectly fine

a lot of times 2nd will only half engage and will either pop out or grind when i let the clutch out.. whats going on here?

other times everything works perfectly fine, it will go from bad to fine back to bad again in 5 min of driving, i have no idea what is up here

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 12:46 am
by hockeystyx16
your clutch isnt disengaging all the way. clutch linkage (whether hydraulic or cable) is your culprit

it could be the slave starting to leak, a small crack in the clutch line leaking slow, or even the clutch master (much more rare for this to fail than the slave)

check your clutch fluid, it could be low and you sucked an air bubble in the clutch line.

start out by bleeding the clutch. while your down there, inspect the slave and the clutch line for any signs of fresh leaks.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 8:38 am
by victim
interesting.. i always had a small "leak" because i would have to put more fluid in every once in a while.. i wasnt sure if that was normal from the clutch wearing down or what.

i tried to put more fluid in and the damn cap was stuck.

what are the chances of me getting stranded or something like that?

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 12:32 pm
by Johnf514
Potentially the clutch could completely fail to disengage, resulting in a "Little Miss Sunshine" scenario where you can only use your higher gears (3rd and up, perhaps). Definitely something you'll want to check out if you plan to keep the car a while.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 1:41 pm
by victim
Johnf514 wrote:Potentially the clutch could completely fail to disengage, resulting in a "Little Miss Sunshine" scenario where you can only use your higher gears (3rd and up, perhaps). Definitely something you'll want to check out if you plan to keep the car a while.
i have no idea what you are talking about, but you mean it could fail to disengauge because the slave might be bad/leaking?

i do notice that i have to put fluid in it every once in a while

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:26 pm
by Johnf514
If the slave is leaking, eventually it could cease to disengage your clutch. Therefore, you would not be able to shift into gear without being at the speed at which the syncromesh gearing is spinning.

Maybe someone else can better reiterate?

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:35 pm
by hockeystyx16
yea something like that. dead clutch drill. stall as you stop, step on the clutch (with a non disengaging clutch this will only override the clutch lockout) to start, crank in 1st to start, shift w/o the clutch.

like you said your clutch leaks, fix it. if the cap doesnt come off, twist it harder. grab a vise grips or some channellocks. it probably leaked enough to where it sucked a air bubble in.

for now, try this. put your foot under the clutch pedal and lift it up to the stop. if your pedal spring is wore out, and doesnt pull the pedal up all the way, this will draw more fluid into the clutch master.

the thing to do is to fix it tho, its not hard and pretty cheap. what car you got?

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:42 pm
by ar39
How old is your clutch plate? Try double-declutch to for 1st & 2nd gears. If the problem still persists, check for clutch cover tension. Inspect the clutch release lever in the clutch assembly. This could be a source of the problem.

Also, I've observed this in cold weather. I go thru' all gears with the car warming up from a cold start. The aim is to lubricate the gears from a "sitting" gear box oil I find 1st & reverse gears a bit hard to engage.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:46 pm
by victim
well i just checked the clutch fluid, and it was not THAT empty, i just a little fluid in it (i think i may have overfilled it but oh well)

i have no idea how old the clutch stuff is, i bought the car used with 90k miles on it, it now has 120k

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:54 pm
by victim
hockeystyx16 wrote:yea something like that. dead clutch drill. stall as you stop, step on the clutch (with a non disengaging clutch this will only override the clutch lockout) to start, crank in 1st to start, shift w/o the clutch.

like you said your clutch leaks, fix it. if the cap doesnt come off, twist it harder. grab a vise grips or some channellocks. it probably leaked enough to where it sucked a air bubble in.

for now, try this. put your foot under the clutch pedal and lift it up to the stop. if your pedal spring is wore out, and doesnt pull the pedal up all the way, this will draw more fluid into the clutch master.

the thing to do is to fix it tho, its not hard and pretty cheap. what car you got?
i thought hydraulics made the pedal go up and down, just like the brake

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:29 pm
by hockeystyx16
hydraulics will push it up a litte bit, only as far as the pressure plate will push the clutch fork back

the return spring will pull it up the rest of the way, drawing fluid into the master cylinder for the next time you step on the clutch

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:42 pm
by victim
hockeystyx16 wrote:hydraulics will push it up a litte bit, only as far as the pressure plate will push the clutch fork back

the return spring will pull it up the rest of the way, drawing fluid into the master cylinder for the next time you step on the clutch
i didnt realise there were any springs involved, other than that "spring" that is on the clutch