Clutch/Tranny Issues

[KillNThrill24]

as some may know this is my first stick car so go easy on me as i really dont know much about how it works yet...

so heres the problem, when my car gets warmed up and especially after getting off the interstate, when leaving into first the clutch sometimes doesnt engage until literally right at the top. it doesnt happen all the time but when it does it really kinda worries me. when going into second and so on it engages at the normal location, its just first.

another thing, after a cruise on the interstate tonight my buddy and i stopped at Marco's and got a pizza. and on the way home from there i noticed that my tranny was sliding into gears FAR easier. it doesnt make any sense to me iv driven it hours at a time and never had anything like that happen before. for instance, my reverse is a B***H to get in and out of. it will grind like hell going in, and if your not still rolling it wont come out. again, it doesnt happen all the time but when it does its HIGHLY annoying, but when i left Marco's i slid it in and out with such little effort i was wondering if it was really going in.

now if i had to take a shot in the dark id guess maybe my clutch is finally taking a dump? i bought the car with 135k i believe, and its at 140k now, and the previous owner knew nothing about the car so God only knows if its had any tranny work done in the past.

any suggestions as to what could be up with it?

 

[YUNG VEEZU]

when I back my car out, I usually shift to 1st then reverse. It feels like butter instead of just shifting to reverse straight up. I don't know if that helps

 

[KillNThrill24]

i did try that today, and it did not help my cause. im not sure whats going on with my tranny, im just keeping my fingers crossed that it makes it till the end of the season, then i can hopefully scrape up the funds and get a good 600ftlb clutch for it that way i can build the car to what i want it to be and not have to fool with the clutch for a very long time.

only time will tell tho, and it feels like with each passing day, its getting worse...

 

[RichV]

It can be clutch or T/O bearing, does it make any noises when you engage the clutch in and out?

I usualy do 5-R when going into reverse. It's just a T5 thing.

 

[Tommy92]

I heard from someone on this forum that you can pull up your clutch pedal with your foot and it'll reset the cable length. Maybe it's your pedal that's creating this issue. Worth a shot. I never had a stock clutch pedal quadrant so I never got to try it. As for the reverse in grind it happens to me too. What I do is stick it in fourth gear before I put it in reverse. Hope this helps.

 

[KillNThrill24]

thanks guys glad to see its not just my tranny, i guess its reverse in general. i tried the 1 then rev and still just as hard, ill try the 5 and 4 when i get it back on the ground.

i tried pulling up on the clutch pedal and from what i heard its supposed to click... well i got no click lol. im not sure what the deal is, but i pulled it up today and its gonna be in the air till probably friday so i wont really know if it worked or not till then. it probably wont hurt that since im changing my gears that ill have new gear oil and all new bearings in the rear end. maybe it will help, maybe it wont. but im hoping it does!

 

[MustangChris]

for starters, when wanting to go into reverse put it in first and let off the clutch until you roll forward a small bit, it should go into reverse without a problem.

have you drained and replaced the fluid at all? if so, were there any metal parts in it? or glitter?

 

[KillNThrill24]

thanks Chris ill have to try that when i get it back on the ground hopefully it'll help. and no i have not, it was one of the things on my to-do list but i simply havent had the desire to do it yet, and now money.

ill make sure i bump that up on my to-do list tho because things seem to be getting worse the more i drive it. reverse is pretty bad, and with it grinding all the time it makes me look like a noob, but i think the clutch has me a little more worried. hopefully draining and refilling will help that issue although i think its just shot.

when i do get around to it (whenever that may be) ill be sure to post up if i find any metal shards or glitter in it (god willing i wont)

 

[MustangChris]

well, if you think its a clutch problem, skip the draining/filling for the time being...

get under that hog with a buddy (bow chika wow wow) and take off the dust cover on the clutch fork (drivers side of the tranny) and take a peak in there... have your buddy get in teh car and press on the clutch.... see if you can see anything wrong with it....

are there any chunks in the bottom of the bell housing?
any funny sounds?
clutch fork bent?
cable stretched?
cable frayed?
cable run in the proper path?