sd944s

Hey all,

This morning I was going ~35mph and downshifted. When I released the clutch, the engine simply rev'd - no power to the rear wheels. I tried a couple other gears, and there was nothing, the car just coasted while the engine rev'd. I was able to coast to a side street, turn off the car, and push it into a parallel parking spot with the shifter in neutral.

Once it was safely off to the side, I started the car again and went through all the gears, using the clutch; again, the engine just rev'd and the car went nowhere. At idle, there was a faint sound of a couple metal pieces rattling in a chamber. I turned off the car, put it in 1st gear and attempted to push it again. There was some resistance, much more than when I had it in neutral.

History: over the past couple weeks, on three occasions while accellerating across speeds between ~25mph - 40mph, the RPMs briefly rose but the car didn't accelerate, like the clutch was slipping. When this started, I made plans to replace the clutch in a garage but thought I'd drive very lightly it until I ordered the replacement clutch. However, I didn't expect the slipping clutch would result in complete drivetrain failure, which leads me to believe it's in the transmission.

I searched many threads but didn't find the scenario I described above. Does this info lead to a clear conclusion about what the problem might be? If it's the tranny, I'd probably just do the clutch too while I'm at it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Other info:
Model: 1987 944S, non-LSD tranny
Miles: ~144000

arbeitm

When you shift, do you hear it engaging the gears like normal?

Take a look in the torque tube window. Make sure the transaxle is still connected to the torque tube.

Is there any knocking sounds coming from the transmission while in idle?

That's all I can think of at the moment.

TrevorW

Maybe you broke a CG, hopefully really, cheapest fix.

TrevorW

What I meant to say was maybe you broke a CV joint, hopefully not the pinion gear or the clutch.

JustinL

Check under the back of your car to see how the half shafts look. Grab one and see if you can "stir" it. There should be in/out play, but no forward/backward up/down.

JayP

Does the car roll freely in neutral?

sd944s

JayP - yes, the car does roll freely in neutral.

arbeitm, trevor, & justin - thanks for the initial thoughts; I'll check those potential issues out and post what I find.

JimV8

Try to get under the car and pull the inspection cover at the front of the tranaxle,( the back of the torque tube) and you will see the driveshaft. With the clutch out it should be immovable and this will move your diagnosis to the half shafts.

xsboost90

clutch slippage or rubber center clutch...

Jfrahm

Probably a rubber-centered clutch that is gone. Pull the starter and see if there are rubber bits in there. Failing that it could be the R&P or a CV joint, but if you have had windup before I think it's the clutch center.

sd944s

OK, so I went back to the car yesterday hoping that it was the CV joint. Unfortunately, both were still rock stable. I started the car again and listened to the variations of how it sounded in-gear with the clutch fully engaged, partially engaged, and disengaged.

1) When disengaged (clutch pedal fully depressed), there was the least noise. The car actually sounded fairly "normal" but now my baseline of "normal" is off because I'm listening much closer than usual.
2) Partially engaged (clutch halfway depressed) - a bit more noise, some irregular metallic scraping sounds.
3) Fully engaged (clutch released) - increased frequency of metallic scraping sounds, sort of like a few ice cubes in a slow spinning blender.

Anyway, all indications are pointing toward the clutch, as a few of you have indicated. The car still didn't move _at _all_ when it was in gear and could be pushed forward and back whether the transmission was in neutral or in gear. I wanted to verify it through the inspection cover but it's parked in an awkward parallel parking spot against the curb and traffic on the other side - very difficult to get under to see.

Since I was lucky enough to coast into a non-restricted street parking spot (a rarity in Chicago!), I've been able to arrange a tow dolly so I can take it back to a lift and try swapping out the clutch myself.

Thanks for everyone's input so far! Any additional thoughts out there?

shiners780

Any funky smells? When the rubber-centered clutch on my n/a disintegrated, I could smell the rubber burning.

Your symptoms sound very similar to what I experienced.

Mighty Shilling

I had something happen like this. I'm still putting my money on CV's, but, not all of my money... basically, mine became unbolted from the wheel side... leaving it to spin with a metallic scraping sound when in gear, and clutch pedal not depressed.

no sound when clutch pedal depressed...

However, the ice cubes in a blender sounds bad... might have tossed a r&p...

JimV8

I doubt its the clutch because when that goes the engine is invariably engaged to the transaxle. it really is important to get to that inspection cover under the transaxle because that is going to point to the problem.

Mike C.

It sounds like it might be the remains of the 'limp home' tangs in the rubber center clutch have been sheared and are making occasional contact with each other.