I'm having difficulty changing out of low gears. In particular, when approaching a stop it is difficult to move the stick from 2nd to neutral. It feels as if the clutch is not fully disengaging. If I push extra hard on the clutch pedal it seems to help.

Any thoughts on what this problem might be?

Thanks,
Dave

 

Is the clutch "heavy," and how old is it?

Doc

 

If it is difficult to get into first gear at a standstill as well, I'd say you need a new clutch. I had the same symptoms and even though it only had 32,000 miles on it and wasn't slipping, a replacement made it feel like a different car. I guess, they break down with age as well as mileage.

 

Thanks for the input!

New clutch last march.
Maybe 8-9k miles since.
I am historically very easy on clutches in every other car I've owned.

I was thinking maybe a bulging hydraulic line, or the slave cylinder is going, or some such.

Any more thoughts?

 

Does it make a creaking sound if you depress the clutch when stationary and in neutral? That would point to the slave cylinder.

 

Dave, typically I would expect high torque slippage to be the sign of clutch wear, not trouble getting out of gear. Trouble getting out of gear usually means clutch adjustment issue and/or internal transmission issues. If it were me I would do two things which are both rather cheap and easy (just like me).

1) flush the clutch slave cylinder
2) change the tranny fluid

The first is about as cheap as P car maintenance gets. The second is in the neighborhood of $50 depending on where/what type of oil you buy.

While it may be neither of those, they are rather easy and cheap to check first.

 

Assuming you got a new slave cylinder with the new clutch, bleeding the clutch hydraulics would be a good place to start. I got a new clutch last summer because of disengagement issues rather than slippage; it's now "light" and I'm a happy camper.

Doc

 

Thanks guys.

I got new tranny fluid on wednesday. No joy.

I'll try bleeding the system and post back.

This just can't mean that I need a new clutch; it's practically brand new!

 

I am watching this like a hawk. I have the same symptoms, clutch is about the same age old, have a new slave and line. I pulled the floor board, and no fluid leak and master is dry. I was planning on replacing the master next, before I put another clutch in. I am hoping that the master will clear it up.

 

Misery loves company!

I'll keep you posted. Hopefully I can do the bleed tomorrow.

 

More than likely its a sticking clutch disk. Basically if the input shaft splines were not wire brushed / cleaned enough or at all, in addition to lubricating with the proper grease. See this thread for very similar cause and remedy.

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ghlight=clutch

 

Chris,

Thank you for the input.

This seems very likely to me because mine does not always stick. Sometimes it slips quite easily out of gear and other times it's difficult to pull out of gear. Seems like a sticking disk could be the cause.

I'll do the bleed anyway and then look into getting the input shaft cleaned.

Thanks again,
Dave

 

I have same problems, although not all the time. I, too, have changed the clutch slave cylinder, new lines, changed trans fluid, checked for leaks, relatively new clutch (<15,000 miles). No problem getting the car into gear, no problem shifting up (or down usually). I've read somewhere but can't remember where that this could also be a symptom of bad motor mounts, which seems to make sense since i don't experience this sticking all the time (and it seems like mostly when the car is slowing to a halt), and the motor mounts are original. Anyone?

 

Interesting thought.

I've noticed that this seems to be most severe when I've been reving high in a low gear and the decelerate to a stop. For example, between stop lights, I shift into 2nd, rev up to 4k, or so, and then slow as I approach another stop. It is then very difficult to shift out of gear.

However, during normal driving with 3k, or less, revs as I approach a stop, no problems. Or, so it seems.

 

How old are your motor mounts / transmission mount? Worth looking into if this only happens when the drivetrain is loaded up.

Edit: Oops, didn't see Richard's post above.

You may have seen it in a post I made. I have a similar problem that only occurs on 1 turn of 1 track where I'm upshifting from 2nd to 3rd at trackout. The only difference is that mine is difficult to get into 3rd instead of out of 2nd. I have changed the tranny fluid and I bleed the slave frequently. I'll see what happens next time I go to that particular track. Unable to duplicate the problem since I changed Gear oil, but haven't been back to that track yet.