pi5tolpete

I have been finding that my gear shift is very tight and difficult to pull out of gear upon first start of the day, or after a few hours at rest.

I tend to shut off the car in first gear after I have pulled into my garage.

With clutch pressed fully in, gear shift is tough to pull into neutral. It can pull into neutral with a nice pull, but soulds and feels like it is "popping" out. If I choose to start the car with the gearshift engaged and clutch fully depressed, there is a slight movement of the car in the direction of the engaged gear (read if in 1st the car moves slightly forward, if in 'R' the car moves a bit backwards).

Besides ensuring that I shut down the best in neutral, is there anything in my description that would lead you to feel I have a) no problem, b) slight problem, c) oh dear gawd, not that!!!

Always willing to listen to advice.

Peter

Babalouie

Ahh, well I think I know what you got:


The input shaft of the gearbox can go rusty, and when this happens, the clutch disk gets hung up on the shaft, and isn't able to slide back and forth naturally like it's supposed to:


This is why your car seems to creep forward in gear, even with the clutch pedal depressed, it's because the clutch disk isn't sliding back like it should, and is still contacting the flywheel. And this is also why it's hard to pull it out of gear: it's like trying to do so while only partially depressing the clutch.

The fix (I'm sad to say) isn't easy, the only solution is to drop the engine, remove the clutch and clean the rust off the shaft. Then an oem permalube called Optimoly is applied to the shaft. Do you have any other maintenance jobs which might benefit from an engine-out scenario?

(I had the same problem, and took the opportunity to install a new clutch, and fix an oil leak that wasn't reachable with the engine in place).

crg53

It sounds to me as your clutch is not releasing fully. When was the last time you bled the clutch slave cylinder???? Also check the soft line that feeds the slave, they can fail over time i.e. swell under pressure. These parts are located on top of the transaxle, accessible from button left only.

Rocket Rob

+1 - You have a clutch disengagement problem. Double check your clutch hydraulics and also your clutch pedal roll pin.

Babalouie

^ check their stuff before pulling the engine out

KaiB

What they said.

But...please do make a habit of starting your car in neutral with the clutch engaged.

pi5tolpete

I bled my clutch slave cylinder about 2 weeks ago. Clutch pedal pops all the way out so I don't think it is that.
I looked at the roll pin when I was troubleshooting my idle problem previously. I think the roll pin is good.
Could it be the throw out bearing or fork?

crg53

Did you check the Rubber brake line that screws into the slave cylinder?????????

RW964

Hello not trying to steal this thread but I have almost the same problem and also when I first push the clutch peddle down about the last inch or so there is a slight grinding feeling and the peddle does not go down the rest of the way easy but when I let the peddle up as long as I do not bring the peddle all the way up pushing the peddle down all the way it feels normal. If I let the peddle go all the way back up and then push down to the floor I have the bad feel on the peddle . This happens if the car is hot or cold.
After driving the shifting gets better but not the paddle near the floor.
Thanks and not a Hyjacker

Rocket Rob

RW964 - Check that your pedal stop is adjusted properly. It sounds like the pedal travel is too long and its over extending the clutch.

c didy

Good thoughts. Do you mean the rubber stop in the floor board?

Also sounds like the rollpin. They get crunchy and you would have a hard time knowing until you pull it from the pedal cluster for a look. Good news, I think mine was @$2, from the DEALER!!! I should have framed that receipt.


After these easy things, the slave hose is replaced and the system is bled if things aren't all good I'd be pretty suspicious that you might have Babalouie's problem.

c didy

I understand the neutral part, why the clutch?

Rocket Rob

Yes, the rubber stop on the floor board. The factory repair manual has instructions for adjusting the pedal throw. The total throw should be 145mm + 10.

And yes, the roll pins are amazingly cheap.

KaiB

When the clutch is disengaged, forward pressure is placed onto the thrust bearing. On a cold engine with cold oil and low oil pressure, over time this could lead to wear.

Again, this was something beaten into me by one of our gurus.

Babalouie

How much freeplay have you got at the top of the pedal? If it's no more than a half inch, then your rollpin might be ok.

But yeah, I went thru the same "journey" with my car. Replaced the softhose, rollpin, master and slave cylinders and bled the crap out of it several times. Nothing fixed the stubbornness to get out of gear until I bit the bullet and dropped the motor to have a look.

Is your car particularly low mileage, or did it spend a long time being unused?

KaiB, I hadn't thought of the loading on the thrust bearing, that's quite a good point