5 speed tranny problems

94-5speed16

Registered User
I have a 94 SC with a five speed, it has a new clutch and sycronizers. I'm having problems with it being hard to put into gear sometime, mainly first and reverse, and sometimes it sounds like the clutch is still engauged and it makes a grinding noise when i put it in gear. Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I was thinkin maybe the clutch just might need to be adjusted but i'm not sure if it has a hydraulic clutch or not. I'm really hoping this isn't something that'll cost alot of money too fix but you never know. The car only has 75,000 miles on it. If you have any ideas please let me know


thanks
dan
 
I'm not sure what your problem could be but I know that you do have a hydraulic clutch. How many miles on the slave cylinder? That could cause the clutch to not fully disengage, you may also have air in the lines, try bleeding it (there is a bleed screw on the slave cylinder sticking out of the bellhousing).
 
I'm not sure if the slave cylinder was ever replaced, so as far as i know it's got 75,000 miles on it. How much would it cost to replace it? It doesn't want to pop out of gear or anything it just seems like the clutch isn't fully dissengauged so that could be a possible problem.

thanks
dan
 
The part it self is about 50$ but you have to pull the tranny to change it. From most people I've talked to, you should change it whenever the tranny is out (Apparently mazda trans are bad about it). Try beelding it first.
 
hmm. sounds like i have simaliar problem, just got my tranny done and a new clutch (w/ a new slave cyl) last month. but recently i was stuck in traffic after being detoured on my way home, the traffic was pretty bad, i moved like 1/2-1 car lenth every 20-40 seconds therefor i was on the clutch like no other for about 25 mins. anyway after that my clutch feels like its grabbing really high or maybe not at all. how exactly do you bleed it? also i do need new motor mounts, if that makes a difference.
 
might be a defective clutch... my service truck had a problem like that... especially when it heated up.. the metal plate in the clutch disk holding the fiber plates together expanded and made it act like it was still engaged a little bit.. made it hard to shift and grinded a bit ..
 
It's just like bleeding brakes, open the screw, have someone press the clutch then close the screw. The screw is right above the clutch line (the only other hole in the bellhousing)
 
thanks, thats what i thought, i'll try that when i get a chance or have my mechanic just do it when he does the motor mounts. and if that doesn't work i'll just bring it back to the tranny place. thanks
 
I have 3 SC birds one being a 93 5 spd ... we've had similar problems. What I found to be helpful to get you by until you can afford work on the car is to very slightly rev the motor while your selecting that stubborn gear! After warming up, our 5spd will not go into first at all until I slightly rev the motor.
Also... Jeramie S ( 92 Bird) recently had the same and other problems with his 92. He replaced the flywheel and slave cyl, and now loves his car again.
I drove this SC last weekend and can say it shifts like new.
He was amased as he thought another rebuild was due!

Jeramie said ford dosn't allow much tolerence for resurfacing or turning the flywheel, so if its been done 1 time you may want to consider a new flywheel.
Jeramie put a McCloed aluminum flywheel in,it weighs 15lbs as compared to ste stock 40lb heavyweight..it is expensive $400 but I plan to do the same when we pull the trans.
Less rotating mass is more power!
 
Last edited:
graphics guy,
What would the flywheel have to do with this problem? I bought this car from a dealer but i talked to the guy who owned the car before and he said he replaced the clutch and syncronizers. I'm starting to think maybe he didn't replace the syncronizers. Does anyone know how much those cost? I heard they're expensive. From what people have said on here it could be a number of different things that are causing my problem. I'm still lookin for help if anyone knows what the problem could be.

thanks
dan
 
if it is the syncros then they are about 25 bucks a piece and you will need six of them. and some bearings. you can get the syncros at a ford dealership. and it wouldnt have anything to do with the flywheel, but it might have something to do with the slave cylinder

nate
 
SC Graphics Guy is talking about the thickness of the flywheel after it has been resurfaced and he is correct. This thickness can effect the clutch engagement/disengagement position. You can buy shims to shim the flywheel out to where it should be. I would go that route and/or the slave cylinder route before pursuing a rebuild. Also, did you change the trans fluid when you did the work? I have found that fresh fluid can make a difference in shift quality (ease of shifts not in eliminating grinding). First things first though, bleed the slave cylinder and see if there is any air in the line.
 
Yes, the flywheel can make a huge difference...you can shim it but I don't recommend it.
Air in the line is the first thing to check.
I'm a guy whose delt with manuals too many times and If you don' want to pulll that tranny again & again ...I'm just saying replace everything once .... and be done..... & be happy!!!

replacing 1 or 2 things may work, for a while or a long time, but I've been down that road & it may cost you more time, money & energy in the long run! just my two cents!
 
also, when i got mine done, the tranny guy had to rebuild the pedal assembly. i forget what he said what was wrong with it, something to do with the "male" end going thru the "female" end or something. but it was really f***ed up. just something else to think about
 
The tranny fluid was replaced last summer and a bottle of that certified tranny lubricator was added. Well i have to take my SC into a dealerships wednesday because something shorted out and a fuse in the power relay under the hood got melted so i could just goin to ask them to bleed the slave cylinder and possibly replace it if that's not too expensive. I don't have a whole lot of money right now, does anyone know how much a dealer may charge to do that? Well thanks for your help

dan
 
Back
Top