Help with 5-speed trans...Hard shifting into gears

lube70

Registered User
Hey guys and gals, I own two SC 5-speeds and I am having a bitch of a time with my 95. Always kinda was hard going into 2nd fast, (never grinds), just doesn't want to go in easy. Now, I have ripper shifter, Centerforce Clutch, new slave throughout, and still does this, and with ripper shifter, even more so. I have no grinding, just hard to get into gears. Sometimes, it goes in great when driving slow, at a light stopped, damn impossible to get into first. Has anyone ever experienced this.......If so, please call me or e-mail me. I can call ya back if a call back number is left so it's my dime. I have another person here in Jersey with the same problem and I can't seem to figure it out. Maybe bad slave throwout again......This is driving me nutz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Please help.......


Don




(973) 277-4294

Or E-mail at Lube70@aol.com
 
My '95 did the same thing at 30k miles. Turned out to be a clutch release problem--the clutch wasn't releasing all the way, so the transmission was still slightly engaged when trying to shift.

I had a new clutch and slave cylinder installed, and the problem went away--until just recently ( I now have 46k miles). I'm installing solid rubber motor mounts and a new solid transmission mount today to see if that eliminates the problem altogether.

I hope that helps!
 
trans

yea my 89 is a little sticky
mostly because the guy who i bought it from cant shift properly:(...hes currently working on buggering up his 94 5.0:p
but anyways, before he sold it to me he changed the transmission oil and mixed it with half motorcycle oil. That made a huge difference, I cant remember what he used but ill find out: it was something really slippery. It really freed things up allot.
Keith
 
I have the same issue but seems that it is worse after the clutch heats up. When I first start the car in the morning she will shift into 2nd for a short time then nearly impossible. I can shove it in but I only so it when I get really pissed and it will grind like you don't have the clutch in even though I have it pushed in passed the headers. I do have the original clutch in and 130,000 miles. So I was hoping that after I get a clutch it will improve but I think I may just put inthe clutch and have the trans rebuilt at the same time. Let me know if anything you do works I would love to be able to speed shift so I can go to the track.

theid
theid@ou.edu
 
I was having some of the same problems up until Tuesday night when I changed my tranny fluid out for some GM Synchromesh and some friction modifier. Before you spend the big bucks, I'd try the easy/cheap things, first.
 
Is your clutch new? When I put the Centerforce DF in my 91, it would never want to go into 1st from a stop. After about 2k miles of breakin it worked fine. Never heard about this happening to anyone else and I thought it was wierd, but at least it went away.

Brandon
 
I have the exact same problem with my '95 5-speed. I was told that is more then likely the synchronizers. I've tried just about everything cheap, like dumping the old tranny fluid for the GM synchromesh.

My car was getting so bad that I couldnt drive fast at all, because I wouldnt be able to shift gears....put a little more fluid into the slave cylinder resivoir and seems a little better.

Wish there were a cheap and easy fix for this, especially since I'm not the person who screwed it up, it's been like this since I bought it, and I never noticed because on test drives the car was cold and shifted great.
 
Other thing..

The other thing is the fact that the clutch grabs about .25 inch from the floor. I really think that the clutch is just not releasing the pressure plate. I think the next item will AGAIN be the throwout slave. Running out of patience and ideas...


Don
 
You can measure slave travel from the inspection port in the bellousing. I do not have the spec in front of me but I believe it is .75". If you are not getting that then your problem is air in the system or bad hydraulics. If you are getting the full travel then you've got an interference problem that is preventing the clutch disc from sliding freely on the input splines or a binding pilot bearing. It's not a tranmission problem.
 
I'm starting to experience the same symptoms as Don with my 95 5-speed. It had a replacement clutch done at around 30,000 miles, before I owned the car ... it has about 120,000 on it now. Mines seems to get a bit better as it warms up ... maybe Dave's idea of something sticking or binding with the clutch is what's happening on mine.

Hopefully we'll have chance to get it up on a lift at work this week and investigate. I'll post the result, if any, of what we find.


cheers
Ed Nicholson
SCCoO
 
Well guys, my problem was an easy one to find ... leaking slave cylinder. My fluid level was getting low, so clutch action was not what it should be. Topped up the fluid for now, hopefully I can nurse it through until the end of the season. Seems OK, and we changed it over to the GM Synchromesh trans. fluid while it was up on the lift here. Now I can save up for an aluminum flywheel and better clutch, might as well do that if we have to drop the trans. anyway. ;) My old stuff has about 90,000 miles on it now ...



cheers
Ed N.
 
I had the same type of problem when I used a centerforce. But I think another problem, and something you guys should check, is that the flywheel had been resurfaced until it was out of spec. You are not supposed to remove more than .045" total! A lot of shops don't seem to know this, I had one shop lop off .050 in one pass!

A new flywheel and stock clutch fixed everything for me. You can read all about it on the TBSCEC drivetrain forum.
 
air in system

Has anyone here tried bleeding the hydraulic system? I have the same problem in my 89. yesterday I had it on jacks, and when shifting into 1st, the wheels would turn about 1 revolution. Tells me the clutch isnt disengagaging all the way. gonna try bleeding the system and see what happens. I have a new clutch kit and had the flywheel resurfaced but dont know how much was shaved off. I changed the tranny fluid but didnt seem to help. JJ
 
Use the FAQ Forum and you'll see something in there about rebuilding the "Blockers" or something.
It is pretty common and I don't think the parts are very expensive. Also I think MN12.com has an article on exactly how to rebuild that part that wears.
 
bad shifting

Lube 70, as fast Ed said, it sounds like you have a leaking slave cylinder. Mine was doing the same thing with second gear. I replaced the fluid with the latest Dexron auto tranny fluid and friction modifier. After about 2000 miles, it started to work better. My slave cylinder is leaking also. The 1/4 inch from the floor engagement is a typical sympton. I'm going to be changing mine in the next couple of weeks, and I'll do a writeup. I'll probably post it on TCCOA because they have a specific place for stuff like that. I'll post a link here.
 
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