Last hope for my GSX

[Srt4RacerDave]

Well, heres the deal. My car is having major problems. I got some work done for me, which included a throttle body porting, new cylinder head, cam gears, 2g piston mod, etc. After a day of driving the car (drove it very carefully, no abuse), I noticed some problems. I can not shift into 2nd, 4th, or reserve gear. The reserve gear grinds and will not go in, the others just won't go in. Also, the shifter has a TON of resistance and is hard to move back and forth.Their was no loud noise or anything, it just happened while I was driving. Now, I've replaced almost EVERYTHING I can think of, and it's still not working. I replaced the master/slave cylinder, the clutch lines, and shifting assembly. I did a clutch job about 500 miles before I took it to the shop, so the clutch was just broken in. I resurfaced the flywheel and replaced the throw out bearing / pivot ball when I did the clutch job. I need my car back, or else I'm going to have to get out of the DSM seen. People tell me the transmission is shot, but I'm refusing to believe that at this point. Maybe I'm wrong though. All the "DSM gurus" around here haven't been able to help me. I can't even force the gears (2,4,R) into place. Any help would be appreciated..thanks.

 

[knochgoon24]

Have you looked to see if anything is interfering with the shift linkage, both in the engine compartment and inside under the center console? Especially since 2-4-R are all in 1 direction on the shifter.

 

[talondave]

Will it go into any of the gears while the car is shut off?

 

[MidShipCivic]

Take the shift cables off and see what happens when you try to move the levers on the transmission.

 

[eclipsh]

All the above are great ideas. I doubt it is a shot transmission unless you were driving around without oil in it. For multiple gears to stop working at once my bet is that your clutch is not disengaging properly. How did you bleed your clutch? Having air in your system will make good components look bad and it won't shift worth anything. Since you replaced all your hydraulics (which may have been bad) you certainly got air in the system but may not have gotten all of it out. Did you put a clear line on the bleeder valve and submerge it in fluid while bleeding the system to see if any air was coming out? If you didn't then you're just guessing all the air is out and could be wrong.

How does your clutch pedal assembly look? Have you checked out the VFAQ on the failing 1g pedal and how to diagnose it? That could happen suddenly and explain a lot of your symptoms too.

How far does the pedal move before you feel resistance? How is your master cylinder rod adjustment? Did you mess with or replace your shifter cables. If so are they adjusted properly now?

 

[92 GSR-4]

Sounds like classic clutch disengagement issues. I bet you are using a heavy duty clutch like an ACT 2600. In my experience the 4 main causes for a transmission "blocking" you out of gears is incorrect flywheel step height (Machine shops notoriously screw this up), a worn pedal assembly, shifter cables needing adjustment, and needing to properly bleed the cluch. Remember that when you use a heavier clutch, everything else must be just about perfect in terms of adjustment in order for the clutch to properly disengage. You should check out these sources, and get back with us.

Frequently Asked Questions (read all the clutch info on this page. This alone should lead you to solve your problem)

RRE's Clutch And Flywheel Tech Info

 

[TSi999]

Some great suggestions here. To the original poster: don't give up! It will be worth it when you get it figured out and are boosting again.

 

[lzertrbo]

... i dont mean to laugh but the same thing happened to me in my laser while i was in a 60 dollar race, idk what happend but the shift linkage came loose or something and i couldnt go into 1st 3rd or 5th when i got home i adjusted it and worked fine after that,

 

[Srt4RacerDave]

Have you looked to see if anything is interfering with the shift linkage, both in the engine compartment and inside under the center console? Especially since 2-4-R are all in 1 direction on the shifter.

Yes -- Nothing is in the way, was one of the first things I checked.

Will it go into any of the gears while the car is shut off?

Nope, same problem. Shifter is very hard to move back and forth.

As for all my gears going at the same time, my reverse gear always grinded. Now, it grinds and won't go into gear.

I'm using a Fidanza 4.3 6 puck clutch.

Also might help to add that the gears worked fine before this incident. People keep telling me it's the tranny, but I don't understand mechanically how that could happen to those gears in specific.

 

[92 GSR-4]

Pull the shifter cables off the transmission and see if you can shift it into each gear with your hands.

 

[Srt4RacerDave]

Will try that tomorrow. Getting too late to work on the car now. What would either result mean? The shifter is also VERY hard to move back and forth.

 

[gingerbredman00]

also there is a BIG nut on the left side under your shifter towards the top of the assembly, make sure it's not too tight and limiting movement.
I made that mistake trying to fix my wobbly shifter issues.

 

[Srt4RacerDave]

Well, that may explain that one issue, but I don't think that would keep my car from getting into gears. I will check that tomorrow too, though I haven't really touched that so I'm not sure how it could have gotten too tight.

 

[matthewdesigns]

There's a great clutch adjustment video linked here on the Jacks Transmissions forum. Check out the videos on the bottom of the page, and you can at least rule that out before you start pulling things apart.

 

[DraginX]

Have you modified the shifter cables at all? Skateboard bearing mod? I did this mod and once the car sat for a few days and also got wet from a antifreeze leak and it took quite a bit of working the shifter to get it in gear and working again.

 

[Srt4RacerDave]

Well if that was the case I wouldn't imagine that it would just be effecting half the gears though.

 

[MIdsm]

Is the cable bracket on the transmission installed properly (proper orientation) and tight and are the bushings in good shape? IIRC there are two sets of bolts on there. It sounds like the control cable end can't reach far enough forward.

 

[Srt4RacerDave]

Well, that's exactly what I thought too. There was a "kink" in one of the shifter lines, so I thought maybe it wasn't extending far enough, hence the replace. Didn't work though. Anything else? I want my GSX back =/. It's been sitting so long the brakes froze shut.


When I take the linkage off the trans, the levers on the transmission are stiff. Does this point to internal blockage?

 

[dsm-onster]

Have you tried the suggestion by MidshipCivic? Remove the shift cables from the tranny. With the hood up leaning over the radiator, can you push the left lever down about 3/4 inch and can you pull it up by the same a mount? When you do can you you push to the trunk and pull to the radiator at each of the three levels? Those are all the gears. From bottem level up: 1st back 2nd front; next level, 3rd back 4th front; next level, 5th back reverse front.

 

[Srt4RacerDave]

Update. I did as told, and it will actually go into the gears. It's just very hard to move the shifter. If put into most gears, it just won't go in. It DOES actually go into the gears, something is just blocking me from actually going into them. This leads me to believe that you guys are right, and it's NOT my actual transmission that went bad. What next?

 

[gsxitement]

stretched shifter cables? Thats one thing I haven't heard yet. Get somone in the car and go through the gears while you watch under the hood. See what happens. While you're there, check out the slave. Have someone operate the clutch pedal while you watch the operation. Make sure you're getting full extension. It just seems to me that 2, 4 and rev. are all on the pull back. perhaps that cable is stretched, prohibiting proper engagement.

 

[dsm-onster]

Hmmm, he already checked the gears. and the tranny goes through the gears fine. So the problim is from the cables to the shift lever. I'd open up the sides of the console again and peer into the shifter base. Could something be there lodged? Or either the shift cables are bent/kinked/rusted inside the cable cover.

 

[Srt4RacerDave]

If I gave you guys some pictures would that help? The center console is already torn apart, the car is basically naked. And I replaced the shifter cables with brand new ones from Mentor Mitsu, so that can't be the problem.

 

[92 GSR-4]

No. Pictures probably wont help unless you snap a photo of your clutch fork position.

Look at post #6. Read the TRE FAQ.

 

[Srt4RacerDave]

I did read the page, and honestly I don't get what you asking me to do. The pedal was adjusted when my clutch installed. As for flywheel stepping, I have no idea about that. I have a fidanza flywheel and I got a resurface plate for it when I did the clutch. I covered the master and slave cylinder already.