Shifting Trouble

[RT-AWD]

Car is very difficult to shift, i have the clutch to the floor and at times second is impossible to get into (no grinding, it just wont let me in) third is rough but still not grinding, fourth is fine fifth is fine, reverse it grinds going into it took me two tries to get it into reverse to back into a parking spot. It feels harder to move side to side in neutral aswell. I just replaced the master and slave cylinders too. Is this possibly the clutch not fully engaging? The clutch is the ACT 2100 clutch it was installed not too long ago.

 

[BiG_DeE]

Check to see if the bell housing is loose or not, i know on my 95 gst the kid who owned it before me did the clutch and forgot to torque down the bell housing to the block so that my shifts were hard, fixed that today actually and well my shits are smooth as butter.

 

[absolute_DSM]

You replace a clutch, you NEED to adjust the clutch rod.

 

[GPLaserRS]

You might want to get a extended clutch slave rod, and possibly shifter bushings (for under the hood and at the base of the shifter in the car). For all that will probably run you $50. If that doesn't fix it you might have too much play in your clutch pedal or it just needs to be adjusted. It is a common problem on high mileage 1G's, there are a few threads on how to do the repair. How many miles are on your car?

 

[MelloEclipse]

+1 on that....my clutch was replaced, but they didnt' alter the rod or the pedal free play so it shifts like crap right now, actually i'm going to go fix that.

 

[kronus]

You might want to get a extended clutch slave rod

What is it with everyone and these extended rods? It's been proven that while the extended rods will temporarily solve your clutch problem, they are just a bandaid. When all parts of the clutch system are in working order, there is no need for the extended rod.

Further more, the clutch system has very few parts, and troubleshooting is not difficult at all. Have you:

-Bled Clutch from slave?
-Checked Master Cylinder for leaking?
-Readjusted your MC rod after installing the new MC?

And now the harder stuff:

-Visually inspect clutch for damage?
-Check for bent clutch fork?
-Worn pivot ball?

And the worst:

-Clutch pedal assembly wear?

and possibly shifter bushings (for under the hood and at the base of the shifter in the car).

I will recommend these, because they do tighten up the shifting 'feel.'

 

[JackM]

What is it with everyone and these extended rods?

Agreed. The extended slave rods are a scam. If you know how the system works, you will know that it doesn't do a darn thing. It just moves the slave farther into the unit and makes no difference in how much the slave piston actually moves the TOB fork.

You really need to stop driving the car before you do tranny damage. If you keep driving it, you will burn up the synchro blocker rings. The blocker rings are the things giving you resistance when you try to shift. They are 'blocking' you out of the gear, because the gear can't be synchronized with a dragging clutch.

1) Have the car running with the e-brake off so it can roll.
2) Push the clutch pedal all the way to the floor and hold it there.
3) Turn off your launch limiter in DSM link so the engine can hit 7K RPM.
4) Put the car into 1st gear.
5) Rev the engine up until you feel the car start to move forward.

If the car moves forward below 7200RPM, your clutch is dragging. DO NOT DRIVE UNTIL THE PROBLEM IS FIXED! Unit will also be hard to shift, so DON’T DRIVE OR FORCE IT INTO GEAR!

I send that check list with all of my tranny builds.

Jack
www.jackstransmissions.com

 

[RT-AWD]

My car has about 182,000 miles. I just replace the master and slave cylinders (bled them and adjusted the rod). the adjustment bolt under the clutch pedal is screwed out all the way. This problem comes and goes for example it didnt happen to me at all today. i dont have DSMLink i am not totally sure what it is. The previous owner stated that the shift cables might have frayed he said it happened to him before and he replaced them. I will check the things mentioned.
Does anyone know if the ACT clutches have marcel? ### i know if you run a clutch with marcel in a tranny that isn't supposed to have marcel it will drag.
THANKS FOR THE REPLIES!!!

 

[nates6969]

I'm in the process of dealing with a worn pedal assembly right now...that'd be the next thing I'd check as its sooo easy to check (haha not to fix though)...Push the clutch right to the floor then let up, ook under the dash and look at where the clutch pedal sits with repect to the Cruise control switch...it should be pressed right up against it...in other words, you shouldn't be able to manually pull up the pedal anymore

 

[RT-AWD]

the pedal cant be pulled up more, the main thing is that it engages right off the floor idk if this is a normal thing with an ACT 2100 clutch or i need a tranny rebuild, clutch adjustment i dont know.

 

[1gengsxz3]

i ahd that problem in third and fourth i thought it was the slave cylinder and when i replaced it i saw that my bell housing was cracked and the clutch fork this casue the fork not to ingage all the way and thats why i couldn't get it into gear

 

[RT-AWD]

ok, how do i check the bell housing do i have to take out my tranny? i know i have to, to check the fork.

 

[1gengsxz3]

the bell housing is covering the clutch assembly and the fork sticks out of it just get under your car and find the clutch fork and the bell housing is what it's in

 

[nates6969]

haha I had the same problem. for the last few months my clutch has been getting worse and worse...I believe I posted earilier about my pedal assembly being worn, however that didnt fix it so yesturday I dropped the transmission. As I was dropping it I noticed a small hole in the bell housing...once i got the tranny off I noticed the fork was missing a prong and the piece must have accelerated in the clutch assembly and was shot through the bell housing! kinda freaky! Anyways I replaced the fork and tossed in a new 2700lb clutchmaster (the old act2600 probably had another year on it but decided just to replace) and now the trans shifts like butter!!

 

[RT-AWD]

ok, well i looked at the bell housing and fork they looked ok i can only see a little of the fork but i didnt see any thing wrong. It slighty grinds going into second and third now on occasion.
I found a JDM tranny at a warehouse should i just buy that for $950?

 

[nates6969]

$950 is not terrible for a JDM if it hasn't been used since it was initially removed. But before you go blowing a grand on a new gear box, I'd pull the tranny first. Your going to have to do it if you replace it anyways. Now you said you looked at the fork? I'm assuming you just looked at it through the hole where the fork exits the bell housing...this really wont give you a good idea of whether the fork is broken, I know cause I thought the same about mine but once I pulled the tranny I saw the broke prong. Also which direction is your fork facing? it should be slightly facing the drivers side. Mine with a broke prong was tilted slightly to the passengers side.

 

[RT-AWD]

I think the fork is fine. If it wasnt wouldn't i be grinding gears all day? The car slighty grinds maybe 3 out of 8 shifts and its either 2nd or 3rd every other gear is fine and smooth. I'm thinking possibly trying one of those extension rods, because my clutch engage like an inch off the floor maybe with a little more travel i wont grind.

 

[absolute_DSM]

You know I read this entire post, and the entire time you could have fixed this problem very easily.

You replace a clutch, you NEED to adjust the clutch rod.

I said it almost 10 days ago and ill say it again. ADJUST THE ROD.

You never adjusted your master rod behind the pedal at all.
I thought you did but then I read this just a sec ago.

adjustment bolt under the clutch pedal is screwed out all the way.

That is NOT the adjustment we are referring to. That just moves your clutch pedal up and down.

Look under your dash BEHIND your clutch pedal. You see the rod that goes through the firewall? You need to loosen the nut and spin the rod clockwise about 3 times. Then tighten the nut. Without even starting the car you can push on the clutch and feel the disengagment point.

THAT is how you adjust that. Very easy and Im 99% sure this would have fixed your problem the first day.

 

[RT-AWD]

i did adjust that one aswell thats the one that pokes through into the car from the master cylinder right? Maybe i screwed it up ill try that out again.

 

[bpestilence]

A thousand thanks!

I have owned my car for only a couple days, and I thought the transmission was f'd. After reading this thread, I recognized the symptoms were the same as mine, and adjusted the rod as suggested. Shifts like a dream now!

As suggested, 2 or 3 turns CCW did the trick. The locking nut is 12mm, the rod itself takes a 6mm wrench.

 

[turboglenn]

as mentioned in another post...check teh clutch release arm and pivot ball..mine was broken off and the tranny was rough shifting, grinding to get into first at lights and engaging right off the floor no matter how it was adjusted...try adjustment first..but if that dont fix it, reach from under the car, grab teh release arm ( the part eh slave pushed on ) and try and wiggle it in all directions, it should be stiff but not too tight.. if it moves up and down ANY then the ball is probably broken or work out bad.... my tranny suffered from rough shifting for a long time and i played with adjustment and all kinds of things but after replacing the ball and release arm it's like the tranny is brand new, shifts like butter

 

[Talesin]

Also, since it hasn't been mentioned here yet, if you have shifting difficulties, take the time to calibrate your shifter cables to the shifter base assembly. There's a how-to up on VFAQ detailing how to get rid of any OEM cable bind, and fine-tune the adjustments. It helps a LOT in some cases of shifting problems.