Car suddenly wont go in or out of gear

[1969olds]

Was driving my car today, and everything was working normal. Go to pull away from a stop light, but car wont go into first. Finally jammed it into gear and turned around and went home. It is hard to get out of gear and nearly impossible to get in gear. Any ideas on why this could have happened all of the sudden?

 

[bryanwheat]

Clutch hydraulics.

 

[Arthris]

Hard to get in and out of gear with the engine running? Mine started that on saturday. Diagnosed it to be the TOB. cheack ## master and slave cylinder. Readjust if need be. And have someone push the clutch in and check the slave to make sure its moving. If all is well it may be ## TOB

 

[DSMBanditFZ6]

+1 on a TOB ( throw out bearing). Sorry. I like putting tge full name. Just incase someone is searching and doesn't know what a SMIM, SMIC, IIRC, BISS, ISC( that one got me ) etc... is.

Good luck.

 

[Arthris]

^good point

 

[97talon83]

could be a few things, shifter cables could have broke, bad clutch disc, or the hydraulics, check for leaks around your slave cylinder and master cylinder

 

[1gslotsi]

If the throw out bearing is bad you should hear it and noise changes when pedal is depressed , I don't the the clutch dis OS worn out because when u let out on the clutch it is not slipping issue is either throw out bearing or clutch slave/master cylinder more than likely good luck

 

[97talon83]

just because the disc isnt slipping doesnt mean its not bad, i had a spring pop in mine and wouldnt let me go into gear, i just changed my clutch over the weekend and mine was doing what his was...

Check to see if you can shift gears while the car is off, if so try to start your car in first gear, if it tries to take off on you while your foot is on the petal then ## clutch isnt engaging and disengaging properly..

after that check for leaks in your hydraulic system first because that is the easiest and most time efficient thing to fix most of the time..

 

[bryanwheat]

Sometimes parts of the friction material can come unattached and jam between the remaining friction material and flywheel or pressure plate. This will also cause a problem like this. Check the master and slave for leaks before anything.

 

[1969olds]

Ya, it goes through the gears fine with the engine off. And it does lurch forward a little when starting it with the clutch depressed. So what is the best way of figuring out if the clutch master or slave cylinder have gone bad?

 

[toppertopper]

Just had this problem ,...Jack the front pass side up try putting it into gear press the break if it stalls ...Its probably the clutch not disengaging ,..I had a spring stuck between the clutch and pressure plate
Still check the master and slave 1st

 

[1969olds]

Pulled the boot on the slave cylinder back to see if there was fluid, and the boot was ripped in two. And there was fluid in it, so I"m going to replace it.

If I have someone push on the clutch while I'm under the car the slave cylinder still moves? So does this mean that it isnt actually bad?

 

[Arthris]

Means ## throw out bearing is shot. Time for new clutch kit. Gotta drop the trans

 

[bryanwheat]

Pulled the boot on the slave cylinder back to see if there was fluid, and the boot was ripped in two. And there was fluid in it, so I"m going to replace it.

If I have someone push on the clutch while I'm under the car the slave cylinder still moves? So does this mean that it isnt actually bad?

The slave can still work, but it is leaking the fluid out and likely pulling in air. Replace the slave if it is leaking.

Means ## throw out bearing is shot. Time for new clutch kit. Gotta drop the trans

Where do you get a bad throw our bearing from a leaking slave cylinder?

 

[92AWDHX40]

Sounds like a tob, is shot, you may want to pull the trans so you can inspect it, while your there, check everything related to the drivetrain, and all leaks, if any, clutch, pp, cables etc. We will know much more once you look at the tob.

 

[gwbradley]

similar thing happened to me, turned out to be a cracked clutch, the springs in the clutch disc fell out, had to change out the clutch....

 

[slinkmerc]

sounds to me like you need a new clutch kit

 

[bryanwheat]

Did anyone that posted actually read that the slave cylinder was leaking fluid. Some are telling him to pull the transmission. Why would you want to remove the transmission when the slave is clearly bad?

 

[russ96gst]

^^^THIS come on folks, read before posting please.. To the OP change the slave, bleed the clutch correctly, and go from there.

 

[1969olds]

Well the problem is its hard to tell how much of the fluid is actually coming from the slave cylinder because I have oil leaks all over the place. I will replace the slave this weekend and if that doesnt fix it then I'll drop the trans. Thanks for all the help so far.

And if I do pull the trans, how do I diagnose a bad throwout bearing? This is my first manual car so I dont really know much..

 

[Black-Out]

Did anyone that posted actually read that the slave cylinder was leaking fluid. Some are telling him to pull the transmission. Why would you want to remove the transmission when the slave is clearly bad?

^^^ So This ^^^

 

[rb26alpha]

sounds like lack of fluid to me!

 

[CrawlinZX14]

This is clearly a slave or master issue. It could also be the clutch pedal assembly needing repair too. However, the torn dust boot on the slave and leaking fluid, is easy enough to diagnose. Jack the car up, have someone push the clutch in and hold it. While its in, if you see that slave cylinder move AT ALL, its leaking. If there is AIR in there, your not going to disengage all the way. So whats happening is by jamming it into gears without disengaging the clutch or RPM matching your gears, your likely going to be breaking a trans sooner rather than later. I had that happen on an 89 GSX of mine, I snapped an ear off my gear select rail. First bleed your slave. Then check it, chances are its bad. Then if bad replace it. its not very expensive to do. be careful of your clutch lines and dont kink or break one. You likely blew an O-ring inside the slave, and that causes your leak. You would hear a bad TOB. It would rattle and grind like a bi*** before it would go out completely like that. And a clutch would NOT let you drive it OK once u are actually able to get it in gear. So unless you are able to float gears like a truck driver, fix your clutch. And I drive trucks for a living and cant float my gears in my cars.

 

[1969olds]

New slave cylinder didnt fix it, guess I'll be pulling the tranny next week to figure out whats wrong.

 

[Dsmbrute]

When doing the clutch on these cars do you need to pull the engine or can you just drop the trans?