Spyder Car won't move, please help

[gsexxx]

Hey guys, I have a 98 awd swapped spyder, 5 speed manual transmission, and am in need of some assistance figuring out why my car won't move. I was leaving my neighborhood and accelerating in 2nd gear (15mph) and all of the sudden i heard something hit the ground (sounded like a small piece of metal), and then my car just revved while I was in gear. I costed to a stop sign and then shifted into 1st gear and tried to accelerate but the car just revved and I started to roll back. So I walked back to where I heard something hit the ground but I couldn't find anything. I looked for over a half hour and didn't find any motor oil/gear oil on the street between my car and where i heard the mystery piece hit the ground.

I got the car towed to my buddy's garage and jacked her up and from what I can see everything looks good. Master has fluid, slave looks good, fork is in the correct position, clutch pedal feels the same, and I can shift into every gear. When the car is off and in gear, the wheels don't lock and the car rolls back so I have to use the e-brake.

Has anyone ever experienced this issue? I am going to pull the tranny tonight and see what I can find. If anyone has any suggestions as to what may be the cause, please let me know. Any advice is welcomed and greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot!

 

[SICK SOCIETY DSM90]

I wouldn't be surprised if you have damage or the clutch went out or Throw out bearing if not then I would check the gear oil for metal or any damages internally. I had a friend of mine that had a car that all of sudden did same thing and when I got into the tranny there was no material left on clutch pressure plate. Hope its just a normal clutch job

 

[Boostdriven]

Drain the tranny oil to see if you have any large pieces of metal in there. You could have a broken input shaft or a clutch disk.

 

[RussianMax]

How many times did you try putting it in first gear, was it making a winding sound when it revs up? Sounds to me like gear slipped out and jammed. One things for sure its not shifter cables

 

[Colt4G63 also]

Mark that up as x2 for input shaft or clutch disk.

 

[gsexxx]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I should have mentioned that I have a act streetlite flywheel, 2600 pp, and 6 puck unsprung disc. The whole setup has about 5k on it.

SICK SOCIETY DSM90 - Before this happened, the tob was making a very loud squeaking noise when the clutch was engaged but the noise would go away when disengaged. Could the tob possibly be the cause of this? The squeak has now gone away completely.

Boostdriven - I will drain the gear oil tonight and see what i find. Thanks!

RussianMax - I have attempted to put it in 1st, 2nd, and reverse 4-5 times with no luck. From what I remember it wasn't making a winding sound when it was revving. It goes into gear fine, but the car won't move an inch.

 

[SICK SOCIETY DSM90]

Ya it could its not engaging if your putting it into gear and letting the clutch out and car keeps running and goes now where. I would drain gear oil see what you come up with inspect the input shaft to rule it out or see if its damaged. Then if all that checks out take a look at the internal clutch parts im sure you will see some damage in there if everything else checks out. Inproper installation of a tob can cause premature failure.

 

[gsexxx]

Okay, I will drain gear oil and if I have enough time I will pull the tranny and inspect everything tonight and see what I find. Thanks again for the help guys!

 

[hotrodssnova]

Can you see the linkage moving on the transmission when you move the shifter in the car? If so, does it move all the way or just part way?

 

[gsexxx]

Can you see the linkage moving on the transmission when you move the shifter in the car? If so, does it move all the way or just part way?

When shifting into a gear, the linkage moves all the way. I had my buddy watch it while I was shifting.

 

[Boostdriven]

SICK SOCIETY DSM90 - Before this happened, the tob was making a very loud squeaking noise when the clutch was engaged but the noise would go away when disengaged. Could the tob possibly be the cause of this? The squeak has now gone away completely.

Sounds like your clutch disk is gone in which case the pressure plate would move further in putting more pressure on the TOB with the plate fingers, that's probably why don't don't hear the TOB noise anymore. I never liked puck clutch disks especially if they are unsprung. Those things are tranny eaters even under normal driving condition. I had a 6 puck sprung for about 5k miles before that thing went out along with my 4th gear shortly after. Right now I have a 2900# plate with a act street disk, had it for about 15k miles and it still hold close to 500 ft/lbs of torque no problem. When you pull the clutch out I wouldn't be surprised if you have a nasty wear groove in the pressure plate surface and the flywheel. Take my advice and never put a puck clutch disk in your street car especially if its unsprung.

 

[gsexxx]

Sounds like your clutch disk is gone in which case the pressure plate would move further in putting more pressure on the TOB with the plate fingers, that's probably why don't don't hear the TOB noise anymore. I never liked puck clutch disks especially if they are unsprung. Those things are tranny eaters even under normal driving condition. I had a 6 puck sprung for about 5k miles before that thing went out along with my 4th gear shortly after. Right now I have a 2900# plate with a act street disk, had it for about 15k miles and it still hold close to 500 ft/lbs of torque no problem. When you pull the clutch out I wouldn't be surprised if you have a nasty wear groove in the pressure plate surface and the flywheel. Take my advice and never put a puck clutch disk in your street car especially if its unsprung.

Thanks for your advice, and I will switch to a street disk. The previous owner selected the 6 puck and installed the clutch setup.

 

[hotrodssnova]

If the linkage was moving all the way like it was supposed to, I would suspect to hear some grinding or the car attempting to creep forward, even with a wasted disk. But, hard to say.

 

[Boostdriven]

Make sure you have the flywheel resurfaced and stepped property. You might have to replace the pressure plate, I had to get a new one due to the deep wore out groove cause the puck clutch disk. If you do have to get a new pressure plate then just get the 2900# plate with a street disk

 

[hotrodssnova]

I run that 2900# also. If you do go with it, disable the clutch switch to start it. That's one stiff clutch!

 

[gsexxx]

Make sure you have the flywheel resurfaced and stepped property. You might have to replace the pressure plate, I had to get a new one due to the deep wore out groove cause the puck clutch disk. If you do have to get a new pressure plate then just get the 2900# plate with a street disk

I will do that!

And I just don't understand why the wheels don't lock when the car is off and in gear. It just rolls back and I have to pull the e-brake so it doesn't roll out of the garage.

 

[hotrodssnova]

I was thinking about that and if the clutch disk is wiped out, it won't have any surface touching the flywheel or pressure plate and will freewheeling between the pp and fw. OR...your shifting rails could be broken inside the transmission. OR ..your input shaft is stripped at the clutch disk.

 

[gsexxx]

Good point, I am thinking input shaft since the tob was going out. Should of replaced the tob and inspected everything as soon as I heard the squeaking

 

[Mark4g63t]

By the sound of it, it was just a ACT TOB failure. Nothing that would cause this.

 

[Boostdriven]

I run that 2900# also. If you do go with it, disable the clutch switch to start it. That's one stiff clutch!

+1 on that one. Not only is it going to be less work when you start the car but it will also extend the life of the thrust bearing. It's a safety feature from the factory but you still have to check to see if the car is in gear before you release the crutch anyways

 

[bryanwheat]

A bad tob won't cause the clutch to not engage. If the tob were bad than it wouldn't too into gear. I would say that the center of the clutch disc has separated from the outer disc, or you have a bad axle.

 

[gsexxx]

A bad tob won't cause the clutch to not engage. If the tob were bad than it wouldn't too into gear. I would say that the center of the clutch disc has separated from the outer disc, or you have a bad axle.

From what I can see, axles look good. They were rebuilt less than five thousand miles ago. I wonder what fell off and hit the road when this happened. I looked under the car for a while and didn't come across any missing bolts or anything. I am interested to what I will find when I remove the tranny.

 

[white lighting]

If you disable the clutch sensor you will lose your two step.

 

[Colt4G63 also]

The more I read this thread, the more it sounds like the transmission was falling out, and as it became less aligned to the transmission, the more it destroyed the clutch disk(TOB noise). Eventually the hub ripped right out of the middle of the clutch disk.

I've seen this exact same senario more than once.

 

[gsexxx]

Hey guys, I had to get up early this morning so I didn't have much time to work on it last night. All I have to do is remove the axles and then the tranny is ready to come out. I will be pulling it tonight. I drained the gear oil and transfer case fluid and for the most part everything looks good. I saw two very small metal shavings in the gear oil and that was it. Transfer case fluid looked good, no shavings at all.

Colt4G63 also - I think you are right, I don't know what else it would be. Everything else looks fine. Like I said, the axles were just rebuilt less than 5k ago and they all look good. I will know for sure tonight when the tranny is off.

I will post up some pics of what I find and update this thread as I figure out what went wrong. Thanks again everyone for all the help and hopefully I figure everything out tonight so I can start buying parts and get her running soon.