Clutch, or transmission? *NEW CLUTCH

[Srt4RacerDave]

I've had an issue with my car being broken for a long time and it's finally time to fix it. My car is having problems getting into gears. While the car is off, it will shift into any gear fine. When the car is on, things change though. The shifter is physically hard to move around, even if just back and forth in neutral. Also, it seems there is a slight grinding/ chirping noise that comes from the clutch/flywheel area that is constant when the clutch pedal isn't pushed all the way down. The clutch pedal itself feels normal as far as pressure goes. When the car is on, it is very hard to shift into all the gears. You either have to completely force it into gear and hold it in, or start it up in that gear. My reserve gear grinds, but it always did that. I've tried some troubleshooting with no luck. I've replaced the master and slave cylinder, bled the system over and over, and replaced the various springs because some were cracked. I've replaced the shifter cables with brand new OEM ones. Before the car broke, I put in a Fidanza 4.3 and a new surface for my fidanza lightweight flywheel. I also replaced the TOB and pivot ball. The clutch only has around 450 miles on it. The car never saw boost during this time because of the break-in period. So the question is, what is most likely causing the problem? I'm preparing to take the car apart today, but I honestly don't know what I'm looking for. Thanks in advance.

 

[toofast82]

While the car is off, it will shift into any gear fine. When the car is on, things change though. The shifter is physically hard to move around, even if just back and forth in neutral..

Double check that the sensor for your reverse lights is not over torqued. This can cause hard shifter movement sometimes but will usually do it with car off or while bench shifting it as well.
Double check there is nothing interfering with the shifter cables from tranny to shifter as well as properly adjusted.

Also, it seems there is a slight grinding/ chirping noise that comes from the clutch/flywheel area that is constant when the clutch pedal isn't pushed all the way down. The clutch pedal itself feels normal as far as pressure goes. When the car is on, it is very hard to shift into all the gears. You either have to completely force it into gear and hold it in, or start it up in that gear. My reserve gear grinds, but it always did that. .

I would check the position of the clutch fork in relation to the bellhousing first. This explains it:
TRE TECH TIPS

If the fork is sitting too far towards the passenger side, it can cause it to hit the bellhousing when clutch is pushed, preventing full disengagement as well as causing a cracked bellhousing.
Too far towards the driver side and it can cause the fork to rub the pressure plate causing noise

I also replaced the TOB and pivot ball..

Did you use OEM TOB as well as clip it to the fork properly? Could possibly be causing the squealing?

 

[habitatguy187]

Also did you use oem master and slave cylinders when you replaced them?

 

[Srt4RacerDave]

Double check that the sensor for your reverse lights is not over torqued. This can cause hard shifter movement sometimes but will usually do it with car off or while bench shifting it as well.
Double check there is nothing interfering with the shifter cables from tranny to shifter as well as properly adjusted.


I would check the position of the clutch fork in relation to the bellhousing first. This explains it:
TRE TECH TIPS

If the fork is sitting too far towards the passenger side, it can cause it to hit the bellhousing when clutch is pushed, preventing full disengagement as well as causing a cracked bellhousing.
Too far towards the driver side and it can cause the fork to rub the pressure plate causing noise

Did you use OEM TOB as well as clip it to the fork properly? Could possibly be causing the squealing?

I used a OEM throw out bearing when I did the clutch. And as for the master and slave cylinders, I honestly don't know. They were from a NAPA auto parts store. The whole shifter assembly is visible to me at this point and there is nothing getting in the way of the cables between the shifter and the transmission. Also I might throw in, the car was fine for about ~450 miles before anything happened. I just got a new cylinder head put in from a trusted person, and then on the way home...

 

[toofast82]

And as for the master and slave cylinders, I honestly don't know. They were from a NAPA auto parts store.

I've used a few slaves from NAPA with good success.
Their parts are much higher quality than say Advance or Autozone.

Start by checking the fork position

 

[twicks69]

It definitely sounds like a clutch master cylinder rod adjustment would help fix the problem. Either you are over-engaging the clutch currently, or you are not fully disengaging the clutch. Adjusting the master cylinder rod clockwise towards the firewall should alleviate the problem, then bleed the clutch again with the two-person method.