Hard shifting?

[LiquidOC]

OK, went to the dealership to pick up the car today, shifted fine and i drove it like a granny for the first 20 or so miles. after about 10 of those miles though, i started to notice that the shifting was getting progressively harder, and now, i almost have to "finesse" it into the right gears. it won't just go straight in, it'll act like the clutch isn't pushed in. maybe i need to "tighten" my clutch? help please! (also, the clutch "feels" loose, but the dealership salesman said it was a cable clutch? i thought we all had hydraulic?)

thanks!

 

[leet]

Your dealership salesman is an idiot. Try bleeding your hydraulics. Check for leaks. Check the transmission too, since it sounds like you had some serious morons working on your car.

 

[pneumo]

Why was your car at the dealership? Were they working on the tranny or something?

Check you clutch fluid level, and check the master and slave cylinders for leaks.

 

[LiquidOC]

it was at the dealership because i was purchasing it it's a used car dealership. the mechanics that work there are alright, but the idiot that sold me the car is well...stupid i got him to knock off 2 grand from the 7 grand price because i said it sounded "wrong"

 

[pneumo]

Congratulations on the purchase of your DSM!

I'm concerned that the shifting got worse so quickly. Maybe the dealer found a problem and instead of fixing it, they might have tried to cover it up so they could sell the car.

Another possiblilty is that you don't yet know how notchy and stiff a normal DSM tranny shifts, and you're trying to shift too fast.

How far off the floor does the clutch engage?

Try changing the tranny fluid to one of the DSM favorites, such as GM Syncroshift, Pennzoil syncromesh, Redline MTL or MT-90.

 

[96TSi_Chris]

Well its probably one of the above statements, but after you check all those, heres what i ran into. My shifter broke and i took everything apart to weld it back together. Well it had broken before b/c there were non factory welds on the shifter from someone being in there b4. So for the first 20k b4 the shifter broke, my shifting was really notchy b/c it was off the entire time. Rewelded, rebuilt it and its like a brand new car. Just a thought tho.

 

[LiquidOC]

hmm...i'll have to check the vfaq on the hydraulic bleeding and such, but i'll give all of it a shot and get back to you! Thanks for all the replies, you guys/girls are really helpful!