I think I broke my transmission... ****! Please help!

[AlphaAssault]

I was driving down a bumpy road, headed to work. I notice nothing out of the ordinary, no sounds, no signs from the engine, nothing. I Go to shift into 2nd (I was in 3rd, going about 40mph, so I wasnt putting awesome power through the tranny) for a turn, and it WILL NOT go into gear. Well **** so I put it back into 3rd and notice that the it felt weird when i put it back into 3rd. I crawl away from the turn in 3rd gear, and try and shift into 4th and 5th, which I do successfully, but the clutch is now fighting back. Neither gear would go in smoothly, and i felt a lot of resistance, but no grinding. So I put it back into 3rd and pull off into a parking lot. I turn off the car and let it sit, thinking about how far up **** creek I might be. I shift while the car is off, and all seems well. I turn the car on, and I go for 1st. It wont go into gear, and I notice when I try to shift into ANY gear, even with the clutch pedal fully depressed, a very slight grinding noise accompanied by a slight drop in RPMs from the engine. After I parked, I tried shifting into all 5 gears, plus reverse, and none of them would go in. I didnt try to force the clutch into gear, instead i left it where it sits. Other things to note:

- the transmission was acting perfectly fine before all the gears died.
- the clutch pedal was giving me some issues recently. I had it adjusted so that the clutch would engage just before the pedal was all the way out. This prevented the transmission from grinding when i shifted into 2nd gear. Adjusted like that however, all gears were smooth.
- The clutch pedal does not sit on the floor, so I do not believe the problem is the slave cylinder.
- I looked under the car and saw no leaks or drips whatsoever.

Now, the obvious question is: what broke? How could all the gears die at the same time? From what I have researched, I am thinking the problem is a dead/dying master cylinder. I looked under the dash at the clutch pedal assembly and adjustment, and nothing looked odd. I didnt have a light, so I couldnt tell you is the master cylinder was leaking or not. Also, I left too quickly to examine the transmission fluid. So, hit me with your best diagnosis: how much ill it cost, or how ****** am i???

 

[xxraptor660xx]

I had a similar problem. I took off, and when I went to shift into 2nd, it just wouldn't go. I managed to get it into first gear, with the car off. It turned out to be the round peice around the input shaft (where the throwout bearing sits) tore off. I had the bell housing replaced, and all is good.

 

[turboglenn]

The master cyl shows it's signs of leaking inside teh car. look at where the adjustment rod is for that. On the slave you need to pull the boot off it and see if there's fluid in there. Grab the clutch release fork and see if it feels real wiggly. If it does teh pivot ball and arm might need replacing ( along with a throw out bearing ).. if it's the slave or master cyls, just replace them both if you can, one will usually go out right after the other.

 

[90gsx16g]

Transmission bolts loose? Mine somehow ( of which i have no idea as i had just bought the car then) lossened up and i couldnt put it into gear for the life of me. Ended up cracking the tranny case... Either that or you have pressure plate/ clutch problems. I mention pressure plate because you said you had slight rpm drop.

 

[laserspeeddemon]

I seriously doubt the tranny is the culprit. I'm along the lines of shift cable or clutch components.

Can you put the car through all the gears with the motor off?

 

[AlphaAssault]

I seriously doubt the tranny is the culprit. I'm along the lines of shift cable or clutch components.

Can you put the car through all the gears with the motor off?

Yes, I tried and I can still shift when the car is off. How much is it to get the clutch replaced?

 

[90gsx16g]

Yes, I tried and I can still shift when the car is off. How much is it to get the clutch replaced?

I had a similar problem with my car, heres what i was told. He was right too

If it shifts fine with the car off, it's clutch related. If not, it's tranny related.

 

[AlphaAssault]

I had a similar problem with my car, heres what i was told. He was right too

So how did you fix the problem, and how much did it cost?

 

[viprez586]

If you can go into 3rd then your synchro welded itself to the mainshaft which really sucks. Time for a rebuild.

 

[babell2]

Sounds like your clutch isn't releasing when the pedal is depressed. Look Carefully at both clutch master and slave cyl. The rpm change when you try to force into gear is the syncrose trying to do their job don't do that to much we all know how weak they are. If they are both in good shape you could be looking at what I had. I found one of the springs from the clutch disk loose behind the pressure plate blocking the release fingers. I know its a little blurry but look between the fingers in this picture.

 

[TimG]

Being a DSMer, 85% of us never pay for labor. So coming to a DSM site and asking what we paid to have a clutch changed, will result is false figures considering all we pay for is parts ($300-$500 with new release bearing). If you want a shop to do it, there is no 'going rate.' If they are following shop manual time estimates, it would be 4 hours for a 1G n/t. Therefor you would be charged the shops rate multiplied by 4 hours + parts = $800ish.

 

[90gsx16g]

Being a DSMer, 85% of us never pay for labor. So coming to a DSM site and asking what we paid to have a clutch changed, will result is false figures considering all we pay for is parts ($300-$500 with new release bearing). If you want a shop to do it, there is no 'going rate.' If they are following shop manual time estimates, it would be 4 hours for a 1G n/t. Therefor you would be charged the shops rate multiplied by 4 hours + parts = $800ish.

Yeah i just got a quote from my shop and they said if i privoded all the things necessary they said it was gonna be about $500 in labor.
I drive a 90 gsx and im replacing the transmission and clutch. But he said that he'd include clutch replacement with that labor if it was necessary. Because the transmission will be out anyways. So basically i cant give you an exact price.