2G Spyder stock trans gave up on the highway?

[Sauce Dog]

hey guys the other day i had my 98' eclipse spyder out on the highway. had just been cruising for about 30-45 min on the highway when a mustang pulls up on me and we do what car guys do on the highway. i had it in 5th and jetted up to probably 120, and it stayed in 5th after that for about another 5-10 min after the mustang got off the highway. not long after that, i hear this sounds (nothing bad or explosive, almost like something in the trans shifted) so i gave it a little gas, the car moves, i push the clutch in, the engine revs freely, good sign!

so i come up to a light, 1-2-3 trhough the light but as soon as i went into 3rd it made a really bad sound like the clutch was grinding or something. i put it in first and let the clutch all the way out and it just made a bad noise and wouldn't go anywhere. got it towed home. thing is, we just put a new stage 1 SBC in it and the new TOB they sent. maybe the clutch was installed incorrectly? it has over 500 miles on the clutch by now. any ideas as to what happened? the tow truck driver said the shift rod was broken but the thing is i can move the stick and get it into gear it just wouldn't grab.

any questions or comments let me know and i'll try to answer to the best of my ability, thanks for your time!

 

[ThunderChild]

Very well could be a broken shift fork, but tough to say without pulling it and tearing it down.

If it will engage gear but not go anywhere, I'd assume a clutch issue for a fwd trans, but may be a differential issue too.

 

[Sauce Dog]

Very well could be a broken shift fork, but tough to say without pulling it and tearing it down.

If it will engage gear but not go anywhere, I'd assume a clutch issue for a fwd trans, but may be a differential issue too.

Is it worth fixing? If it is just a shift fork, the trans will have to come off anyways, so I’ll double synchro 2nd while I’m in there. Is this a bad omen for this transmission, and should I invest in a new one instead of fixing it? Thank you so much for your time.

 

[pauleyman]

You wont know squat until you take it apart. I doubt it's a shift fork. Wouldn't cause a grind. You should already have a double 2nd. Does it grind in all gears or just 3rd? Did you bother to check if an axle popped out since you just did a clutch. Take it apart and access the damage.

 

[ThunderChild]

Way too hard to say as of right now. Needs to be inspected first.

If you have the budget to rebuild it with good stuff and things are salvagable, then do that.

As @pauleyman said, you need to check everything first.

 

[Sauce Dog]

okay i'll get some jack stands and start getting the trans off on one of my days off. and if you mean saving for weeks for good stuff, then yeah i have the budget! poverty spec. i didn't try it in any other gear besides first, and that was right after it happened, after i pulled over. i haven't tried to get it to go into any other gears but the way it acted when i put it into 3rd...

just to clarify it goes into gear with the shifter, but when i let the clutch out it's just a painful noise.. doesn't make it in neutral, i wonder if the clutch grenaded? maybe input shaft? also i have no idea what i'm doing. i just have to take the trans off and find out. thanks for the insight, everyone. i'll keep the thread updated with my diagnosis.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Man best of luck to you. I always use a OEM TOB. Maybe it could be something like that but you will just have to take it apart until you find the problem. It has to come apart anyway, unfortunately. I do feel your pain and am ready to have mine running....soon I hope.

 

[pauleyman]

You need to understand what meshes with what. If it were a broken shift fork likely it would be stuck in one gear. Trying to engage another gear would just kill the car. In neutral the input shaft spins and two gears on the intermediate. 3rd gear is the main drive gear for the car. 3rd on the intermediate is always engaged to the final drive. It will be clear when you take it apart.

 

[Sauce Dog]

before i tear into i'll watch video's on how to tear it down, and try to familiarize myself with how it works. i also have a chilton's manual for 90-98 eclipse's so that may come in handy as well.

i almost feel like i should just.. try to find a gsx. if i'm gonna be putting this kind of money into one, should i get into a hard top awd model? i feel like i still have time, i haven't put too much money into the spyder... i guess i'm asking what you guys would do at this point.

 

[pauleyman]

There are too many variables to answer that question. Needs. Budget. Availability. Time constraints. Ability. Etc. These questions will be different for everybody. You dont even know what's wrong yet. Putting the cart before the horse. Figure out EXACTLY what's wrong first THEN you can decide what to do and only you can decide. We can certainly provide opinions but there will be extreme bias because each o e of us is different. For instance I would've already had it torn down and likely already had parts on the way. Further still....I wont install a clutch on a car I just got without tearing down tranny also. This isnt an option for most people.

 

[Sauce Dog]

There are too many variables to answer that question. Needs. Budget. Availability. Time constraints. Ability. Etc. These questions will be different for everybody. You dont even know what's wrong yet. Putting the cart before the horse. Figure out EXACTLY what's wrong first THEN you can decide what to do and only you can decide. We can certainly provide opinions but there will be extreme bias because each o e of us is different. For instance I would've already had it torn down and likely already had parts on the way. Further still....I wont install a clutch on a car I just got without tearing down tranny also. This isnt an option for most people.

we just moved to a house with a garage a week ago and i cannot wait to get the car into it's first garage, man. i still need to go get jack stands but even at that we need to clear out the garage of stuff that we've moved... trust me man i want to take the trans off it and see what's wrong with it now more than ever.

i'll post another update on the thread when i figure out what's wrong with it jsut for closure of the thread.