Troubleshooters to the rescue
 

Hi, for the last month I've been experiencing some grinding gears from 1st to 2nd gear. When accelerating rapidly then shifting in to 2nd, every once in a while I'll put the clutch in, shift and hear a grind. And also may be the same problem, I hear a sort of low rattle sound from the middle of the car while starting in 1st.

I had a rebuilt tranny at 145,000 miles, and am at 178,000 now.
anyone know what could be wrong?

The two most likely causes are:
Worn syncros (again?)
Clutch not releasing fully.

The only good way to tell is to go in and inspect.
Give us more symptoms.

Best,
Grady

those are the only symptoms at the moment, but I am afraid it is a warning signal to what lies ahead. I'm not familiar with a tranny or clutch so my only recourse would be to have it checked out by my mechanic.
I was afraid of that.

What would cause the clutch not to release fully?

Clutch adjustment?

K. Roman,

If 1st & 2nd are grinding at all, even infrequently ... there is already significant wear on those synchronizers!

As a clutch disk wears thinner ... the free play in the cable and pedal assembly is reduced, and finally, at some point, if you don't keep the freeplay properly adjusted ... the disk is dragging -- even when the clutch pedal is fully depressed! Does your reverse gear grind most of the time when you shift into reverse? If so, then that is a positive indication that clutch freeplay is actually 'negative' ... meaning that the disk is dragging all of the time, and never fully disengaged!

<b>Get the clutch adjusted, immediately!</b>

Then, tell us if the symptoms change!

Yes, the reverse does grind!
I'll look into it this week.
Thanks S Man.

Also...are you depressing the clutch all the way to the floor as you shift?....related to clutch adjustment...

--Wil

Yeah, I am.

Actually, as the clutch disk wears the engagement point will move up on the pedal, increasing the disengagement, The are other things which can lead to a "lower" pedal such as a streched cable.