Bad Clutch Symptons?

[vesnyder]

I think my clutch is bad, but want to make sure before I tear it apart and realize I just needed tranny fluid? Recently after my car was warmed up it woudl grind getting teh car into first gear. On a trip last night shifting became very difficult - particularly into 1st gear and reverse. Once the car got going I was fine. I went to move it this morning and could not get it into first or reverse at all with the motor running. With the motor off shifting was no problem. Does it sound like a clutch?

[rnln]

Any leaking, wet underneath the tranny? but if the clutch go bad, it should be hard to shift even when it's moving. Why not check and add tranny fluid first to see any change.

[Alan Lindquist]

I had almostly the exact symptoms you mentioned and drove (1980SC) home using second gear to get going. Stupid, because I have AAA and could have got a free tow. Pulled the motor and tranny and delivered the tranny to my mechanic and he rebuilt first and second. It's not cheap! His labor was reasonable but the parts are expensive. He busted me for driving it home that way. Said there were parts and pieces of the busted synchros rolling around and any one of them could have caused even more expensive damage if they circulated to the wrong place. I got lucky. So think about that before you drive any further. Maybe drain the tranny oil and look hard for metal. If you find something that disturbs you, don't run it - get a rebuild.

[Eagledriver]

There is no syncro in reverse gear. This is the definitive test for the clutch. If you push the clutch to the floor it should disconnect the input shaft of the transmission from the engine. The input shaft will then slow to a stop over a period of a few seconds. If you then try to shift into reverse and you get a grind, the clutch has not successfully disconnected the input shaft from the engine. A furthur test would be to start the car with the clutch all the way to the floor and then shift into reverse. The input shaft should already be stopped (since the engine was off) and you should get no grinding. Shifting into other gears is possible with a dragging clutch (one that is only partially working). This is because the other gears have good syncro's and the engine is spinning up or down through the RPM range and will often find the correct range with the help of the syncro's even though the clutch is not working well.

You can try adjusting the clutch using the nuts that are on the cable on the transmission clutch arm.

-Andy

[autobonrun]

Try going into second gear then first gear.