Clutch?

[anotherblack944]

Tonight I'm running errands and get stuck behind someone driving 25 in a 40 (single lane). When the road goes to four lanes the line behind her scurries to get around. All of a sudden I find that I'm stuck in second! When I manage to get it out I have to push to get into third. As I do a few more stops it keeps getting worse so I head for home. It keeps getting harder to shift out of second when rolling and wont go into anything but fifth (and then I can hit fourth or third). Clutch in and out a few times in between makes no difference. When I first come to a total stop it shifts easily into all 5 forward but grinds for the first few tries into reverse.

Did my clutch suddenly go bad?

[ernie9944]

Originally Posted by anotherblack944

Tonight I'm running errands and get stuck behind someone driving 25 in a 40 (single lane). When the road goes to four lanes the line behind her scurries to get around. All of a sudden I find that I'm stuck in second! When I manage to get it out I have to push to get into third. As I do a few more stops it keeps getting worse so I head for home. It keeps getting harder to shift out of second when rolling and wont go into anything but fifth (and then I can hit fourth or third). Clutch in and out a few times in between makes no difference. When I first come to a total stop it shifts easily into all 5 forward but grinds for the first few tries into reverse.

Did my clutch suddenly go bad?

First check your brake fluid,if low check for leaks under the car around the (starter) area.If it's leaking there it will be your clutch master cylinder.If not check inside the car by the cluch pedal,you migth have to pull the carpet out a little way,look for sign of oil,if present it will be your clutch master cylinder.How your clutch peddle higth or low?

[anotherblack944]

Originally Posted by ernie9944

First check your brake fluid,if low check for leaks under the car around the (starter) area.If it's leaking there it will be your clutch master cylinder.If not check inside the car by the cluch pedal,you migth have to pull the carpet out a little way,look for sign of oil,if present it will be your clutch master cylinder.How your clutch peddle higth or low?

I didn't notice the pedal feeling any different but low fluid/leak makes much more sense. I will check that first thing in the morning (dark now) thanks.

Figures, I just dropped an order to PP for plugs, wires, cap and rotor this morning!

[zedsn]

Hopefully it is just your clutch slave going bad.

[John_AZ]

Do you have the OEM rubber clutch disc installed yet?

This happens when the rubber chunks get in the way and prevents shifting.

GL
J_AZ

[anotherblack944]

Well.. Fluid is dark but well above the clutch master intake line and no sign of leaks.

Today I went ~40 feet and it was hard to shift out of first. Back in the driveway I had to push really hard to get it out of first and then wouldn't go into (or out of) any gear without shutting off the engine. Pedal feels a little soft but there's no sign of pulling when in gear when running and it seem to engage normally when I let out the clutch.

I've had it 19 years have no idea on the clutch being original or not.

[Tervuren]

See if you can get a friend to run the clutch, while you look in the inspection hole at the slave cylinder, and take measurements to see how its operating. After checking the fluid, and checking for leaks, this would be my third step.

[John_AZ]

Originally Posted by anotherblack944

I've had it 19 years have no idea on the clutch being original or not.

Go under the car and remove the inspection rubber cap (or just look in the hole near the slave where the cap should be).

Do you see any chunks of black rubber?

Pull the starter and check for chunks of black rubber.

If you see chunks, you have a bad rubber clutch disc that lasted 19 years or more.

J_AZ

[AaronM]

Originally Posted by anotherblack944

I've had it 19 years have no idea on the clutch being original or not.

If you've had it 19 years and haven't done the clutch yourself, then it's still on a rubber-center clutch. Even if a prior owner did the clutch in the early '90s before you bought it at that time they'd still have been using the rubber-center discs. More likely, it's still original.

I'd put money on John being exactly right. The rubber centers degrade with age, not mileage, and after at least 19 year (probably 30 years) that rubber center is going to be completely shot. Most likely it's time for a new, spring-center, clutch.

[DenLen]

Sounds like your clutch. When my clutch went bad, I could use 2nd gear.

[DenLen]

Correction... could NOT use 2nd gear.