[wolfrpi]

it's the clutch...the backlash you feel is due to the rubber centered clutch coming apart and thus allowing the clutch disk friction surface to move in relation to the clutch disk spline. Consequently, while your engine spins, your tranny does not move until the small amount of rubber remaining in your clutch forces the friction surface to rotate at the same speed as the spline. If you drive harder, you will break the rubber center even more and it will be almost impossible to drive normally because of all the bucking. An incidental problem arises as you mentioned where the tranny is difficult to shift. Frequently this is so I believe because the rubber bits which seperated from the clutch disk are floating around in the bellhousing and getting stuck in the pressure plate and the clutch release arm.

Hope this helps,

Erick