I have already consulted search. Needing some answers to a newish problem (for me); crunching/non-engaging gears in my 1989 5sp TT. When the car is stopped, idling fine @ ~ 900rpm, first gear is either very, very stiff & hard to put into gear, or it goes in but crunches doing so, or wont go in at all, and will need double clutching before it will go into gear. Usually it will only go into gear on the 2nd to 4th try Happens regardless of how warm or cold the car is, but doesnt happen all the time (ie its tempramental). Now, while driving and changing gears at under 3000rpm, crunching is almost non-existant, although occasionally pops up. However, while trying to shift up above 4000rpm, I very often get bad crunching, or the stick wont go in at all ie it crunches loudly & jumps out of gear back into neutral And before anyone asks, yes the clutch is pushed all the way in :bash: This happens when shifting into 3rd, 4th & 5th, although not neccessarily all the gears all the time (like I said, tempramental). So sometimes it will only happen in 5th, others only in 3rd or 4th, other times in all, and other times in none. Some days I can shift @ 6500 with full boost no crunching at all. Other days will crunch regardless of gentleness/roughness. So its driveable, but not as enjoyable as it should be when I want to have fun. Now I am thinking that my gearbox is stuffed, and needs to be re-conditioned/replaced. Is this the case? If so, does anyone have any general ideas on costs, where to buy/get it done <looks at Tom>, and other things to get done at the same time to save further costs/hasses later on? clutch, flywheel, single-piece tailshaft? And if so, again with the costs and workshops? ps I am also running redline gearbox oil, provided no relif whatsoever.
id say your clutch is on its way out... if u change your clutch get your fly machined aswell.... best way to tell is slowly let out the clutch and find friction point.... if its strart to grip when the cluch is nearly all the way out ur in need of a change.... try changing gear al little slower... its not good to slam into gear all the time... im not much of a mechanic so if any1 has anything to add please do...
Does the clutch slip? how old is it/how many km on it? Like JamesZX said, have you bled the clutch system? Did you try adjusting the clutch? Maybe it's not fully engaging.
I reckon its the gear box, clutch in most mild cases can be the cause, but it sounds a little more like the gear box to me. A few people who've had crunching problems have also put Redline gear box oil in and raved about how much better the gearbox perf. went after that. Expensive but worth it.
Yeah like I said in the first post, have already put redline gear box oil in, no improvement whatsoever.
No idea how old/km it has on it. What I do know is that the clutch master cylinder was fixed/replaced by the previous owner. So I guess that a clutch adjustment is neccessary to guage the problem, if it doesnt fix it then the gear box needs to go? But from what I gathered from the tech articles, a slipping clutch is the opposite of crunching? as one of the tech articles mentioned when adjusting the clutch to find a comfortable medium between slipping and crunching? Any idea on how much a clutch adjustment should cost?
Clutch adjustment should take about an hour, you have to pull the drivers seat out to do it a little more comfortably. By the sound off it you gear box is badly worn.
Hmm.. just thinking... if the clutch fluid reseviour had been empty... and you topped it up (that lets air get into the system). You should drain your clutch system out and get rid of the dirty old fluid. Fill it up with some new fluid and bleed it (like bleeding brakes). Making sure the fluid in the reseviour is always topped up as you go because if you bleed the clutch system without watching the fluid in the reseviour you'll notice all the fluid gone down and its emptyish letting air into it again. Good luck getting another person helping you (need 2 people) been trying for weeks hahahaha Then Adjust your clutch as in the tech section. Clutch bleeding Day?? haha i need to do mine too. James.
I'll disagree with you there Jason. ?? A failing clutch can cause all the above symptoms and alot worse, don't forget that unless you know what your doing...no clutchy means no shifty. I'd be more inclined for it to be clutch related, and more specifically your clutch not disengaging fully, which kinda points to fluid or pedal adjustment. Not disengaging fully won't allow your syncro's to match up right, hence the crunch and the difficult shifting. Other than that could be pressure plate...ie, new clutch time. My advice, for what it's worth, check your fluid, and bleed the system if you think it requires it, and then adjust your pedal to the specs in the tech article. When gearbox's go, they are generally gear specific, and often syncro related. Either that or just catastophic failure. The fact that yours is a tempermental problem across all 5 gears kinda points to a more general problem.
Yeah but like I said, I have never touched the clutch system. So you are saying that if the last time the clutch system was bled, if it was bled improperly, it would cause a problem over 6 months later? ie, I havent had any problems at all, until recently? That doesnt sound right to me. What does sound right is that through use, the clutch has gone out of wack and needs re-adjusting.
The clutch can get air into it from low fluid level in the reserviour(as already mentioned), but it can also get air in the system from worn or damaged seals in the M/Cyl and/or the Slave Cylinder(and this can occur every time you push the clutch pedal). It's exactly the same as happens with your brakes(nobody puts air in them either, but they do need bleeding periodically).:zlove:
That'd be my guess, had a similar issue a few months back although the car quickly deteriorated till it was undrivable within a day of the symptoms occuring... a new master and slave cylinder got her back on the road :zlove:
