Gears lock up when the car starts, any ideas? Options

[Rymaster]

So i was driving to school like any other day and when i parked my car, i noticed it seemed like my gears were locked up. I didn't really think much of it and just turned my car off and went to class. Finished class and came back to my car to drive home, *note*-my car was in first when i started it*, so i drove off and all the way home fine, about a 30 mins drive down the highway. When I'm almost home, i stop to get some gas and when i start the car back up, it starts up real shaky and I can't shift into any gears. I turn the car off and notice i can shift through all the gears perfectly when it's off, so i put it in first and start it back up, the car immediately starts moving when i start it. I end up driving the car home in 2nd, not stopping the whole way cause if I do the car will stall. If I shifted gears while driving, it was really rough, like i'm powershifting into gears.

I figure, it's gotta be the low fluids, air in the system, clutch slave, clutch master, or the clutch itself. So I knock out the easy one's first. Fluid was good and I bled the system, still can't shift. Before I go spending any money, I try testing the clutch to see if that is the problem. I start the car in 5th and drop the clutch, the car stalls out right away, so I figured the clutch was still good, especially since it hasn't been slipping or anything lately. I replace the clutch slave, thought what the heck, 19 bucks...didn't help though, so I try replacing the clutch master. Re-bled the system after putting the clutch master in, but that didn't help either. Lastly, I try adjusting the clutch master behind the clutch pedal, thinking maybe it isn't pumping enough fluid, but that didn't make a difference either. The only think I could think it would be is if the line for the fluid between the slave and master is leaking somewhere, but when I press in the clutch and hold it, I notice that the clutch slave is holding constant pressure, so I don't think there is a leak in the line. I am all out of ideas, I'm assuming now that it's something with the clutch, it has to be....

anyone else have any ideas before I take it to the shop to pay massive labor cost?

[Rymaster]

i ended up putting the clutch in myself, at my brother in law's shop. Nice of him to let me use their lift for a few hours.



got the car up in the air nice and early




luckly i had helpers




got everything out of the way in order to drop the trans. It really wasn't that much.... splash gaurds, tires/brakes, battery, starter, axels(only half way off), motor mounts and a few bolts here and there.
This is everything we took out to get to the trans, hardest part was the motor mounts, but they were actually pretty easy, thanks to a few peices of 2x4's we used to support the trans, hehe




now to tackle the fun part, taking the trans down...




a few blocks of wood and this thing, sure made taking the trans down a lot easier




and the problem...clutch pad has a lot of life left to it, but the bearings not so much




new clutch in




clean up the inside of the trans some...




whole job cost $175. $142 clutch , $13 breakfast, $20 lunch
I'm not gonna lie, the job did take us like 10 hours, though we did fool around a lot and it was the first time any of us have ever done a clutch. It went pretty smoothly though, now to just break in the new clutch

This post has been edited by Rymaster: Nov 9, 2008 - 9:57 PM