phantazn

iTrader: (7)

stock t56, bolt ons, ran nitrous a few years back. The car has been almost daily driven for the past few years, mostly pretty conservative driving with the occasional bout of "happy time" when the roads are open. Just over 100k on the car, and fluids have been changed regularly.

The car sat outside for about a week without moving while I was in Florida. I came home this past Sunday, and drove the car to work and back since, no hard driving since the weather has been shitty. Last night, after turning into my neighborhood, I blipped the gas slightly to put it into 2nd gear, and for the life of me, it wouldn't. It felt like skip shift blocking 2nd, but I've had a skip shift eliminator for years now.

Driving to work this morning, absolutely zero issues. In fact, I had completely forgotten about the previous nights issues. Coming home though, was another story. After pulling up to a light, I tried to make a right turn, but could not get the car into gear. 1st, 2nd gear both felt like I had a wall blocking it. After a few tries, it finally went into 1st. 2nd went by fine, and then another wall at 3rd gear. a few seconds later, it popped right in like nothing happened, and 4th, 5th, and 6th went in like butter following that. Next light, zero issues at all, as with the one after that. for the next 20 miles or so, the problem was intermittent. The majority of the time, no issues in any gear, but once in a while I'd be unable to get it into 1st or 2nd while stopped. Didn't notice any issues once moving. Clutch feel felt normal and never once did it stick to the floor.

When I finally got into my driveway, I pushed the clutch in and tried to run through the gears. occasional issues with 1st and 2nd, never with 3rd and 4th. 5th, 6th, and reverse would feel like its blocked sometimes until I rolled forwards a few inches. With the car off, absolutely no trouble clicking into any gear at all.

Anyways, I hope this is clear enough of a description to give you all a good idea of what's been going on. Any help is appreciated. I'm really hoping this is something simple, as I just bought a house a short while back and money is a bit tight so I really can't swing for a rebuild.

therealcreeper

iTrader: (37)

if it's mostly 1st and reverse it's probably the master cylinder. mine would have trouble getting into 1st and reverse, and occasionally other gears (especially downshifts or higher rpm's) until I replaced it

try bleeding it, if that doesn't help try a new master

phantazn

iTrader: (7)

thanks, I'll have to stop by my parents house after work tomorrow; I still have the majority of my tools there.

I should mention, A few weeks ago when it was cold as ***** outside, I noticed that the clutch pedal would pause for a split second half way up when I let it out. This disappeared after the car warmed up though. I only really recall it doing this a couple times since, most likely when it was well below freezing temps in the morning. Nothing really sticks out.

phantazn

iTrader: (7)

update:

drove the car to work today then to the parents house in the afternoon/evening. Shifting problem came up 4-5 times over 50ish miles of driving. Once I got there, I spent forever changing out the trans fluid (which looked absolutely perfect after 20k miles) and bled the clutch fluid. As expected, the clutch fluid looked like utter ****; either clutch dust, burned to ****, or both.

Initially, I had trouble getting into reverse to back out, and the other gears were a no go as well. After a few pumps the problem went away, or so I thought. About 10 miles into my drive home I hit a light (not the only one though, about 4 lights prior to this one), and once again it felt like the gears were blocked. A few seconds and a few pumps later and it was like nothing happened, back to usual. No other incidents the rest of the 10 miles or so to my house. Clutch feels a bit better with the new fluid, but I'm still not sure what the issue might be.

therealcreeper

iTrader: (37)

still sounds like the master to me

cowboysfan

remove your shift eliminator and drive your car to see if those problems go away. if not then could be in your trans or hadraulic system....

phantazn

iTrader: (7)

new master cylinder has been ordered.

What I did notice today is that there is a noise that goes along with it. It's a squeaking noise, really brief, lasting for a split second. I would say it sounds something like a squeaky wheel turning, but just one chirp. The noise seems to be coming from right around the shifter area. I could be in gear and moving, or sitting at a light in neutral; as soon as I hear the squeak, I won't be able to get it into gear for the next 5-10 seconds.

RADEoN

iTrader: (12)

that's how my car started acting, then it started grinding, now the transmission is being rebuilt.

hopefully you get it resolved before the transmission goes bad, but on the other hand, don't replace the entire clutch system like i did (about 800 for my V), when deep down you know it might be a syncro.

but honestly, i think you might need a master or maybe even a slave.

phantazn

iTrader: (7)

Yeah, the trans is what I feared most, since I really can't shell out for a rebuild at the moment. I'm hoping that's not the issue, since the trans fluid looked brand new when I drained it, not even a speck.

phantazn

iTrader: (7)

so... car sat for over a week at my parents house while I waited for the mc to come in. started last night, finished this evening. I bench bled the mc, then drilled an access hole on the tunnel near the pedal and bled the entire system. Took the car out for a spin, everything seemed peachy.

unfortunately, that was short lived, as half way through my trip home the symptoms returned again. Intermittent, on again off again all the way home. fuuuuuuuuuck

TDP

iTrader: (23)

Another vote for the master. Probably an internal leak. So it holds pressure sometimes, but bypasses other times. It will only get worse until its fixed

phantazn

iTrader: (7)

new master was put in last night. I thought things were all good, but the problems returned about 10 miles down the road.