CruzinTA

Hey guys, just finally bought a '00 WS6 T56 with 53,000 miles last week, Car is in excellent shape, owned by a older man for 6 years and he only put 5k on it so he decided to sell it to buy a new a truck. Anyways, car hasn't seemed to be abused.. I noticed it had a Centerforce sticker stuck on top of the airbox along with a K&N sticker, and a Borla sticker. The car has Borla exhaust, and K&N filter.. So i asked him if he had a clutch put in it also. He said he did not put a clutch it in but he thinks the previous owner did because of the sticker, and the clutch is stiffer than a bone stock T56, which i agree on. He also said he was changing the Tranny fluid in his Duramax and had a lot of ATF leftover so he changed the T/A also.

Well...

I noticed when the car is cold it HATES going in gear, and will grind second on a semi fast shift untill the tranny gets warm. I've also noticed after high-revs and really getting on it through 1st and 2nd the clutch feels way different and it grabs RIGHT when i move the clutch pedal off the floor. Today I gave her hell again up to the redline in first then into second, tried to grab third and it wouldn't go in third, didn't grind, but would not go in untill the engine revved down a little. I came up to a stop sign and at a stop was trying to put it in 1st and it wouldn't go, had to really fight it into first gear and it was giving a lot of resistance going in 1st 2nd and 3rd for awhile. I plan on dropping whatever this previous owner put in the Trans and (as an AMSOIL dealer) putting in fresh AMSOIL ATF or Synchromesh (seems to be a debate on this forum). Popped the clutch master cylinder reservoir and that fluid is very dark and murky. After doing some searching seems to be these cars like CLEAR fluid and nothing but.

I just somehow find it hard to believe that just murky brake fluid is making all these problems? The car is almost impossible to "quick shift" and it VERY hard to get into gear after revvin' the snot out of it, even at a stand still.. But at the same time i wouldn't think the synchro's are alreay shot with only 50k being on the car..? and why would that affect the clutch?

It does have hurst short throw, so i assume it should make the notchyness a little worse, but not THIS bad.

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

It def sounds like a hydraulic problem dont keep beating on it as you're really hurting the synchros by forcing the trans into gear. Bad clutch fluid can cause the issue but most likely the master has gone south. I would recommend that you test the master by disconnecting it from the slave. Then apply pressure with your foot for a few minutes continuously if the master is bad the pedal will begin to sink or compress.

After that go buy a tick lol. Yes it is expensive but the stock master is crap, the tick is bigger, flows more fluid and is adjustable. It is 300 bucks but its cheaper than a 1500 trans rebuild when the original one destroys the synchros.

CruzinTA

I usually dont like "cheaping" out on nice vehicles, but, what about an AC Delco Master or Dorman? Are they just as bad? Go for around 80 bucks for an AC Delco with 7/8 bore on Rockauto.

CruzinTA

Also, noticed some people on here cut holes in the floor pan to reach the slave cylinder better I guess to install and get to speed bleeder easier? I tried searching for it but nothing really came up, maybe i'm not using the correct words on the search lol

2011grandsport

I agree with redbird555 it could be the master cylinder. These cars do not have a very good hydraulic set up and the hydraulics just hate high rpm shifting. I would also change the fluid in the trans because some of the fluid
does not work well in these trans.
To answer your question on the ac delco and dorman they are stock units just like what comes on the car, no good for performance. You have to go aftermarket (Tick master cylinder).

CruzinTA

Ok, gotcha. I noticed in the description for the AC Delco it said "7/8 bore" , was hoping that meaned they bored it out bigger than the factory size after reading all the drilling fixes on here

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

ya im banking thats a typo on their part. I had the acdelco one from rockauto actually and it still didnt shift correctly lol the tick dwarfs it in comparison

Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

I went through several of these before finally getting a Tick. It only sounds expensive the first time you try to wrestle a master into place. Once you have to redo it, you won't think twice about paying $300 to never touch it again.

The tick is a PITA to wrestle into place. Removing the steering shaft helps quite a bit.

Then, after it's in, and your shifting performance is consistent and flawless, you'll be glad you spent it.

Tick sells a remote bleeder for an extra $75 (that was the price a year ago). It is long enough for you to sit in the driver's seat and bleed the clutch by yourself in ten minutes. Highly recommend you get that as well. save you a hole in the floor.

SSCamaro99_3

iTrader: (1)

Carbon blocker rings did not go in until 2001. Use only convential ATF as speced. Synthetic will eat up the paper blocker rings.

CruzinTA

My owners manual specs to use Synthetic ATF, How would synthetic eat up paper rings?

CruzinTA

Yes after seeing everyone's results on the Tick i'll just save the hassle of trying out a Dorman or Delco, just settle for the Tick, like you said, ill be happy ill never have to wrestle it in there again. Unfortunately I already cut a hole to make the bleed job easier yesterday.

Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

There's a sticky on how to bleed it. Follow it closely. Almost every complaint regarding a newly installed Tick is a result of insufficient or ineffective bleeding. Good Luck!