First post lol. I have a 1995 Trans Am M6 152K miles with a factory Hurst Shifter. My problem occurs only when I am braking moderately or traveling relatively slow (I.E. 20-30 mph). What happens is that when I brake and press in the clutch, I try to shift to 3rd but it creaks and grinds.
I can shift it forcefully into 3rd and then it will drive normal, but if I press in the clutch 1/2 to 3/4 of the way in, it will grind.
I'm puzzled as to whats happening and I know little to nothing about transmissions. I will say that I have had the master and slave cylinders replaced by a shop 1 year ago. I was ATTEMPTING to adjust the stops on the shifter to solve my high RPM 2nd to 3rd miss-shift, I tried adjusting them back to the way they were but have been unsuccessful in stopping the grind. Could it be a clutch issue? Any suggestions?

 

So, this only happens when you try to downshift to 3rd gear? Does it happen when you upshift?

 

Does not seem to happen on an upshift

 

I had a similar problem when one of the syncro's went bad. Probably time for a partial or full rebuild.

Can you avoid the downshift in to 3rd to get around the problem? You may also try using the double clutch to confirm the issue and work around the problem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_clutch

 

Downshifting with double clutch works like a charm. Shifts smoothly and correctly with no issues.

 

Well that's it. Just a bad syncro. Can you live without it until you need your next clutch and you have to pull the tranny? I had to replace one after 40K miles. The bill was... unpleasant.

 

Yes I can live without it for now. I'm just glad it wasn't something worse.