Need diagnosis for sudden 5 sp. man. trans. problem

[88SaleenClone]

I made another thread but I think I wasn't imformative enough...Basically, my car was running pretty good up until I was on the highway going about 70 mph...I dropped it into 3rd from 5th and floored it until redline..over 100 mph. I then took it out of gear and tried to put it in 5th from 3rd..Wouldn't go. Came to a stop, and had a hell of a time getting it back in 1st. Now, when I come to a stop at idle, the car vibrates/shakes which it didn't used to. It is also now always difficult to shift into any gear.

Also, when taking off normally from first gear now, the car bucks more than it used to. It always has a little since it has 2.73 gears, but now it's more pronounced. Also while cruising giving it light gas, it starts to buck lightly and randomly. I had felt this before and thought it was a slight missfire, but now it does it even more. Just wondering what this most likely could be. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Of note, I just got the car 6 months ago and it has about 157,000 miles on it, of which I've only put on about 1,500. For the drivetrain (clutch, tranny etc.) I don't know what's stock or not...The clutch peddle has always been a bit stiff but I've never had problems shifting. I always thought maybe it had an aftermarket clutch.

 

[RBRANDX]

Do you know when the clutch was last replaced? I feel that is your problem..All of the symptoms you have outlined are good indicators that the clutch is not properly engaging or needs replaced. A decent way to find out if it is slipping is to get on the highway, and at about 45-50 MPH put the car in 5th and stand on it..if the clutch is slipping, you will feel it. Or like we talked about in the last thread, it could not be fully engaging, for that I would suggest you get a good adj. clutch cable/ firewall adjuster ( steeda makes a nice one) and properly adjust the clutch....I would go ahead and do that first, as you should get one anyhow as the factory piece is a p.o.s. Good luck

 

[88SaleenClone]

I really don't think it's that since this thing happened all of a sudden after that high-speed run. The clutch has seemed fine before. Then all of a sudden I can't shift for crap. I mean the new vibration at idle in neutral wouldn't explain a non engaging clutch would it? I was thinking more along the lines of a possible harmonic balancer issue or something with the flywheel...Maybe even a broken engine mount!?!? Then again it could very well be the stock clutch and I just blew it out...Thanks for the help. I think when I get some cash I'll take it to my mech. and see what he says since I'm pretty clueless and toolless when it comes to working on these things..

 

[RBRANDX]

Still think the clutch is f'd as the harmonic balancer or the engine mount would not cause your trans to engage hard. easy way to check you engine mount would be to have a buddy get in the car and rev the crap out of it while you watch the engine...you should be able to tell if there is a prob. with the mount

 

[88SaleenClone]

How much do you think it would cost to get the clutch adjusted? Hopefully maybe that's all it is.

 

[RBRANDX]

well, unless someone has already installed an adj cable, there is no adj that you can make.

 

[88SaleenClone]

damn...lol

 

[89GtConvert5spd]

well i dont know if this is any help, but i was crusin bout 90-100 in 5th and it completely droped, turns out one of the rings holding one of the 5th gears fell off, and then the bearing retainer shaft busted off which caused some shifting probs, might want to take the tranny out and do a little inspection, take a look at the clutch fork and the throwout bearing. just a thought? hope it helps

 

[88SaleenClone]

lol you talk about takin' out the tranny like it's an everyday thing! I wish it was that easy for me but I would have to take it to a mechanic to get anything like that done.... But you know, my fifth gear has always been a little funny. Like before this happened, when shifting from 4th to 5th it seemed like it barely would shift into 5th, like the stick barely went up and to the right enough to go into 5th...

 

[89GtConvert5spd]

Well, my guess is the transmission,its fairly easy to remove, done it a bunch of times..but it sounds like the source if ur prob, hope that helps any

 

[Moffa]

double post thanks to my bad net sorry

 

[Moffa]

That sounds like a clutch problem to me. Most of the time when you can't put it into ANY gears, it'll most likey be the clutch and/or low fluid level I'd say your running problem may be that the clutch isn't fully disenaging causing the engine to run rough possibly? I'd say you should start off checking your clutch/throwout bearing sir.

 

[dragnazz5.0]

im with the other guys...if the tranny has problems going into all gears than it is the clutch. unless for some reason the car has enough power to twist the case and its binding everything up...but im sure its the clutch especially with the other problems. i would suggest checking out this site (thanks to jeremy "v8only") http://50stangs.com/techarticles/clutchcableadjustment.html

 

[kpack5982]

I was in your boat once and instead of paying 200 just to drop a tranny and have them then change the clutch on top of it, i went ahead and bought a set of ramps. And then borrowed a friend's jackstands and jack to jack the whole car up. A lot better than paying that kind of money when you may have to go back under it some other time. Good investment, even if you have just the ramps, or a jack, then you can get under there and work on it yourself, for a lot less than that cost.