I don't know if I have a tranny problem or a clutch problem. A couple of days ago I was getting on the car a little bit and when I was done the car was not shifting properly. The car does not want to go into gear and when it does it kind of makes a grinding sound. It has gotten worse since then and getting more difficult to put into gear. The car is a civic with a gsr swap and a drag turbo kit. I am pushing 10psi and the car dynoed 264whp. The clutch that is in the car now is the stock clutch. For some reason I had a good stock clutch it survived many runs on slicks and the streets. If it is the clutch of course I will get a good aftermarket one but is there any way to check and make sure it is the clutch and not something else? Any suggestions would help at this point.

 

The grinding is probably the synchros.

If it makes a grinding sound/feel in all the gears minus 1st gear and reverse (1st and reverse I believe dont have synchros) then it is probably the clutch. Downshifting into 1st should be particularly difficult. It is highly unlikely you could make all the synchros go bad at the same time so the problem would be pointing at the clutch... probably the metal bracket holding the springs in. If its just a particular gear then you are probably looking at a tranny problem. You can also roll the windows down and try to listen for any chattering or abnormal sounds coming from the clutch. Also, if there is any noticable shuddering while engaging the clutch it would prob be pointing at a clutch problem.

I would start with simple things first.
check the master and slave cylinder, check the tranny fluid. then go for the more drastic measures.



[Modified by tilt, 2:20 PM 1/6/2003]

 

It's probably your pressure plate. I had the same problem after breaking a couple straps on my pressure plate. Your lucky to get as much use as you have with a stock clutch.

 

thanks for the help