I know naturally FD tranny's are a little difficult to put into gears. Recently its been getting quite a bit worse.

I have a Spec stage 2 clutch with about 4K miles holding fine but making some weird noises and my tranny has 46K miles. I do have a B&M short shiter but this problem has occurred with my stock and RE shifter as well. tranny is pretty notchy, especially when cold. Ive just flushed and filled NEO HD fluid also.

Ounce the car really warms up and Im stopped, let go of the clutch, press the clutch and try to put it into pretty much any gear, its VERY difficult and. After the car is rolling its pretty much normal.

My question is, is it my tranny, pilot bearing or clutch causing the diffuiculty to put my car into gear? Im debating on buying a Jspec tranny since my 5th syncros is out too but I first want to find out why my tranny is crapping out.

 

Had a pilot bearing give me the same trouble as you are describing once. Upon taking the tranny off from the engine, the bearing was mangled. Put in a new one & the problems disappeared. This happened though after I put in a new clutch assembly.

How is the level of fluid in your reservoir looking? Is it normal or low? Might check that too.

 

Have you pulled the inspection plate to see if anything is wrong inside the bell housing? Take a good look around.

It will probably a problem w/ the clutch, i.e. disk not disengaging from the flywheel all the way.

 

I havnt checked inside the bellhousing and to be honesty, dont know how to. Ill do some reseach and check that out.

Fluid is at a good level.

to be honest, If im going to change the pilot bearing im going to junk the spec clutch and buy a used act so either way clutch is comming out. Now im not sure if I need a tranny or not. Could a pilot bearing cause notchiness when shifting?

 

I have a hard time getting my car back in to first unless I am at a near dead stop. It too gets a bit better once its warmed up completely. It also makes a disturbing rattle around idle. If I press in the clutch the noise almost goes away. I thought it was the release bearing but a couple of mechanics said it was my tranny

 

mine gets worse when it gets hot. You just need some good tranny fluid and the rattling noise is ur bearing.

 

imo, "notchiness" is a tranny issue not the clutch.

 

There are 2 10 mm bolts on the bottom of the bell housing that looks like they hold in a flat plate. Just take those off and the plate will come off, then you can look inside.

 

appreciate the comments but some more intput would be great.

 

I spoke to a transmission shop about this once, and I was told that some transmissions have a safety mechanism that prevents you from downshifting into first unless you are near a stop. They could be a dumbass, but it sounds reasonable. Mine does the same thing, I have to be around <10mph to shift into first.

If the noise happens when the clutch pedal is released, it is most likely your pilot bearing. No big deal, mine does the same thing, but I plan to replace it next time I pull the Tranny Off, just because. My friends TII doesnt even have a pilot bearing, and hasn't for about 2 years.

Release Bearing would most likely make more noise when the clutch pedal is depressed.



I wish I had the pilot bearing problem a few months ago, As my clutch fork exploded, and I could have replaced it then, but hindsight is 20/20

 

thnx for the input.... I think those saftey mechanisms are found in newers cars like audis and bmw's. Not sure if out fd's have it.

again, its really difficult to put it into gear at a full STOP when ive just pressed the clutch and try to put it in gear. I need to put a lot of force for a while to get it in.

 

From what I've read it is difficult in all gears, and it gets worse when the system gets hot. If my ADD logic is correct this would seem to me like an air bubble in the clutch system. My logic is as follows:
Very small air bubble when its cold would likely cause a slight problem that may/may not be noticeable, but as the temp rises the air bubble expands the air bubble can be compressed more and causes the clutch not to fully disengage, which would make it difficult to get into gear.

I would rebleed the clutch system, just to make sure. (Mostly because the alternative is alot worse!)

Alternatives include:
Failing clutch fork
Failing throwout bearing
Failing tranny.

 

Ill bleed the clutch system and check out the bell housing this weekend. thanks for the input

 

I had the same problem on my old engine setup. The fluid change helped but it would still refuse to go into first or reverse sometimes. I installed a new engine early this year and have yet to have a problem (new pilot bearing). You can also have a "Butt tooth condition" where the slider and syncro teeth are lined up and as a result wont go into that gear, but this only occurs when not in motion.