This is a post i made in another forum yesterday...i just didnt feel like retyping it

"As most of you know i just bought an Rx-7 (1986) and now its giving me HELLA trouble. its hard to shift into first. i usually have to jerk it back between 1st and 2nd to actually get it into first. also it grinds whenever i try to put it in reverse. but when the car is off it goes into gear, no problem. but this morning i tried to put it into gear and start it but it sounded like the car wasnt getting enough "juice" to turn over. its like it was barely cranking. so please...what is it gonna be? i can get a new engine and tranny with only 121k miles on it for $300. thanx."

 

sounds like the battery is low. I just bought an 86 GXL and I bought a new battery so. Sounds like you may need one. If you have one, you will have to check all the electrical stuff to see if something is on when the key is off. Could also be that the alternator isn't charging the battery, and the battery is getting too low on power to start the car.
As for the transmission, it sounds like the syncros are bad. If you can get a used tranny for cheap, go for it. Its cheaper to replace than to have a shop rebuild it unless you got connections or can build it yourself. I'm surprised that there are so few people on this forum who know about transmission. As many mechanically inclinded people that are here who have whats seems to be an endless amount of engine knowledge, you just don't hear much about trannys.

 

Are u sure the clutch disk is completely disengaging when u depress the pedal?

 

Does your problem with first gear only happen when you are moving or is it from a stop? reverse grinding you just have to let the clutch out and put it back in and see if the gears line up

 

Definitely sounds like the clucth plate is dragging, worn clutch linkage or air in the clutch line or something. Does it start okay with the shifter in neutral? If so, and this is the problem, the fix might be cheap.

 

My old bmw 320i started doing this.. as it got worse, you'd come to a light and push the clutch in, and slowly it would begin to engage on you.. and you'd creep forward or stall.. Turned out to be the clutch master cylinder.

Try starting it in neutral, instead of just pushing the clutch in.

 

ok here's the new problem

i start my FC. it idles in neutral. like it should...i put it in first gear...let out the clutch AND the gas. it still idles without dying on me. i can shift gears and it idles in all gears. now..when i give it gas in first gear it doesnt go anywhere. give it gas in 2nd. goesnt go n e where...its like that through all the gears
now...before this happened it would SLOWY take off in first gear until i got around 5k-6k rpms...then it took off like it should (not racing). thats how it was in all the gears...so is this just a clutch? pressure plate? throwout bearing? cause the engien is running (giving it gas) and the tranny is fine (goes into gear) so it has to be the connection. like the engine isnt turning the tranny....thanx

this is actually an older post that i just copied and pasted. so do you think that this has n e thing to do with what was happening before?

thanx

 

Sounds like clutch to me. Most likely the the marcel just shattered and there's nothing left to grab. Since you described it as gradual, it's probably not a break in anything like the input shaft or the tranny.

Although I guess it could be your diff too. Get a helper and have them watch the driveshaft with a mirror. When you put it in gear and let the clutch out, if the shaft turns it's the diff. If it doesn't, it's the clutch.

Good luck.