POS88

Car in question is an 88 with 91 engine, turbo, fuel lines, and clutch set up including flywheel. I'll try to be brief.

Shifter moves ok when engine is off (clutch in) and goes into all gears. Not perfectly but it does go into all of them.
Shifter has good amount of play but I was told the shifter bushing was replaced recently by previous owner and I believe him.

No grinding except for once going to third when putting the first few miles on it( when I first bought it a couple weeks ago).

Clutch fluid level looks fine.

My problem is that when I'm accelerating and shifting above 4k rpm's, sometimes but now more often, it won't go into gear. I panicked on the freeway and tried to persuade it a little more than usual but it wouldn't go. I recall hearing a whining sound when trying to put it in gear. Sounds similar to the gears in a lathe or other machining tools.

Third and fourth gears are the hardest to get into gear. It can usually find second after a few seconds.
However on the freeway tonight I had to pull over because it wouldn't go in any gear. I need to get this fixed quickly.
Before it would only happen when shifting above 4k rpm's but today it gave me trouble when cruising around town. Normally when going into 4th.

Also I've noticed the power isn't consistant. I'm thinking it's the clutch but wanted to be certain. I don't want to replace tranny fluid if I'm going to need a new clutch soon. Last week I was worried about the not so smooth shifting but now I'm worried about just trying to get it in a friggin gear.
Thanks for reading all of this and your expert opinions.

funkjaw

iTrader: (3)

Do a basic check of the entire system in question... lines, clutch cylinders, etc...

POS88

clutch fluid looks fine. Can't see any fluids dripping or leaking. Clutch doesn't have a spongy feel. Most of the threads people have started about clutch cylinders have said that the clutch goes to the floor but mine doesn't.
Anything else I'm missing?

funkjaw

iTrader: (3)

Makes me wonder if your tranny is done for. I would maybe stick a finger in the filler hole on the transmission and see if you pull out a lot of metallic looking fluid.

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

Check the clutch fork travel when the pedal is pressed down. Adjust pedal freeplay to give yourself a longer stroke. There are specs in the FSM for freeplay too.