Captain caveman

yesterday I was driving on the freeway to some guys house 30-45 minutes away from my place to look at some parts he had. On the way home I drove in 5th gear for 95 percent of the time, after getting near my place on the highway the traffic started to slow down. I take my car out of fifth to go down into 4th. Woudn't do it. I tried shifting into any gear all I got was grinding noises. so I took the first exit I saw and with some force I was able to get it into a lower gear. After that I had to use force to get the car into different gears. Now today I got into my car and it seems just as bad or worse now and I think the car will go into 5th with no problems.

So what's my prob? I've known that my clutch is setup funky since it has always needed to be pushed down to the floor to switch a gear and the clutch wont do anything until you push the pedal past half way through. Could my clutch just need some adjusting or is this more serious?

B1nAryVilE

uhhh transmission fluid, or it could be your slave and/or master cylinder check those 3.
_ChuCk

icice9

sounds like your not getting any hydrolics in your clutch slave or master... id check that first...

WildmaN

It could also be out of adjustment. I had trouble before with my '81. It was hard to go into gear, so I figured the slave cylinder. Replaced it, and then it turned out the same. And my dad suggested to adjust the clutch, and it turned out the pin was worn. So we adjusted a little bit from the inside, and woila, I had my clutch back. So eventually I will have to replace that pin. Just some past experience, hope this helps you out!

Ryan82ZX

Well, spunds like you got plenty of help. But if you decide to skip over their advice and listen to me, I would check your clutch fluid and Master/slave cylinder. Or your clutch is just straight up shot.

Carl's Z

Clutch master and/or slave, definately!! Change them both, since it's cheap and easy to do!

jfairladyz

That's good advice and you shouldn't change just one anyways. You should always change them as a set. It's not absolutely neccesary, but I highly recommend it.

EatmyDust

Well, I have to ask the question. if the problem is his clutch, or slave cylender, why dose it go into 5th gear fine, and not any other gear? my first thought was sencros, but I have never had this problem so I wouldn't know. but if you guys can explain it so I can understand I would love to know so when I do run into this problem I will know.

jfairladyz

The answer is simple really. Just plain simple. The problem is I don't know what the simple answer to the simple problem is just yet. sorry, I'm on a simple trip(see other posts). hey captain, are you sure it goes into 5th with no problems? You said you "think it will go into 5th with no problems." EatmyDust has a point, it's not too often you can only shift into one gear without some internal trouble with the tranny. But it's also not like a synchro to go out while you're just cruising either(but it can happen). If it's having trouble with all the gears then I would look to all the advice above. If it's having trouble with all the gears except 5th, well then I'd say you got something a little more serious on your hands. Plus the odd's of losing both synchro's at the same time? That's not gonna happen too often. Of course, if 5th is having problems too, then I just spent a lot of time typing nothing.

RodMoyes

Also... If he broke a tranny mount or motor mount bad enough for the motor and tranny to tilt too far one way... seen that happen before to. That will also explain going into some gears and not others without trouble. Probably not the case, but I've seen it happen.

Rod.

jfairladyz

Yeah, it's crazy stuff like that that would cause a strange situation like only going into one gear. It's an uncommon problem that I'm assuming comes from uncommon causes. To lose a gear is one thing, to lose more gears over a period of time, even a short period isn't that uncommon(people neglect trans fluid all the time), but to lose four of them at one time, now thats weird. And the one that's left good is the one he was in when all this happened. Even stranger.

And one more thing Captain, Does it have trouble shifting into the different gears only when the car is running, or does it do it when the engine is off too? That could narrow it down a bit as to what the problem is, or atleast help us eliminate a few things.

Ryan82ZX

Have you gotten under it to check and see if the slave cylinder is doing anything when you press the clutch pedal? That will tell you a lot, if it does depress the cylinder then your problem is probably in your clutch itself. If it does depress the cylinder then see if you can depress your clutch by hand at the fork, if you can then your clutch is shot (prabably blew the whole pressure plate apart). Good luck diagnosing!

280ZX_AV8R

my truck would grind when a synchronizer would go out in a gear. but I don't think those cars have a synchronizer, and even if they did, they wouldn't all go out at once.

jfairladyz

Yeah they got synchro's. But you're right, not all at once like that.

Unless you did something really bad, Cause I would consider that an act of god

alphy280z

sounds like like someone broke a shift fork roll pin.becuse when the the roll pin breakes it lets the shift fork slide on the shaft that runs throughout the trans and get stuck in between gears in gears or not work at all.and usally 5th gear will always work for two reasons 1 its not under near the stress 1st through 4 th is and 2 5th gear and reverse are on the sameshaft on the lower end of the trans internals.it is normal 4 these roll pins to break and bend caousing exactlly what your complaint is and pretty easy to fix.what i do with mine and my custermers is double roll pin the trans so this doesnt happen again

Captain caveman

k, guys. Been postponing fixing my car since I lost my little haynes book, but now it's found! read up on the clutch and it looks like a real easy fix. Can't fix it until friday because of parts. Hate that about working on the z. I always have to get my parts shipped in from someplace else

Alright, so I'm going to replace the master/slave cylinder and see if that does the job. Also, now the car has gotten worse. If I start the car in gear with the clutch down to the floor the car will drive off.

duckyz

This might be a little more than the master/slave cilinders....or not. How's the fluid in the clutch resivoir?

jfairladyz

If the plunger seal has let go and the fluid is just slipping by it, then that would cause exactly the problem you're describing. And once it starts to go, it only gets worse. Sometimes it just starts as a tough shift. Then you gotta push it further to disengage the clutch. Then you find yourself pumping the pedal to get some pressure. Then, it just lets go and doesn't move any fluid at all. Definitely sounds like a hydraulic problem. Check to see if you're losing fluid(even tiny amounts). And also make sure you don't have a leak at any of the lines. The hard lines can leak over time. I've even seen new ones leak. And we all know rubber doesn't last forever, so check those lines too.

jfairladyz

Oh, don't forget to bench bleed the new master cylinder or you just might end up right back where you are (though not nearly as bad) with a squishy pedal.

Captain caveman

a coworker said it sounded like it was my shift fork too. Will see I guess.

Captain caveman

fixed, you guys. I I replaced the master and slave cylinder and did some adjustments to the new master. Apears to be fine. Now I need to get my new bumper on and seats installed