1stvetteguy

I have been enjoying my Vette, now that I have brand new weatherstripping, and a fresh waterpump installed. I have only driven her about 1200 miles since I bought back in November. I had been always curious as to why my trans is so fickle with going into first, and I had listened to the advice of some members that shifting into 2nd then first from neutral would stop the grind, as it lines all the synchros back up, then I noticed it also sometimes likes to not always go into first from second unless the clutch is out just a hair, and it will go in. I was reading the Q&A over at ZFDoc, and found this, and it seems to be what is happening to me. I am just VERY hopeful I have not done any damage to the trans in the mean time, as it still works perfectl fine except for the above mentioned. The sound of replacing/repairing the transmission down the road makes me squirm.

Thoughts?

(Q.) I had my transmission rebuilt (1995 corvette ZF6) and a clutch installed about a year ago. If I am at a stoplight I sometimes have trouble shifting from neutral into first gear. I also have trouble getting into third gear sometimes. Sometimes the shifts are very smooth and other times it seems like it goes halfway into gear but I have to pull back and try again or shift into another gear first before it will go. Does this sound like an internal transmission problem or a clutch problem? Recently I noticed my clutch fluid was low so I refilled it but the problem still remained. I plan on changing the clutch master and slave because of the low fluid. The car also shutters a little bit when I let out the clutch going into first gear. I have put about 15k miles on the clutch and transmission since the work was done and I don't drive the car to the extreme. Kevin Redmond

(A.) With out a doubt, this sounds like you are experiencing clutch hydraulic problems. Continued use of the transmission while in this condition will cause excessive wear to the synchronizers and eventually the need to have your transmission rebuilt again. The clutch hydraulic master and slave cylinders should be replaced as a set. Regarding the clutch shudder during engagement, if it has shuddered from day one after the clutch replacement, I'd say that the pressure plate was not tightened down evenly with a uniform star pattern sequence. If the shudder developed over time, you can clean it up by changing slightly your clutch engagement technique. Try a few good launches when you are in a safe place or occasionally have a higher engine speed when you feather the clutch pedal. The idea is to alter the trend that has causing the clutch to glaze up in certain spots. Run it out a bit while feathering the clutch from time to time and the shuddering should be minimized for the times that you do a soft/more gentile feather. I had the same condition and was able to make it go away in about 1 weeks worth of driving.