I am having issues shifting into gears all of the sudden. When i am at a stop, sometimes i can get into first just find but sometimes i cant, and have to let the clutch out a bit to let it "catch" it seems... Very annoying because the gear ends up grinding when i have to do this. I try to put it in second then go into first which also helps sometimes.

I have only had the car for about 2 weeks and its only recently started happening. I checked the clutch fluid which seemed fine. Any suggestions?

 

How old is the clutch? Did you check to see if the slave cyl. is working?

 

Check the clutch fluid and slave cylinder for leaks. It wouldn't hurt to bleed and change the clutch fliud. Last thing you want is to screw up a 4K tranny.

 

how do you check?

 

i will be doing this the next time its not raining...

 

The master is under the ECM. You have to loosen the two 10mm nuts on the in-board side of the ECM and lift it up out of the brkt. The end of the ECM that has the nuts has a flexable brkt...you need to back off the nuts enough to release the locking tabs on that side(inboard side, side toward the valve cover) away from the ECM so you can pull towards the motor and then lift up so the outboard studs come out of their mting holes. The master for the clutch hydrulic system is under the ECM.

Required reading if you have a zf6spd: ZR51PERFORMANCE.com....go there & read up on the trans and the hyd clutch system. After reading you will see that the symptoms you describe could be from a hyd system on the way out. Look for leaks on the master, line fittings and if you have the old style line ( metal + rubber + metal ) the rubber section may be balooning on you. Also look at the slave for a leak, although you may have to remove it to really see if it leaks...fluid on the boot. Another place that the master leaks is thru the push-rod seal...that shows up inside the passenger compartment...reach up by the top of the clutch pedal and feel the carpet to see if it is wet up there...if so the master is leaking.


Tom

btw: don't buy any parts for the system until you read the "How to fix the slave cylinder defect" thread in this section.

 

"ZR51PERFORMANCE.com." something's wrong; no such address. Suggestions?

 

My apologies .....try zfdoc.com...it's the same site, Mr. Boudreau's web site.

 

Sounds like the same problem I had last summer with my 1990. I started having problems shifting the car into gear. At first I thought my clutch was going on me. Turned out I needed a new clutch slave cylinder. Good luck.