Having some questionable things happening with my 6 speed transmission. Some issues seem normal, or at least are mentioned in the owners manual. Others are not.
98 manual, 68k miles, all original transmission and clutch, 100% stock other than c6 wheels. have owned for 2 months.

Overall issues:
sometimes, it doesnt want to go into 1st gear - shifting to neutral, releasing clutch, and then shifting to first seems to work as recommended in the owners manual. also happens for reverse occasionally.
first to second - sometimes, goes 3/4 the way in and pops out of gear when clutch is released (has only happened once or twice.) guy I bought it off of said "its a race car, need to shift harder" which may be true.
second to third - has on numerous occasions made terrible grinding sound when putting it into 3rd. especially when shifting quickly under power. almost feels like clutch isnt fully pressed in. this is the most worrisome issue, in my opinion.
third to fourth, fourth to fifth - different issue, drivetrain seems to not match revs and kind of clunk. could be driver issue as I'm still getting used to the car. Just adding for additional info.

I plan on swapping out the transmission and differential fluid, but my mechanic thinks that will just be a temporary fix. I have it scheduled to be diagnosed by local transmission shop in a week.

The car is drivable, and I have been daily driving it. Most days, everything works fine. I just don't want something small to turn into something big.

Thoughts and guidance appreciated.

 

I had similar issues hard getting into first and reverse, had to go back to neutral then try again.

Going into 2nd gear it would pop out and got worse over time, I eventually held the shifter in 2nd position the whole time to prevent it from popping out.

Sometimes on freeway cruising in 6th gear and another car switched lanes in front of me and car slowed down, going to 4th gear it would grind.

I put in a Katech remote bleeder without pulling the drivetrain and it fixed all my issues, car still on original clutch and everything at 95,000 miles.

You could just have your mechanic bleed your clutch, which is a pain because the exhaust mid section and under body plate with several bolts has to be removed.

Even then it’s still a very tight fit.

I do recommend a Katech remote clutch bleeder and a insulated tube to protect the hose from heat, will try to find my original thread about doing this.

 

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ispreloading=1

Looking back, I could have written it better but wasn’t sure if it could be physically done working under car on jack stands.

I’ll bet the fluid in your clutch reservoir is nasty like mine was.

Also you should drain and replace the transmission fluid while doing the other work.

If it still has issues you can continue on to maybe transmission rebuild and all new clutch components, hopefully the bleeding and transmission fluid replacement will take care of your shifting issues.

 

awesome, thanks for the reply. i'm glad I asked!

I was starting to think I might need a new clutch (which I still might) but, $$$$$$$$$$$

 

Simply changing the "lifetime" fluid in the trans (I used Amsoil), and doing the "ranger method" of brake fluid flushing helped quite a bit on my 2000.

 

Sounds like clutch hydraulic problems. Change the clutch fluid over and over until it's clean. Best if you can drain and fill the slave cylinder directly too but that's a character builder. The Ranger Method works well-ish.
You have a 98 gearbox that can't use traditional synthetic ATF. Change it to GM's current manual trans recommendation or Dextron 3 ATF(three - not anything else) or my favorite Amsoil Torque Thrust ATF.
You can also verify that the shifter is setup correctly to the trans by using the included trans key at the bottom of the shifter. Loosen everything, drop the key into the hole and tighten everything back up. Pull the key up an put it in it's holder until next time.
Start saving for a slave cylinder replacement. It's 25 years old.
Good luck. You got the best year.

 

If your clutch fluid is anything less than clear.......change it

 

Moved to C5 Tech.