Car: 2002 coupe 6 speed 43,000 miles

My car just had a rebuilt trans & a new clutch installed a month ago at the dealer. The gears where grinding.

The Problem: One minute my car shifts fine from gear to gear than the next minute the shifter becomes very notchy. The shifter feels like I'm shifting without fluid. It does have fluid. LIke something is in the way of the shift travel. I can feel it through the shift handle. Like it's not engaging alll the way?

What's strange is that the clutch is notchy one minute then the next minute it shifts like butter. The trans also seems to have a hard time going into 1st from time to time. Again, it seems like the clutch isn;t being engaged 100% all the time.

I sometimes have to press on the clutch twice to get into 1st smoothly.

I had the dealership bleed the clutch last week and this did seen to really fix the problem for about a day.

I figured it was fixed and was happy that the clutch issue wasn't in my head. I say this becasue the dealership didn't see anything wrong durring the test drive but bleed the system to satisfy me concerns.

The dealership said there may have been air in the system.

I have also noticed that the cars in the show room with the car off shifted from gear to gear with no clutch engagement.

My car seems not to shift nearly as well with the car off? I only mention this figuring that this may help solve my problem.

Do I have a bad Slave? Could it be the Master Clyinder?

It seems that once the car warms up the problem becomes worse. I have also noticed that when cold, the drivetrain makes very little noise.

When hot, the area under the shifter makes a lot of noise. A lot more noise than I remember it making before the trans/clutch work.

It sounds like a loud rattle under the car under the shifter. The car does not make this noise cold/warm.

It seems to happen when the car is driven for 15 minutes or more. Then the shifter starts to hang up and the rattle starts which can be heard at a traffic light. It's not the same rattle that I know all 6 sppeds have durring take off in 1st!!

Last night when shifting at red line in 1st, the shifer bounced itself into second with that notchy feeling.

It also appears that the engine also becomes rough when the shifter becomes notchy. Like reving to 4,000 rpm at a stand still. The car engine appears much smoother when reved when problem isn't happening?

The engine also seems to pull much smoother in 1st to red line when the problem isn't occuring.

Help! The bleed did help, but didn't last!



Thanks for your help! This Forum and the people who run it are a great asset to the Vette communnity!

 

The first thing I would have them check is whether they put the shifter back correctly. It could be a little off, causing the problems you're reporting. Pop the console, loosen the bolts, jiggle the shifter around, tighten and see if it feels better.

 

Your shifter could be out of aligment.

 

There is a pin in the shifter that is used to "zero" the linkage.
There are also clamps on linkage that should be tightened with pin in. Sound like the linkage could be loose and/or missadjusted.

 

Thanks for your reply!

I love the fact that the service magager told me there was no way to adjust the shift linkage! He said that it bolted right in. No adjustment! I did ask before the bleed.


I do understand what you guys are talking about but it would seem if it was the shifter that it would happen all the time? Also the car makes a great deal of rattling noise. Would the shifter cause this? It get real loud!

Also would a misaligned shifter cause the feeling of something in the way of the shift movement?

Thanks

 

Also I can't figure the misaligned shifter would cause the feeling in the shifter I experience. But of course I could be wrong!

 

I do not know if you are a DIY guy but I have a write up on adjusting the linkage if you want it.
I had a similiar problem and that is what it turned out to be.
The proceedure is in the factory shop manual.

 

I would love the write up! I would also like to stick it up the service managers rear end!!!! No adjustment my ***!

Thanks!!!

 

I know what you mean about the problems you are having. It kinda bothers me that the slave was not replaced while it was apart. There would have been almost no labor involved to change the slave, except to bleed it afterward. Knowing the problems some of the C5's had with the slave, seems like it should have been a no-brainer. If it does end up being the slave, everything has to come back apart just to get to it. Good luck & let us know what you find out. Scott

 

Thanks for your response!

I just figured that people knew that the slave was replaced due to the fact that it's comes as an asssembly with the clutch. I have a new slave.

I'm thinking maybe that I had a bad one or that the master cylinder was going due to the feeling that i have when changing gears at certain times.

It does seem that the bleed fixed it for awhile but people here mention the alignment issue.

 

The slave is not part of the clutch assembly. It is a separate part. The flywheel, disc and throwout bearing are a one part number assembly. If they were smart they sold you one cause it is one of those "as long as you are in there" must dos. The remote bleeder should be on that list as well.

 

Yep, the slave is a different part. Sorry for the mis information! Its just listed on my bill as one unit combined! At least the slave was done! But is it faulty?

I have read that they can be bad from the package. What condition would I experience with a bad slave or a bad master cylinder;

I have a feeling that it may be the master. I see that there are a couple of people here with this same type of condition. I just need some info so I can go to the dealer and tell them to check what parts people have mentioned within this thread.

It always seems I have to diagnoise the problem and they'll fix the problem. Otherwise I get we can't duplicate the problem

 

I believe I may be experiencing one of these parts going bad! I do not know how these two systems work in relation to the car. All I know is that a slave is a item in the clutch system.

I'm not really sure what a master cylinder does. I figure it also runs the clutch along with the brakes. Do these items just break or do they go bad slowly?

I am also amazed on the depth of some answers I see when looking up other topics using the search mode.

I have not found really any great post explaining what these two systems really do and and what happens when they START to go bad! :o

Thanks!

 

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/clutch.htm

 

Thanks for the link! And what a link it is! WOW! So much information.