I have an 06 Z51 with 60K miles. I've noticed that my shifts, especially 1-2 are becoming more difficult. Going from a dead stop and putting the car into first is also becoming harder. The clutch doesn't slip under hard load so I'm not sure it's the clutch. That being said I did do 3 burnouts before I bought new tires a couple of months ago (the only burnouts I've ever done in this car), one after the other, and it did begin to slip on the third one. What's the symptoms of a bad clutch in these cars? The car is under GMPP warranty but I have a short shifter in the car, not sure if they'd question that if there is a problem. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Sounds more like the syncro's in the tranny are going out. I would have the tranny rebuilt.

Short shifter does not effect the warranty at all. When the clutch goes out it slips. It kind of feels like breaking the tires loose, the car revs but doesn't move forward at the same rate so to speak.

 

Before you go rebuilding the tranny just drain and replace the fluid in the tranny, clutch, and diff. My '05 car shifted a lot smoother when I changed all the fluids. Mine has 40K mines on it.

 

May be the shifter box rubber bushings that are shot, which can cause shifter problems by allowing the box and/or the shift rod to move around. The box has two mount bushings and two shift rod bushings. With the age and mileage of your car, chances are that your bushings have deteriorated. Age and heat are the culprid. The mount bushings can be bought from aftermarket vendors but the shift rod bushings cannot and require purchasing the entire new shift box which isn't very expensive (about $150 from GMPARTSHOUSE.COM). The new box has both sets of bushings installed.

 

Try replacing the shifter box bushings. I think Zip Corvette sells them. Easy fix and cheap...certainly try that before you replace expensive parts.

If you have an after market shifter your limiter stops might have moved too...that happens a fair amount of the time, the stops move and you can't get the car in gear. You can take out the stops, your factory doesn't have them and evidently you don't need them.

 

Clutch disengagement problems could cause these symptoms. If this is the case it will mean your synchros are working overtime causing slower more difficult shifts. You may just need to flush out the fluid (which you may have nadgered when doing those donuts.)

What does your fluid look like? You can swap most out from above (ranger method) but ideally bleeding from below (small hands and patience required) is best.

May or may not be your issue but something to think about.

Cheers and good luck!

 

This is a good post; I'd swap the fluid before doing anything if you don't do it regularly.

www.rangeracceleration.com has the procedure if you don't know it.

 

Pilot bearing probably. Does it get worse when the car is driven 30 minutes or more? If so the pilot is failing. Have seen the clutch master cylinders do this as well.

 

My linkage rod to shifter box rod bushing were wasted. Had what sounds similar happening. Look at the rear of shifter box where rod sticks out. Remove shifter box and lift it if needed. It's tightened onto linkage so it won't go anywhere. Mine was wasted. Ordered new from GMPD for 139 shipped. I'm good as new now!

 

Rickm6,
To the best of my understanding the short shifter shouldn't effect your GMPP. Let us know how everything works out.

Chevrolet Customer Service,
Justin

 

Sorry to wake this up from the dead... But did you ever find out what the problem was?I'm having relatable problems and if it is the shifter problem, would buying an MGW shifter fix this? Thanks

 

Frequently, when it becomes difficult to engage first gear from a stop or make the 1-2 or 2-3 gear shift in the absence of high mileage abuse, it's the hydraulic clutch master or slave cylinder at fault. Dirty and/or low fluid (see the Range method as posted here) or leaking slave cylinder is the place to start. Check fluid level and flush and refill as necessary. Certainly not the only thing that can cause this problem, but I'd start here before I paid someone to rebuild my tranny with new synchos.