So, my car was working just fine up until yesterday.
What has happened between then and now is simply this, my car wont accelerate in first gear unless I have it floored pedal to the ground and the same goes for reverse as well. I now have smoking coming out of my engine compartment with an odd chemical smell from around where my distributor and master cylinder are at. Is this a result of a Tranny slip? Clutch failure? Or something completely different?
If anyone has any idea what could be going on, please enlighten me and discuss!

 

is it only first and reverse, 2nd - 5th work as normal?

 

The other gears "appear" to be working normally from what I see and feel.

 

could be some gear damage. your best bet if youve never cracked one open is to take it to a trans shop. its gonna cost, but atleast youll know itll work when theyre done. or you can just pick up a good used one from here for not a lot of cash.


then theres always the option to upgrade to a t-56....now would be a great time.

 

Now when you say Gear damage, how would that happen exactly? I'm pretty inexperienced with this kind of thing. And to upgrade to a t-56, how much would that cost?

 

a standard decent milage dropout from a 4th gen is gonna run about 1500-2000 for every thing to swap. gear damage can occur from a lot of different reasons

 

Do you happen to know what the most common reason for Gear damage can be? Like, maybe skipping a gear or something?

 

The T5 is not very strong. Breaking first is easier to explain. someone revved it up, then popped the clutch, trying to spin the tires from a dead stop. That's an easy way to break a T5.
But I can't see that resulting in your symptoms.

 

So with that being the easiest way, do you or anyone else know what other ways it could happen? Or even the cost to fix?

I appreciate everyone helping me on this, thank you very much.

 

It may not be the transmission at all.
It may be difficult for you, but it might save you hundreds of dollars and much work and time: get a passenger to make a short movie, from the back seat where it can include the tach and speedo as well as the roads, and show us what it is doing wrong. We can't tell how it feels, or how it sounds. And those could be a big help with diagnosing the problem.
Another thing to try. Put the axle on stands, have a helper hold the clutch pedal to the floor. Then see if the driveshaft is easier to turn in second gear than in first. If it's a posi, that will make it easier, you can just turn one wheel for the comparison test. Anyway, it should be equal.

 

if you try to start moving teh car with 2nd what happens?

sounds like your clutch is shot or, since you can has mechanical clutch linkage, it is out of adjustment.

flooring the car till it smokes is never a good idea.... thats just making things worse, probalby ruined the clutch more that it was if it was simple out of adjustment.

while its apart, maybe consider swapped the pedals and bellhousing out to the later hydraulic setup. much better and self adjusting.

 

I will do that tonight then and I will message it to you or here.

 

It's an '84, so it is already hydraulic.

 

I haven't tried to start in second gear yet, I suppose I should give that a shot.

 

Figured out the problem, had someone fix it for me in a shop. Turns out the flywheel needed resurfacing and all the interior bearings and such were worn. Everything needed replaced from clutch plate to pressure plate. Car works now, thanks everyone for your responses.