I have the manual 5-speed (what is this one called by the way?) transmission and I'm worried it's gone BAD!
There are THREE different shakes the car makes while driving.

1. When I engage the clutch at first gear it sometimes makes the whole car shudder.

2. When driving slow the car often goes into a jerky rythm.... looks really stupid. Makes me wonder if the whole transmission is loose or something. Or is it non-transmission related? The axel also makes a rythmical wining noise. I've heard this in other cars but don't know if it's normal...?

3. And last, when I accelerate the trans feels really weak. The gear stick like moves back and forth in my hand.... not much but a little. Is this normal?

It's the first summer I've had this car and I'm sort of disappointed.... :/ Somebody reassure me it's a good car please:hail:

 

1st thing to check is the engine mounts (one on each side of the engine) and transmission mount (on the back of the transmission, mounts to the crossmember).

If those check out, or you still have some of the problems after replacing them, the next bet is the clutch is shot.

Not too likely the transmission itself is the cause of any of this (but, have you checked the fluid level lately?).

 

Okay, I'll check the mounts.... what about rear-axle mounts? Could the be worn and cause some of this? Is replacing these expensive... the rubber padding I mean?
I did a search and found that when the car shudders when engaging the clutch this could be due to a mis-alignment in the transmission or something like that... could this be true?
I've checked the fluid level... I think. Atleast I saw there where two "bolts" on the side of the tranny and opend the upper one and oil seeped out. I assume it's full...? Another problem with the trans is the reverse.... makes a grinding noise....?

 

throwout bearing sounds to be bad

 

BTW your trans is called a t-5

 

I'm having the same troubles... 125,000 miles. Had some tire hop and now in 2nd gear I see/feel the stick move when I step on the gas... Weird! Feelslike the engine mount or trans mount or even the rear end mounts. Can someone comment on this with any help??? I've had intermittent clutch shudder for a few years (low actual driving use) and always thought that was flywheel warpage.... Never had any cltch replacement.

 

Check the trans and engine mounts, fluid level and y associated bolts.

 

Thanks for the reply! I changed the rear transmission mount with a Polyurethane mount from ebay $30ish. Fixed the problem! BTW do you ever need to retighten your headers? And what did you use for cats?

 

if your car is shaking when you are taking off from a stop light 99% of the time your flywheel is warped.

 

The whole car shuddering could be your flywheel. There's nothing you can do about it other than replace/get it turned. The weak thing might simply be you. This transmission doesn't pull very hard and these cars aren't putting down serious amounts of power stock. Mine is a 305TBI with the WCT5 and once you go into 5th gear accellerstion is drastically reduced. The other suggestions about the mounts is a good suggestion.
One thing I have also discovered is my map sensor was slightly unplugged so it made my car buck like a bronco.

 

And these are good cars. Unfortunately, a lot of them were neglected so they are in horrible condition. Mine looked worse than most at any junkyard I have seen. I dint have much power, but I'm pulling over 20mpg and my car looks cooler than most cars I think.