First, a little background info. I bought the car knowing the clutch needed to be replaced and assuming the "ticking noise" coming from the tranny was a bad throwout bearing. So fri at work I was caught up on my bodywork and decided to swap the clutch. I went to the local AdvanceAuto and picked up a clutch kit including the pressure plate, pilot bushing and throwout bearing. I pulled the car up on the frame rack swapped the clutch and only got as far as putting the tranny itself back in. So thinking I was golden I went back up to the shop this morning and put the driveshaft in and buttoned up the center console, went to top off the fluid and it poured out the plug hole. I know i lost somewhere close to 1/2 a quart when i pulled the driveshaft and let the tranny down. Was it overfull before the fluid loss? So i jumped in the car to back it off the rack and when i started it the "ticking noise" was now louder and when i tried to put it in reverse all i got was gears grinding. I couldnt even get it to go in reverse! Anyway I pushed the clutch pedal in and let it roll off the rack and back about 10ft. I put it in to first and that went perfectly. The clutch feels great going into first. Im kind of at a loss at the moment. So obviously I didnt know what the hell i was doing or did wrong. Getting into reverse wasnt smooth before but I thought the clutch would remedy that problem and only made it worse. I thought the throwout bearing would remedy the ticking and only made it worse. Anyone up for thowing out ideas about what my problem is. I not really sure what to do at this point. I have no experience w/ manual transmission or clutches. I was thinking after everything went so smoothly yesterday that I rather do the lighter T5 than my AWD 4L65e anyday. I put my foot in my mouth there. Thanks for any advice in advance.

 

which fill plug(s) were removed on the passenger side?
An upper bolt there is responsible for Rev. linkage alignment.

Reverse isn't synchronized either. If going into 4th gear *Then into reverse works, then it's fine.

 

the only plug I removed was the square fluid fill plug on the lower pass. side. Fluid started pouring out so i quickly put it back in. As far as rev. having no sychros im now learning that from doing research on clutch issues. I tried going from forward gears to rev. I had to do this before the swap and thought is was abnormal but after recent reading im finding out thats how it is. But now after the swap it wont even go into rev. at all even after going to any forward gear first. After getting over being pissed about the whole thing Im wondering if not replacing the pilot bearing was a mistake. the new aftermarket clutch was designed differently than the factory one i pulled out. I called a buddy of mine at a tranny shop and he said this was normal to ahead and see if the clutch fit flush to the flywheel and make sure the pressure plate would bolt up. every thing went together smoothly but im wondering if since the clutch was designed differently if the old pilot bushing doesnt match the new clutch? maybe there is to much or not enough "play" in there?

 

See this thread for a picture of how the TO bearing is installed on the clutch fork.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tran...ow-clutch.html

As for the fluid, the lower plug is the drain plug. The fill plug is higher up (about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom).

RBob.

 

ok when i get to the shop Mon morning ill pull the clutch fork boot and try to look through there w/ a flash light and see if its aligned properly. thanks for the advice.

 

Ok so after further inspection the TO bearing wasnt on the fork just right. Pulled the tranny and installed it correctly. This took care of the actually shifting prob. but, the noise remained. So before pulling the tranny again I decided to pull the dust cover and found my noise, it was a tear in the dust cover from a previous owner that had folded over and was touching the flyweel. I simply bent it back away from the flywheel and the noise is GONE. Thanks to all those that took the time to reply and offer advice.