1988 WCT5, unknown miles, new clutch, fairly new ram pressure plate and throwout bearing, new pilot bearing, new dextrol three ATF. Here's the problem, when I have it revved up around 4k it's soooo hard to shift gears but when I'm just cruising it runs well for about 40 minutes then gets hard to shift through almost all the gears. My clutch feels a little spongy and it grabs like 2 inches off the firewall or as I start to release it however you wanna say it. Also after about 40 minutes of driving once I push the clutch all the way in but leave it in first the whole car starts shaking pretty badly. I though it was air in the clutch but I bled it properly like 15-20 times on two seperate occasions. And I also noticed today that if I'm just sitting in neutral when I push the clutch in and go to push it into first but don't all the way I can hear what almost sounds like a bad bearing grinding for like 5 seconds then comes to a halt. I have a squeaky high pitched noise when I have my foot off the clutch in neutral. Any ideas? I'm really stumped on this one.

 

Did it start doing this immediately after a clutch swap?

 

It's hard to say because my clutch was slipping so badly I could never even get it to like 3k at 1/2 throttle without it slipping but I'd say its deffinatly more noticeable after the swap.

 

could be this issue:

 

I'm hoping that's not the case because I really don't wanna take the trans back out but I did half hazardly put it in during the swap..... I'm thinking it might be my clutch slave cylinder has a leak and is suckin in air or something. It's like 40 bucks and like a ten minute install so ill give that a try this week. I found out today that my clutch does literally nothing. Like i can switch gears from 1st to 5th and back again. It rarely grinds too its just hard to push into gear and wont go in untill a certain rpms.

 

anyone? if knowbody has had any experience with something like this i guess ill start with the slave cylinder then pull the trans and see whats going on in the bellhousing. ill post my results.

 

Whether it's due to the throwout bearing being installed wrong in the release fork, or due to air the the hydraulics, your symptoms are pointing to the fact that the clutch is not disengaging all the way when you push the pedal down all the way. Being able to get it to go in gear easily at a certain rpm means that you're matching the speed of the engine and the gears in the trans, requiring no clutch to shift. Try bleeding the hydraulics another time or two and see if it helps. If not, you're probably gonna have to remove the trans again and get the throwout bearing installed in the fork correctly.

 

So I pulled the trans today and the throwout bearing appeared installed correctly but when I examined it the race along the outside of the bearing was bent and there was weird wear marks on the inside of the bearing. And when I spun it the inside of the bearing spun slightly lopsided. So obviously it's getting replaced but I don't know what originally caused it to be so messed up. Any ideas? I'm thinking maybe a bent clutch fork is throwing off the geometry? I do have an aftermarket pressure plate with stiff diaphram fingers. Ever hear of clutch forks bending?

 

While it's not impossible to bend a release fork, it is pretty uncommon, especially with a diaphragm type pressure plate. I've bent them in the past when I was using a really stiff, 3-finger(borg & beck) style pressure plate. I guess just examine the fork closely, and if it looks to be straight, just replace the throwout. Oh yeah, and make sure you're actually using the correct throwout bearing. I remember one time I was given a 3 speed throwout instead of a 4 speed one, and it was too tall. No matter how much I backed off my adjustment(mechanical clutch linkage), it wouldn't release the pressure plate all the way. So yeah, make sure you get the correct one when you buy the replacement.

 

This is the one I ordered last night http://m.summitracing.com/parts/hay-70-104 but I don't see anything about three or four speed specifications. You think that's alright?

 

Damn, that's an expensive T/O bearing, but yeah, it looks like the correct one. For the cost, that sucker ought to last the life of the car! Lol.

 

I know.... I thought the same thing. I'm just so sick of replacing stupid little things because I go for the pepboys special and they fail 6 months later. I've been trying to get better products and only install it once. Idk well see his it goes. Thanks for the help!

 

Yeah, I know what you mean. Hopefully the more expensive one isn't some POS that was made overseas somewhere!

 

The throwout bearing did nothing.... Pulled the trans back out and did what I always tell myself I'm not gunna do. And that's start throwing parts at it. Got a whole clutch kit which included and pressure plate clutch throwout bearing and pilot bearing. I also bought a new clutch fork and clutch fork ball stud. I'm also getting a metal slave cylinder too. If its a clutch issue this will fix it.

 

An often overlooked part of bleeding is the fact that the slave does not get pushed all the way back in when you open the bleeder. This means a ton of air stays in the slave. What you need to do is when you open the bleeder and it relaxes you then take your hand and manually push the slave all the way in. Once in close the bleeder. Do this a few times and there will be no air left.

 

Damn, yeah sounds like you threw the whole kitchen sink at it this time! Lol. Hopefully that'll cure it! And yeah, I agree with what LilSki said about the bleeding process on the slave too. I've had to do the same thing with brake calipers at times, where you have to manually push the piston all the way back into the bore while the bleeder valve is open to get all the air out.

 

Yea I did that a dozen times. I must've bleed it 30 times. That's how much I didn't want to pull the trans back out lol. I researched the right way to bleed a clutch to the point where I'm like a guru at the process if its even possible to be an expert at something so simple .... Hahaha, but there definatly no air in the lines or cylinder and it looked like I was getting good travel in the slave cylinder push rod. I'd say and inch and a quarter of travel. And according to numerous manuals if the push rod extends more then .77 inches then its good. Well just wait and see!!!! Ill post my results.