96SEDriven

Please help! I have a 96 se 5speed with 108k on it. My driveway is on a slope and when I got in it yesterday I pushed in the clutch and started it and could not seem to get it out of 1st gear (I don't trust my emergency break). I managed to muscle it out and backed it out. When I reached the bottom I took it out of reverse and felt a jerking motion feeling along with a clunk. I believe it is the original clutch and have not felt any slipping. As I put it into 1st and let out the clutch it released very low and seemed to catch again as I was still letting it out (Very Hard). Second seemed to be fine, but now when I am in gear I can hear a sort of a cross between a click and a grind sound that continues until I take it out of gear.

This is my everyday car and I think it might be something that went on the clutch. I tried it this morning and it did the same again. I do not want to put any more mile for fear of causing mor damage. Have any of you had this problem, or have any idea what it might be and what I will be looking at to fix it.

Thanks in advance!

Daniel B. Martin

Thank you for your detailed symptom report. I doubt there is anything wrong with your clutch. The problem, if any, is probably inside the transmission.

That nice "click in" sound and feeling when you engage a gear comes from a part of the transmission called the detent assembly. When you move the shifter from Neutral into any gear you are moving one of three shift rods. There is a separate shift rod for each plane in the shift pattern: one for 1/N/2, one for 3/N/4, and one for 5/N/R. Each shift rod has three deep notches in it. A spring-loaded steel ball settles into one of those notches and produces the "click in" sound and feel. These parts (the notched rod, steel ball, and spring) compose the detent mechanism. The detent helps the driver know the shift has been completed, and it also helps to keep that gear engaged until the driver moves the shifter again. The detent mechanism also serves as a safety mechanism because it prevents the transmission from being shifted into two gears at the same time. (Yes, that can happen. Know what results? Boom!)

Your symptoms suggest that the detent mechanism jammed. This might be a one-time only experience. Drive the car normally and report any new symptoms.

Why don't you trust your hand brake? If it doesn't work, fix it.

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

Well, I know nothing of the detent mechanism DBM talked about so I'm not even going to comment on that. However, the symptom you report happened to me about 3 or 4 times prior to my tranny rebuild. I had one of the input shaft bearings replaced. It happened only just before I had the rebuild, when it was in really bad shape and was making a horrible noise. Like I said, it only happened 3 or 4 times within the span of probably a week or two.

96SEDriven

Thank you for your reply Daniel! What next? Would you suggest taking it to a tranny shop, or the dealership. I started it up this morning and I had no problem with the gears, but still had a lot of noise coming from the wheels when I was driving it around the block. Would the detent mechanism make noise at the wheels (sounds like it is coming from the passenger side) when the car is in gear? Also would that have cause the clutch to slip and grab like it did for me? I am starting to think this is going to get expensive!

Thanks

96SEDriven

Thanks for you reply Nealoc187! What did it cost you and where did you hear the sound coming from. How many miles did you have on your Max when it did this to you. Did you have problems with the clutch grabing at weird points when letting it out? I worry that they will start with replacing the clutch when it might be a problem with the trans.

Thanks!

Daniel B. Martin

The detent mechanism would not make noise at the wheels.

This problem may be diagnosed by a transmission shop or any well-qualified independent technician. I'd want him to road test the vehicle and then put it up on a lift. He would hand-spin each front wheel and listen. With the car still up in the air he would have an assistant sit in the driver's seat, start the engine, and "drive" the car in each gear. Standing under the car, the tech would listen to the transmission case with a mechanic's stethoscope.

You should expect to pay for 0.5 hours of labor for this diagnostic work. Some shops might offer to credit that payment against the repair bill if you give them the job. If the tranny has to come out you might as well have a new clutch installed at the same time.

Yes, this could get to be expensive.

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

The clunking sound was like a shudder that shook the whole car. So it was more of a feeling than a sound, but you could definately hear SOMETHING in the transmission when it happened. I don't know if I'm clear on what you mean by the clutch grabbing weird, but I might be. At the very end, right before I had it rebuilt (the last 2 or 3 weeks or so) it felt almost as if I were missing teeth on 1st gear. When starting from a dead stop, the car would kindof lurch as if the gear were missing teeth and as they tried to mesh together, there would be an area of the gear where there was nothing to mesh against, and it would kindof "slip" To me, that sounds very similar to what you described. It only happened from a dead stop, and only in 1st or the RARE occasion when I would start out in 2nd gear.

Like I said before, this symptom and the shuddering sound identical to my symptoms. However, some other things don't fit for me. Can you hear a noise from the tranny when you have the car idling? Listen both under the hood, or if its loud enough, you can hear it inside the car (when mine got really bad, I could hear it inside the car). The noise sounded to me like if you were to take a ratchet and spin it around, and the frequency of the noise was dependent on the RPMs at which motor was operating. I could hear this noise only in neutral when the car was idling and i was outside the car at first. Gradually I began to hear it when it was in gear or in neutral. Only time it went away was at a dead stop with my foot on the clutch. When moving, whether coasting in neutral or in gear, the noise was there.

My car is a 96 GXE 5 speed, it had 108K on it when I got the trans rebuilt. I think I started noticing the very light clicking (ratchet noise described above) at probably 103K or so. It took a couple months for the noise to get so bad that I finally had it fixed.

The bearing that needed to be replaced was $31.42, the labor to replace it was $600. Hope this helps, and good luck.

96SEDriven

This sounds to be the same thing I am feeling and hearing. I have it in the shop and they don't have a clue where to start. It didn't do it for them until they needed to move it to bring in another car. My guy said he never has come across anything like it. Was there a name for the bearing or which one. I can hear the sound from the engine bay. Was anything wrong with your clutch? Any more info will help greatly!!

Thanks!!!!

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

My clutch was fine, aside from being worn. It was my input shaft bearing only.