Please help me, my shifter feels like it has no pressure and sounds like it is grinding badly.

Yesterday I heard a clunk while shifting...it still shifts, but it doesn't sound good and there's no spring (pressure). Also, the clutch reservoir was empty and I have filled it.

Is this something I can easily fix by draining and refilling clutch lines? If so, upper, lower, or both?

Thanks very much.
Ashleigh

 

if it was empty and you just refilled it then you must have air in your clutch line buddy bleed it and it should be okay

 

OK thanks. Do you know whether I need to bleed the upper line, lower line, or both?

The reason I ask is that I have only been able to bleed the lower line. I can not figure out how to loosen the upper line, it seems to have seized up.

Thanks.

 

bleed your clutch lines and check for a possible source of the leak... if the problem persists you might want to consider a stainless steel line. Could also be your master or slave cylinders.

 

did bleeding the lower line fix the problem? if so then no need to bleed the upper although it would be recommended to bleed the entire system to ensure you got all of the air out

 

It's got a leak somewhere if the clutch M/C is dry. That should be enough fluid leaked out to be able to find it pretty easily. Look up under the dash on the firewall to inspect the M/C.

 

What do you mean it lost it's 'spring'? Side to side, or in and out of gear? Also, how does it 'not sound good' when shifting?

 

Two things ...

We need more info to help you ... as Pmohr just said. Does the clutch not have any 'spring' or the shifter ???

Also, if your master cyl was empty, you know that fluid went someplace ... gotta figure out where. On the top of the trans, towards the front (near the radiator) you'll see the slave cyl .... is it wet? If so, I'd guess you found your problem. Also, it's best to bleed the entire system if you went dry. Why risk it ??

 

Thanks for all the help so far. It is just the shifter that has lost spring (clutch is fine), it sits in between gears 1 and 2 instead of 3 and 4.

I will start by bleeding the lower line then the upper. I'm not sure if I can get the upper one loosened, no power tools. I believe it's a slow leak as I have to top up the clutch fluid every 3-4 weeks.

 

Return spring probably popped off, or rusted through or something. Doesn't cost all that much at the dealer.

 

you don't need power tools, specially with a bleeder valve

 

when i had a leak i changed my MC and slave cylinder and put the 1-piece SS clutch line since it was never changed before and all felt great and good everyday i used ATE superblue brake fluid for the clutch

 

I'm using a socket wrench to turn and another wrench on the left side to counter. Is there a better way? The mount is pretty weak otherwise.

 

Have you tried PB Blaster or a similar solution and let it soak in? Is the bleeder covered in corrosion?

 

You need to support it, and it sounds like you are. What you're doing should be fine ... but I agree with Pmohr, let some penetrating (pb blaster or the like) soak on it. If the bleeder is covered in corrosion, makes me wonder what the rest of the system looks like. If it is, you might need to replace the MC or SC, or both.

 

Thanks, I was able to get the upper valve open. Unfortunately, when I bled the lines, all the pressure was lost in the clutch and we were only able to restore a little bit of the pressure, following the directions from the motorvate site. The bleeding of the clutch lines did not have any effect on the shifter though. I will ask the dealer about the spring. When I looked under the car and my friend shifted gears, there was a scraping sound and it looked like a while pipe was twisting. I'm not really sure what it's supposed to do.

 

That's the shift rod, it rotates left and right as you move the shifter side to side, and goes in and out as you go in and out of gear.

The clutch won't have any effect on how the shifter feels with the car off, that's a given. The scraping sound may have been the return spring moving around, who knows. Pull that heatshield and examine the bottom of the shifter assembly.