So I'm driving down the highway after just racing my friends new 6spd Tiburon (beat him btw) and I have the car in neutral because I was letting it slow down and didn't want to let it de-rev. I have a 5 speed by the way. I'm down to about 70 mph and still in neutral. I don't know why, but I decided to push the clutch down and start shifting through the gears, while in neutral. Well I put it in 3rd, with the clutch still down, and for unknow reasons, I put it in first, not even thinking what I was doing. The clutch is still down while I'm doing this. When I put it in first I hear this pop so I take it out. I try to release the clutch, but it is stuck to the floor. It will only come up when I physically pull it up with my hand. WTF. I did mistakenly put the car in 1st gear doing about 70, but I didn't let the clutch up even an inch.

So basically I had to get my car towed. It ticks while it runs. The clutch won't go up on its own. I can get it into gear, but only when it's off. I didn't attempt to put it in gear while its running. I don't wanna screw up anything else. I think i fukked it up real bad. Anyone have any ideas as to what I could have done?

 

That's weird this happened without engaging the clutch. It sounds like the throw out bearing. You have to pull the tranny, but it is a pretty cheap and simple fix if that is the problem.

 

That's why I don't play around, and always leave it in a gear until I'm ready to stop. I never coast in Neutral. Sorry to hear what happened. But that's weird... I'm surprised you were able to shift into first gear still going that fast. Usually there's a lock out of 1st gear when you're above a certain speed... How hard did you shift into 1st gear at that speed?

 

new cultch needed go to ebay and buy new one.

 

If I'm not mistaken the first gear is "protected" from this happening. You cannot engage the first while speeding unless you rev match. Did you force the gear into it?

 

Hell, if it is the throwout bearing, it's probably the throwout bearing heating up and MELTING to the input shaft... thus holding the shift fork in place, keeping the clutch disengaged. That could require a tranny and clutch replacement, if the tranny's input shaft was warped.

I doubt 1st gear is "protected" from this, it's just that 1st gear requires a VERY fast input shaft relative to output shaft, so the synchronizer's inability to rev-match the tranny makes it feel "locked out". I'm also pretty sure that during the time the shifter "resists" the synchros are grinding (doing their normal thing), but if you force it too much you're pretty much toasting it.

 

How many miles are on the car? That shift might of help but your clutch was probably going anyway if that's what broke it. when you started your car did the car used to make a screeching sound and go away when you would push the pedal in.

 

I think I pushed it in pretty hard. When it went in I just heard this clunk and was like "Oh ****, what did I just do."

 

It has 36,000 on it. The clutch was perfect before it happened. The car runs fine, there is just a ticking coming from the transmission when the engine is running.

 

Dude, you need to get an auto Max.


~limsandy

 

you busted your throwout bearing, that's exactly what happened to my legend coupe 6-speed, time for a stage 3 clutch!!! btw i didn't put my car in first while doing 70, mine just fell to the floor. i was stopped and went to put it in reverse, and it never came back up.

good luck
deckdout

 

coasting in neutral is bad to the car anyway, you should always "de-rev" as you said it, when you're slowing down.

 

Yes I know, I don't know what I was thinking. I've been driving stick for 3 years and can't imagine why I would do that.

 

I was hoping it was just the TOB. I really don't want to spend the money on a new clutch right now.

 

I guess one way to find out is to take it apart. Does it make ticking sounds when you step on the clutch? If it's the throwout bearing it may o away because of compression... But since you said your pedal doesn't come back up, have you checked your clutch master and slave cylinder? Have enough fluid? And did it make the pop noise as you force shifted into 1st? If you think about it, the clutch is down already, and if you shifted, its all in the tranny. And if it's just making ticking sounds now when the clutch is not pressed, it's noised from your tranny. But if the noise goes away then it's not your tranny.

When the clutch is not pressed, your tranny gears will spin. Your car won't go because the synchros are not engaged. Check when the noise is heard. If you don't hear it when you step on the clutch, I think it may be your tranny. good luck man.

 

How so? I do this every so often.

 

A friend of mine is a mechanic and has his own shop so I had it towed there. He will diagnose it. He doesn't charge me much for labor though, a fraction of what he regularly charges.

The ticking noise occurs whether the clutch is in or not. The cylinder fluid bottle is full. It made the pop noise as I forced it into first, but the thing is I did not let the pedal up at all. It was depressed for the whole time.

 

very strange... I'm all out of ideas... maybe the pros or manual transmission experts would have a better idea...sorry

 

Thanks for your input though.

 

another example of why street racing is bad. perhaps you had a transmission problem and it just gave up after all the stress.

if i am not mistaken, most manuals, including nissans are made very tought to engage in 1st gear if the speed is above x or whatever. i think it's a mechanical way of doing this, but so far i haven't been able to put a car in 1st doing 70mph.


even if you do drop it in first, if the clutch was all the way down, it still equals to it being in neutral, so you likely messed the lockout mechanism or had damaged transmission from before.

 

If you were going 70mph when you put it into 1st and we use the fact that first gear tops out at about 30mph @ 6600rpm, then the input shaft (and clutch) would be going approx. 15400rpm at 70mph. No wonder it broke.

 

What exactly is it that broke?

 

no it's not!!!

It's actually better for the car!!! Less wear and tear on the clutch, rings, valve seals, thrust bearings, just to name a few. Down shifting is for racing only.

Use your brakes to slow down. Yes, they'll wear faster, but they are a heck of a lot easier and cheaper to replace than clutches, thrust bearings, etc...

 

As long as brakes are cheaper than clutches, "de-revving" as a means to slow the vehicle makes poor financial sense.

 

I still wouldn't coast in neutral, I rather coast in the gear I'm on and then neutral when I come to a stop. I remember the 5th gen VQ30 ECU will cut fuel if you are off the gas but with the RPM still above 1900. So I think it'll save gas plus the drag on the engine will slow the car down too.

 

Probably the input shaft bearing grenaded from the over-rev. That would cause misalignment on the pressure plate/flywheel, put the fork way out of spec which would mess up clutch hydrolics causing the pedal to not come up.

Basically, your trans is probably trashed.

If you had lifted the clutch during this, you would have also grenanded the motor. I've seen this happen to several cars during auto-cross sessions, like a Talon turbo, a BMW M3 (I6). The Beemer actually sent a rod through the block. The M3 was going for 4th but hit 2nd

I think you just leanred a lesson the hard way.

 

Damnit this sucks. Maybe it just blew the clutch or something. It still would be pretty pricey, but it is better than replacing the tranny.

Do you think that by any chance this would be covered under the drivetrain warranty?

 

going for 4th but hit second? Auto-crosses actually allow cars to go so fast as to hitting 4th gear? or were they on 5th? going back to 4th? that's pretty fast...

 

I Doubt it, user error. What would you tell Nissan?

 

I could tell them that thier "lockout" mechanism failed. And say I meant to go into 3rd gear but hit 1st instead.

 

That's still user error. The lockout, from what I understand, is really just a side effect of the design as mentioned above. I don't believe it is something they purposely put in, and it is certainly not something they advertise or document as far as I am aware, so telling them the lockout feature failed won't do any good. I know it sucks, but it isn't exactly fair to try to get Nissan to pay for something that is clearly your fault. If you clutched out, would you expect Nissan to pay for a new engine as well?

 

And they'll tell you , it's still your fault... you should know how to drive a manual and you would have to physically move the lever left and then forward instead of just forward...

 

You're both right. I guess I'm about $2,000 down the hole right about now.

 

 

as long as you know how to do it right. i'm guessing you don't...

 

There were some issues with stalling. I had it. Doing 90 on the highway, in 3rd, so high RPMs, drop it to neutral and 1 time out of 3 it would stall out. In the clutch, turn the key and all is well.

Recently I was at the dealer and I am sure that they flashed the ECU. My idle went from 600 to 750. I lost the 1800rpm blip, and I lost the stall out.

Any news on why it's bad to coast down in neutral?

 

Bearings (if that is the problem) in transmissions can go for any of a number of reasons. My suggestion to you is to keep your mouth shut and have them look at it.

I doubt this is your clutch, but who knows.

 

I'm just going to tell them I put it into neutral while coasting to a stop and then the clutch pedal wouldn't come up. Let them inspect it and see what they have to say about it.

 

Going from 3rd to 4th but gated to 2nd by accident. I forget the exact circumstances and track they were at. It happened to a guy that ran the talon digest. His buddy let him drive the car. It turns out it was actually a common problem for the m3 because the trans was so well designed that it was able gate into 2nd from higher speeds. I found this post about it:

http://member.rivernet.com.au/btaylo...arninge36.html

 

Even if you're a rev-matching toe-heel genius, you are putting wear and tear on the motor and clutch by downshifting. It might be minimal, but it's wear and tear.