Well, it appears my local dealership here in TN has proven their stupidity yet AGAIN. My transmission has been awful lately-very hard to go neutral-1 and 1-2. Moreover, recently when I was flooring it up a hill, the transmission kicked the shifter out of first into neutral (yes, I'm sure the transmission was completely into 1st gear). I have a new clutch, so that is not the cause of the hard shifting.
So, I drop my car off Monday, and, four days later (gotta love speedy service) they tell me they have found "burnt transmission fluid with metal shavings in it". Umm-how can a manual transmission 'burn' fluid? An automatic could, b/c of the clutch in it. My Dallas dealer (I call them to double check everything the TN dealer says since Dallas dealer has an IQ) says that a manual transmission cannot burn the fluid.
Who's right here? Is it possible or not for transmission fluid to be burned?
PS: More wonderfulness from TN dealer: to them Dinan is a complete mystery akin to witchcraft, so they said and i quote "Well, we're not sure about warrantying it because of the dinan intake you've got on here." Lol-gotta love blaming a broken transmission on a Dinan intake that gains 2hp.
Last edited by beanboy; 10th October 2003 at 00:37.
I have run into the warranty and Dinan issue at my local dealer once due to my Dinan Software.. Call Dinan and they will call the dealer and take care of the warranty issue pertaining to Dinan..
As to the burnt fluid; it sounds like you had some bearings in the tranny seize or go bad which could have generated enough heat to cook the fluid.
Popping out of gear sounds like a beant shift fork if there is such a thing in our tranny's.
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The fluid symptom they saw, if excessive, point to a dragging clutch. A clutch that does not fully release puts tremendous strain on the transmission synchros. A synchro is basically a tiny cone-shaped clutch. It has great difficulty overpowering a dragging clutch assy. They will fry and warp. Usually this is caused by bad master or slave, unless brake fluid is super low. This is a very, very common problem on Corvettes with ZF transmissions. These GM cars have a separate clutch reservoir and many owners check the fluid level and discover the secret reservoir is empty AFTER their $4K tranny bites the dust from clutch drag.
.........Any Getrag with over 10K miles on it will show some metallic particulate in the fluid and brown color. If the transmission is malfunctioning and shifts notchy or sluggish or stiff, the clutch may be dragging due to mal-adjusted or defective pressure plate or more likely, hydraulic clutch control problems. The gears may not fully engage and this can cause it to pop out of gear. This beats the heck out of the synchros. They will grind away quickly. Yes, popping out of gear can be caused by other problems including damaged synchro assemblies, bad detents, worn thrust bearing surfaces, bent forks or worn or bent shift linkage componentry. You always used factory fluid I hope. Six speed Getrag detents that hold the transmission in gear have been known to vanish on Red Line.
Has the clutch ever engaged low, near the floor? It should not.
Have you ever felt the car jump or creep when moving the shifter from neutral into first?
These are obvious symptoms of a dragging clutch.
Has the feel of the clutch pedal ever changed?
Last edited by Lscman; 11th October 2003 at 04:54.
Actually, the feel has changed. I got a new clutch like 5000 miles ago. At first it shifted AWESOME-really, really smooth. But then. quickly, it went to awful. I started smelling clutch smell after normal driving, but dealer said it was my aftermarket brake pads I was smelling. Now the clutch seems like it has to be slipped to RPMs several hundred higher than before to get off the line-so the car makes a 'groaning' sound. Would this relate to what you're talking about?
Symptoms you describe do not help my diagnosis. Sounds like the clutch is not right. If you noticed nothing in my post like a low pedal or improper fluid, I can't explain your toasted tranny. Tough to diagnose from here, sorry.
If the pedal or feel is abnormal, the clutch is abnormal. If the clutch is not fully releasing, it will ruin your tranny. Just be aware. The engine should not feel load & begin creeping forward in first until the pedal is raised more than 2" from the floor. The tranny damage may be old, since you had clutch problems before.
Read my post very closely. There are things you should check, including brake fluid level. Top it off so the clutch feeder hose does not get a gulp of air.
Last edited by Lscman; 11th October 2003 at 14:44.
1. Get an assistant
2. Park car with engine running at idle, clutch pedal pushed
3. Pull handbrake
4. Gearstick to neutral
5. Position gearstick towards 1st gear, but donīt push it into gear
6. Apply just enough forward pressure to almost make the gearstick go into 1st gear
7. Ask assistant to switch off ignition
If the gearstick jumps into 1st gear with the continous pressure you apply, it means there is less resistance from the gearbox with the engine off, which in turn indicates some torque being transfered even thou the clutch pedal is pushed. This implicates the clutch dragging.
If the clutch drags, there could be a number of causes. But as you have described "the dreaded clutch smell" too, Iīd say the clutch liner needs to be replaced. You might also have air trapped in the clutch hydraulics and need to bleed that system.
As bleeding the clutch hydraulics is cheap, so Iīd start with that.
When you got the clutch replaced, did you get any break-in procedures to follow? You know, you absolutely have to take it very easy on a new clutch liner for the first 300 miles or so. If they didnīt tell you, and you drove the car hard from the onset, that would have destroyed the clutch liner, and the dealer alone is to blame.
Further, IMHO not warrantying the clutch because of the Dinan stuff is nonsense.
I hope it all works out!
David
P.S. I agree with you - it is always good to get second opinions from another service department.
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