Tranny Going Out?

1slowdsm · 11-08-2004

My tranny is starting to grind in first gear when I'm a stoplight. It feels like its in gear and when I let off the clutch and add some gas and all it does is grind and pops back out of gear. So then I either have to hold up traffic and get honked at while I wait for the gear to stop spinning or I force it in and go. Its weird, because the clutch is pressed in all the way and it still grinds going in sometimes. Anyone have any ideas on whats wrong? Is my tranny going out? How much could I get a tranny for these days? I guess this winter I'll be doing nothing but maintenance and repairs on my car.

One more thing to add. When I'm at park, I can hear this weird scraping type sound coming from the bottom of the tranny. Thats only when I let my foot off the clutch. When the clutch is pressed in, the sound goes away.

DSMKPB · 11-08-2004

Sometimes on my car it feels like it went into first gear but it does the same thing you are talking about. What I do when I know it didn't go in is just push it into gear while slowly letting out the clutch till you can feel it pop into gear, then jsut wait for the light to turn green

Hopefully thats all it is.

But before you do anything major i'd try putting new tranny fluid in.

LightningGSX · 11-08-2004

Sounds like the clutch to me.Will it go into first easy with the engine turned off?

A//// Guy · 11-08-2004

A bad clutch wouldnt make 1st gear pop out back into nuetral.

**Shane@DBPerformance** · 11-08-2004

Try adjusting the cables, otherwise look into getting a new 1st gear or tranny.

john · 11-09-2004

I would guess the gear also. I do not see the clutch being the problem. Good luck on the tranny search.

LightningGSX · 11-09-2004

I guess I should've read his post slower.It does sound like tranny problems, but if the car is stopped, clutch pedal down and it grinds when shifting into first, thats an obvious clutch problem.

11-09-2004

Its either your clutch or your first gear synchro's. Mine was doing this because a main bearing on the input shaft went out so the gears were out of alignment but if your synchros are bad it will make it hard to shift into gear and it won't stay in gear like it is supposed to. I ended up just rebuilding my tranny myself and its been great ever since so if you need help just let me know. It ended up being not as hard as I thought it was just a lot of parts. Good Luck!

1slowdsm · 11-09-2004

I'll start by checking the tranny fluid and see if its still grinding today. Get back to you guys later...

caustad · 11-10-2004

Try bleeding the clutch out too. 1st synchros can grind while other gears don't and a clutch bleed sometimes solves the problem. Just another thought.

**JET** · 11-10-2004

What is up with bleeding the clutch being a sudden miracle cure? People were telling Craig to just bleed his clutch when he had a bad master cylinder. If you have to bleed your clutch, that means there was air in there. Either you did work to it recently and got air in the system, or a component is bad that allowed air in the system. Replace the component that let air in, don't just bleed the clutch and call it good.

caustad · 11-10-2004

Might give him an idea if there was air in the lines and therefore determine if another component is bad, such as clutch cylinder or slave cylinder. Or he can just go replace the clutch and transmission first, then find out it was something simple. You decide.

A//// Guy · 11-10-2004

Or if the master or slave was bad they would be leaking...

And you ussually replace those before you take a tranny out or replace the clutch.

I agree with Jet, if it was functioning great and the pedal was stiff before and all of a sudden it got mushy or doesnt engage very well then you should look at the simpe places first (master, slave). Bleeding wont do crap if air is still going to get into the system anyway.

Enes · 11-10-2004

maybe his preasure plate is not completely disengaging?

-E

caustad · 11-10-2004

Just thought he could try. If it does help great, if not it's little labor lost. I never said it was a cure or a "miracle cure" by any means, sorry. I just had a similar grinding problem in my tsi that happened to be air in the lines but it was hard to tell because it slowly leaked and it wasn't a sudden change in the pedal from one day to the next. Next I noticed some fluid way under the dash on the clutch cylinder and replaced it to fix the problem. Only trying to contribute.

Raptor · 11-10-2004

This is the same thing mine was doing all last year. Does it pop out in any other gear? Mine only did it in first and got progressivly worse, it sounds like yours is a similar situation. If that is the case, it isn't your clutch, or any of the equipment to actuate it. More than likely you have a bad bearing. You can have it fixed or get a used tranny and probably sell your old one as a rebuildable. You could what I did, but not everyone can launch an AWD in second gear all the time

**JET** · 11-10-2004

Yep, I had a tranny go out just like this one. Do like Shane says and readjust the cables. That might buy you a little time. Start saving up for a new tranny though, it is going to come soon! It ended up that I held mine into 1st with my hand until that wouldn't even do it. Then I did like mike and started in 2nd gear until that went out. It didn't take many starts in 3rd gear to kill the clutch :P

1slowdsm · 11-10-2004

My problem is just like Raptor's. It only happens in first gear, but it doesnt do it all the time. This only happens if I let off the clutch and try to get into first gear right away. I found that if I still have the clutch pedal pressed down and go into any other gear first before I go into first gear, it doesnt grind. My slave cylinder has been leaking slowly over time, but it only leaks about 3 inches every 4 months or so. I dont think thats too bad, is it? How much would it cost to have the bearing fixed? I've tried looking for a new tranny on ebay and some other sites, but I've had no luck. I went to Extrememotorsports and they sell NEW trannies for over 2K, so I left the site right away. I think my third gear synchros might be wearing out soon too. I've grinded alot going into that gear, even during normal driving...its weird...haha. Thanks for everyone's help on here....

**JET** · 11-10-2004

Now you say something about the slave! To test just pump the clutch a few times, then try to put it in gear. If that fixes it you have air in your line and need to get the slave fixed. That wouldn't have anything to do with it popping out of gear, just grinding when going into gear. It probably is a serious tranny issue though.