So my problems started about a week ago, I was driving up north (MN) and got stuck in rush hour traffic for about 30 minutes (not good for clutch), took a toll on my left foot, finally got up to the cabin.

Took out the car a couple days later to run to the store, and had a hell of a time getting car into 3rd. It even semi-struggled to get into first after a stop. Ill be driving in 3rd, and it whines a little on acceleration , and also when i accel the shift knob will bounce forward, and then on deccel it will bounce backwards (or it could b vice-verca?) . Then shifting to 4th it has a somewhat hard time getting into 4th sometimes.

I remember though i was driving up north though and there was a huge dip in the road, huge. I didnt see it until the last second and ended up hitting it at 60 MPH. My GF hit her head on the ceiling and I think the car actually may have gotten off the ground. Could that hard of an impact affect anything?

I drove it home a few days later after i was done up north (went back in the cities), and put it in the garage, to scared to drive it. I started it though the other day, and it whines somewhat in neutral as well now, and starting to in more gears. I put it up on jack stands to check the tranny fluid (still havent checked it though) and my buddy came over to check out the problem with me, and asked to hear the neutral whine, so i started it on the jack stand. keep in mind it was in NEUTRAL when this all happened... The damn wheel started to spin. WTF. The speedo shot up to 20 MPH in neutral, and the wheel spins. I dont know about the passenger wheel though if it was spinning or not cuz it was still on the ground.

It will stop spinning in neutral though as soon as i push down on the clutch. as soon as i take it off though, boom, spins up again. Do I need a whole new clutch assembly, release bearing, etc?

I am at a total loss. I am not very car smart with the little things it could be, so I am asking you guys, please point me in the right direction with anything you suspect it could be! Thanks!


P.S. Whats the normal life of a CM stg 3 clutch?

Tight bearing clearances in the trans will make the wheels spin when the car is off the ground. This is fairly normal.

However, you may want to verify you actually have fluid left in the trans. You may have cracked something when you hit that nasty bump. at the very least, you may have damaged a motor mount, which would cause the shifter rocking motion you've described (it's actually the powertrain rocking being transmitted through the shift levers.

Alright I flushed the tranny fluid and added new fluid. I had plenty in there before hand though. I just wasnt sure exactly how much for sure. Problem is still there.

The car wont even move now though. start the car, put it in reverse, and it doesnt move. revs up like it wants to go, but it never moves. Same for 1st gear. I tried starting in 2nd and it kind of started moving.

While I was under the car changing the fluid, I noticed that a boot was torn to f-in hell all the way around like a perfect seamless tear. forgive my non technical terms => It was the boot that goes from the green colored thing by the tranny and connects right into the middle of the brake assembly. I can see a gold piece in there when I kind of opened it up a little more to see what was in it. I was going to snap a picture but dead camera and no fresh batteries.

Could that torn boot be my problem? Or I have heard people tell me bad linkage or something. Anyone elaborate please, believe me I have searched so damn hard for this stuff.

what condition is your clutch in? I think what your taking about being torn is your CV boot, the axle might of actually separated at the boot, inspect all that to make sure there is no other damage

I am not sure the condition of the clutch, worked fine as far as i know, no slipping or anything.

If the CV boot is torn, should I immediatly get it replaced or not?

Also if the axle were disconnected, wouldnt that mean that the wheel would not turn though cuz there would be no connection?

I have a guy at work tell me that it could be a linkage problem. Anyone tell me what he means? A buddies dad also told me that but all they said was linkage problem...

It almost feels like when i am in neutral its in 1st gear, cuz if I let out real slow in neutral it kind of moves like 1st gear. I have no idea how to fix something like this though. yes, searched :-(

edit: yeah inner CV boot is torn to hell. No grease left at all, must of all came out on the way home from the cabin. shoot i cant even drive it. Think this is a big play on the problem/thee problem?

Clutch is fine.
Linkage checks out.
Plenty of fluid.
Stuck in gear.

I am pretty sure its stuck in 3rd. I dont know why, seeing as i drove up my driveway (where it stopped moving, lucky i know) in 1st, not 3rd. I would think its in 3rd only because while on jacks (in neutral :scratch ) , i gave it gas, and it goes up past 60 MPH. Then if I let it slow down, and then hit the brakes, it completely dies.

I had someone come check everything out, and everything external checked out, he told me it could possibly be a fork or something got loose on me internally and now i cant get it back on to re engage into the right gear. Like the internal linkages, or something along those lines.

I am currently looking for another transmission in the 2gnt buy/sell section.

Just got to love a new car that i bought 2 months ago with these many problems already. Ill refrain from posting into the good guy/bad guy section though..

If anyone has any other input/FS, let me know please

Thanks

Start checking out junkyards and the bst.....

Dont discard your current tranny though. It can be fixed.


Drop that bitch and check it out.