;( x( ;( x(

Four months to rebuild my engine. FOUR MONTHS. Here I am today. Mechanic calls me up, says the car is done! Hooray. Get ride down there with dad. We talk for about 20min, I ask him about how he wants me to break it in, general shit like that. Say our goodbyes, pay him.

I get in car triumphantly. Start it up, OMG sexay. Sounds great. Little more shaky on the interior, but thats expected (added energy suspension motor mount inserts.) Okay... woot! Exhaust gas looks a BIT white but.. I ignore it.

Then I go to actually shift. Dad walks back to his car. I sit there for like.. five minutes. Clutch pedal down to the floor, it will absolutely NOT shift out of neutral into first (or reverse, or any other gear for that matter) Kind of pissed. Get out of car, yell at mechanic, call dad over quietly. Dad tries it, SAME PROBLEM! He pushes a bit harder on the shifter, still will NOT shift!

With the engine killed, clutch down/disengaged, it shifts smooth as it ever did. Mechanic said he had SOME problems with it before, but he did in fact get it + drove around a bit... Though I dont see how that would be possible really..

What is wrong? The flywheel is riveted to the clutch, mechanic was sort of miffed by that/said he'd never seen it (but i knew it was normal for dsm's). Clutch is FINE. Shifted like a dream back when I brought the car to him. Had at least another 5-6 months of conservative driving in it. But now, the clutch refuses to disengage!

Mechanic says he did nothing with the tranny.. Which makes sense, his only job was to rebuild the engine. Said he double checked transmission fluid, fine.

Said the master/slave cylinder had some BLACK fluid in it, (he seemed surprised/shocked at this,)he flushed and replaced the fluid... I don't know what this part even is, transmissions are still mythical creatures to me... LoL.

I am getting the car towed, on a flatbed to a shop the next town over (www.blacktrax.net ) have them take a look and give me a quote.

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All that aside, I just want to know everyones' opinion on what the problem could be. Am I looking at a whole new clutch? Throwout bearing? WTF!!!! Mechanic is clueless, says he would just try a new clutch if we let him have another crack at it. (which I am not)

Also.. What clutches do you reccommend? Needs to be SOMEWHAT $reasonable$. Needs to hold at least 300-350hp so... yaknow... stage 1 . . .

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Oh.. I should make this clear...clutch pedal DOES feel solid/springy... I know if it were master cylinder problem the pedal would just fall to the floor, limp... but it doesnt... pedal feels the same as it did before.

¯GhettÖrªïd¯: what does it mean when::: you press down on clutch pedal, engine running, and the shifter will not get the car out of N?
¯GhettÖrªïd¯: throwout bearing?
Daemonite: yeah
¯GhettÖrªïd¯: thassit?
Daemonite: its not a worn clutch
¯GhettÖrªïd¯: AH
Daemonite: worn clutch you could get it into gear
¯GhettÖrªïd¯: yeah


everyone agree?


second opinions++?

HOLLY CRAP! I have this same exact problem right now.... everything you said is what I am experiencing.... Uhh.. so it is the throwout bearing? it couldn't be the master or slave? please let me know if that throw out bearin fixed it

xlordzeusx@earthlink.net

for list of mod goto site
http://tunedmotorsports.tripod.com/kalexander.html

Yeah thats what im thinkin now... New shop (black trax) said theyd have a quote/answer for me the same day (tomorrow) so I'll post as soon as I know!

How did he remove the engine? With or without the tranny? I ask this because maybe he did not hook up your gear shifter linkages properly, or something like that. Check the slave cylinder while someone pushes in the clutch and you should see that little actuator piece on the slave move in and out with the clutch pedal going up and down. If he removed the tranny with the motor, then he may have not bled the clutch system when he reconnected it, or didnt bleed it enough. Shifting the gears when the motor is off is usually pretty easy and you dont even have to push in the clutch pedal. But when the motor is on, its a totally diff story. If the gears grind when you try and put the shifter into first, then its something in your hydrolic clutch system somewhere (slave cylinder or too much air in system). Also a throw out bearing problem may be possible.

I'm gonna print ^that response out and try to propose it to the shop (later this morning..lol)


Would it be stupid to just... TRY the throwout bearing? Reason I ask = I'd probably drive out to Satan in the early morning and buy a new OE bearing and have it IN HAND for the shop to try to put in later that day / see if the problem is fixed with just that rather than waiting for them to order... (theyre unbelievably slow about ordering parts)

I highly doubt there is a problem with your throwout bearing. The throwout bearing could be totally shot and it should still work, it would just be very noisy. Things I would check, mabye he did'nt hook the throwout bearing to the clutch fork correctly, You may be able to see this through the hole by the slave cyl. where the fork goes into the tranny. Look for any signs of wetness around the slave cyl where he may have disconnected the line or tried to blead the sys out. If he did that, the sys may need to be blead out again. Make sure the slave cyl is tightened good, not loose on the mounting point. Have someone push in on the clutch and watch the slave for any movement. Try to pump the clutch then put it into gear, If it works, then the sys needs to be blead. There are really not alot of things it could be, And if the clutch worked fine like you described then it must be something he did or did'nt do correctly. Good luck :thumbsup

Well,that saves me an unwanted trip to satan... Shit.

Wish it were just the one cut-and-dry problem (throwout bearing) rather than needing a whole "diagnostic" thing..

I'll probably take the opportunity to have the other shop check the guys' work on the engine... I mean... if he can fuck my transmission up completely unintentionally then... imagine what retardedness he's got "invested" in the motor itself!!

x( x(

this dsm is such a hassle. LoL. Just hope its worth it in the end.

Well please post your solution when you find out what was the problem. I just went to the dealer to pick up my throw out bearing and talked to a mechanic about our problem. He said to check the Master cylinder, have some 1 push in the pedal and hold it. and then another person look at the slave cylinder. and while the pedal is held down.... if the slave cylinder slowly moves back it is the master cylinder. and if you pump the clutch and the slave cylinder doesn't move at all it is the slave cylinder. So I went home I did this and it all seems to work fine. So I bled my system and I can get it into gear now, but it is still pretty hard to do. I have to play with the clutch pedal to get it to go into gear. So does ne 1 still think this could be a throw out bearing?


MODS:
Click on link to see mods
http://tunedmotorsports.tripod.com/kalexander.html

WHAT. THE. FUCK.


I got in car this morning, had about an hour to play around with it while tow truck was on its way. Started it up, would NOT shift. ABSOLUTELY would NOT shift at ALL. So yeh, I finally admitted defeat, helped the tow truck driver roll my car around + up the ramp. Drove to shop, rolled car off, paid the man and thanked him. ($115.)

Rolled the car up to the front of www.blacktrax.net . .. . Aki (guy that works there) gets in car, starts it up, shifts FLAWLESSLY. FUCKING PERFECTLY!!!!!!! OMG!!!1

My DAD tried it, I tried it, first mechanic tried it and it would NOT shift!!!! But then after towing it somewhere it magically starts working!!!!

I have no fuckin idea WHAT caused this. Guys at shop bled it for me+ added a little fluid.

I dont even know how to express what like.. extreme confusion im feeling right now.. LOL

Drove it home, stayin away from the boost but so far its a DREAM to finally get to drive it again (big leap from the volvo beater ive had for 4mos) but the clutch is TRASHED.

Oh. I also found out that my car never HAD JE Forged Pistons in it. The pistons I had were STOCKERS!!!! Seller lied to me. x( x(

I'm just happy to have car back tho. I'm gunna drop it back off at the shop and have em install oil pressure gauge which just arrived, and, possibly a new clutch.

>Well please post your solution when you find out what was the
>problem. I just went to the dealer to pick up my throw out
>bearing and talked to a mechanic about our problem. He said
>to check the Master cylinder, have some 1 push in the pedal
>and hold it. and then another person look at the slave
>cylinder. and while the pedal is held down.... if the slave
>cylinder slowly moves back it is the master cylinder. and if
>you pump the clutch and the slave cylinder doesn't move at all
>it is the slave cylinder. So I went home I did this and it
>all seems to work fine. So I bled my system and I can get it
>into gear now, but it is still pretty hard to do. I have to
>play with the clutch pedal to get it to go into gear. So does
>ne 1 still think this could be a throw out bearing?
>
>
>MODS:
> Click on link to see mods
> http://tunedmotorsports.tripod.com/kalexander.html

Yeah black trax did the SAME test for me... they bled it, added some more fluid and it works like a charm.

I can't even explain.. why this happend.. and then magically went away .. LoL

if he removed the tranny or disconnected those line air got in there being a hydralic clutch just like brakes they need bled

once the air is out the clutch will disenguage no big deal...

hehe sucks about all the trouble and tow truck bill...