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Grinding Noise and stuck out of gears?

S

s.rich06

CEG'er
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
Messages
199
Location
Baltimore, MD
I was driving my 96 contour se and i noticed that when i try to down shift into 2nd gear it wont let me get there. So then when I was coming to a stop (while holding down the clutch pedal) I put it into 1st gear and I heard a grinding Noise. But i also noticed that the clutch pedal has no resistance. It almost feels like the accerlator. Can someone tell me what it sounds like I need. Im thinking a tranny. Any suggestions.:shrug:
 
sounds like your clutch is either not fully disengaging (Bleed the clutch, and see if there is a bunch of air in the line), or the synchros are shot..
 
Another thing that i noticed was that i can only get into gear at low RPM'S. If the RPM'S are 3000 and over i cant get into gear until they lower to 2500 and under. Does this help to as which the problem is or could be?:shrug:
 
I still think there is air in the line.
I know it is fed from the Brake Resevoir, but air can still get in the line.
It happens.


If you look at the top of the transmission, there is a little nipple type valve coming out. Open this up and see if fluid Sputters out, if it does, there is air in the line...

To get it out, have a second person with you.


Have the person in the Car Depress the clutch pedal. Open the line, As soon as it stops bubbling close it.
person in car release the clutch slowly.
Person in the car then presses the clutch to the floor again.
Open the line, until it stops spuddering out. Repeat until the clutch pedal is no longer mushy as hell, and feels normal.
 
I bled the clutch and it still has the same results. Cant get into gears at high rpms and if i shift into 1st before i come to a complete stop turn i hear a grinding noise. Does this mean i need a new clutch or a new tranny?:shrug:
 
Well if it has to come out I'm guessing it needs to be send for a freshning. The shift forks might be toast. Hope you have some $ in savings.
 
Ok put it like this how do you know when the clutch is bad vs. the tranny vs. the shift fork. Im not a mechanic im an electrican. I dont know much about cars. But i dont want to buy any thing if it's the wrong thing. You see where im comin from. Im trying to give as much detail as possible so someone can help me out from the best of their knowledge.
 
When it's grinding, does the shift knob feel like it's "half-way" in but "squshy" to go the rest of the way in? And when you force it the rest of way, THEN it grinds??


If so, I had the EXACT same problem with my CSVT right after I bought it from Carmax! They said that the clutch wasn't fully engaging. The damn thing only had about 45k miles on it! :mad:

They replaced the entire Clutch assembly, for free of course since I had the car for less than 30 days, and I haven't had the problem since. :cool:

Are you the original owner of the car? How many miles are on it? If the miles are high (I'd say 100k or more) and the clutch hasn't changed out, I'd say to change it out.

my $.02
 
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It grinds as soon as i put it in 1st gear. It feels like it goes all the way in but however when im driving it doesnt grind but i cant get it into any gear at high rpms. But while im in gear and i floor the pedal is doesnt slip or anythin it just gets up to speed. It's starting to piss me off because i dont know what it is:mad:

I also noticed that if im at a complete stop and i go straight to 1st gear it kind of grinds and jumps but if i shift down to 2nd then 1st before i pull off it's fine.

No im not the 1st owner and i dont know if the clutch has been changed or not. It has 130k miles on it.

Still no help as to what it is?
 
YEAH.. mine was doing that same thing!

If it didnt go into first right away, I'd have to drop it to second, then back into first and it'd get in gear.

I'm pretty confident that it's your clutch.

IIRC... pre-98 clutches were rod-connected, whereas the 98+ had a hydraulic clutch. That'd explain way you don't have the "squishy" feeling that I had in my shifter.
 
Yea. I took it to my mechanic and he did a dianostic and i need a clutch and a slave cylinder. It's gonna cost me 1100 bucks but at least the problem is solved. But the only down fall is that i dont get my car back until thursday.:mad:
 
BigheadVelaSVT said:
YEAH.. mine was doing that same thing!

If it didnt go into first right away, I'd have to drop it to second, then back into first and it'd get in gear.

I'm pretty confident that it's your clutch.

IIRC... pre-98 clutches were rod-connected, whereas the 98+ had a hydraulic clutch. That'd explain way you don't have the "squishy" feeling that I had in my shifter.
Click to expand...

All manual trans Contiques have hydraulic clutch linkage.

It is the transmission shift linkage that is different over the years. the pre 98 uses a rod shifter and the 98+ uses a cable shifter.

Air in the clutch lines is a common enough problem that it is worth try to bleed the clutch when this kind of problem comes up. It can be from a worn clutch too so I'm not surprised with the diagnosis.
 
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