Difficulty in Shifting Gears

[_Cathy_]

[SIZE=3]Hi. I drive a 96 Corolla GLi. It has served me well for the past 10 years except for some repairs due to wear and tear. For the past few months I have noticed that shifting gears wasn't as smooth as when we first bought the car. I just ignored it and assumed that some things just don't perform as well as when it was brand new. In the past, when I shift gears, it glides on smoothly, now, it's "maganit" or it feels as if there's metal to metal contact. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Last Saturday, I was driving home and everything went as usual until I reached an intersection with a stoplight. The stoplight just turned red and I was the first car on queue, but being the clutch driver that I am, decided to leave it on first gear, stepping on the clutch and brake at the same time. When the light turned green, I stepped on the gas and released the clutch gradually but to my horror the car wouldn't move! So I floored the clutch again and moved the stick in all directions, it was stuck for a while and finally moved to neutral. From there, I tried shifting to first gear again but it took me so much effort. For the duration of the drive I found it extremely hard shifting from first to second gear and from second to first gear. Aside from the fact that I had to put so much force into shifting gears, I couldn’t shift directly a gear up or down without letting the stick remain in neutral for a good few seconds. When I got home I turned off the engine and tried shifting all the gears and found no resistance at all. This morning I tried driving my car again and had no more difficulty shifting gears except for its being usually maganit. However, I do want to find out what caused this incident. I want to resolve it before it gets worse. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]I tried searching online for answers and found that a lot of people have the same problem as mine. However, the responses that I gathered were mostly from US residents and I found myself more and more nervous reading through solutions that were leaning towards major repairs/replacements. I do know that here in Manila, particular solutions or repairs are first sought before resorting to immediate replacement. I just want to know the things that I should check first before jumping into bigger and costlier solutions eg Heavy steering could just be due to low tire pressure. Thanks! [/SIZE]

[docpete]

mukhang pudpod nang clutch...dalhin na sa repair shop.. sandali lang naman yan palitan..

[alwayz_yummy]

damay mo na sa palit ang pressure plate, release bearing...mahal ang labor ano?

[speedyfix]

check to see if the clutch master and slave are ok. if they are then look into the clutch disc and pressure plate.

[joey]

as speedy said clutch and slave master assy. by visual checking try to look for fluid leaks in ur clutch pedal(smetimes fluid drips on ur toes or shoes when u press the pedal) and at the engine firewall right corner (ur right facing the engine) u could see the clutch master the one with white plastic cup and black rubber cover (check if ders fluids also)

[_Cathy_]

Hi. Thanks for the advise. I went to goodyear servitec this afternoon because it was the closest repair shop to my house. I didn't wanna risk driving far kasi. The mechanic told me that it was impossible to do a visual check on my clutch unless they take down the transmission. It's a good thing that I read Joey's post! This is exactly the reason why I ask for other people's advise. Anyway, they changed the gear oil which I haven't changed since we bought my car 11 years ago. It looked like mud already. hehe. However, I still want my clutch checked because Casa advised me that being the clutch driver that I am, 4 years is enough for me to have another cluth overhaul. It's so hassle naman. In 2003 when I had my clutch overhauled, it cost me only 9k now it's 12k and I have to leave my car for 3 days. I then asked a local auto repair shop and it would cost me around 8 k including labor and they'll be done in less than a day. Is it advisable to have such repairs done outside the casa? I'm worried kasi na I might end up spending more in the long run if the work is not pulido. Thanks again.

[dennis powell]

yes it is,but sometimes it is not impossible to do a visual inspection if you do the right diagnostics,i agree with the servetic mechanic that it is imposible to visually inspect without tearing down the trans,but did they tell (like what speedyfix said) that they performed visual inspection for clutch master and slave cylinder fluid leaks (for hydrolic controlled)or did they perform visual inspection for any sign of worn,stretch or damage cable? (for cable controlled)and did they perform clutch pedal play check?did they tell you that they performed all of this?if they did and all of them are good, then have a second opinion,drive your car to another shop just to see if they have the same result before jumping up to that conclussion (trans teardown).to those who have shop,pls.guys no offense.

[_Cathy_]

Hi Dennis. They did not do any of the things that you mentioned. They just changed the gear oil only because I asked them to. The servitec mechanic just drove my car for a car's length, forward and backward and then he already concluded that nothing is wrong with my clutch. Today I drove it from Paranaque to Ortigas and I had difficulty in shifting gears again when I was about to park my car. It took me so much effort to shift from 1st gear to neutral. Do you recommend that I just have it repaired at the casa or any local auto shop? Can you guys recommend any shop that had good diagnostics in the Paranaque/Las Pinas/Makati area? Thanks!

[afrasay]

Could be that you just need to press the clutch pedal a little farther. Do you have difficulty shifting to reverse from Neutral?

[dennis powell]

yes you can bring your car any shop you want but im sorry to tell you that i dont have an idea which shop you can go.

try to perform an input shaft spin down test first before you bring your car to any shop,at least you know what they look for and how theyll start performing the test.

perform the ff.input shaft spin down test.

-set the parking brake and place the vehicle in neutral.
-start the engine and allow the vehicle to idle.
-gently move the shifter towards the reverse gate and continue to move the
shifter until a light grind/rattle can be heard.
-once the grind/ratlle noise is observed,depress the clutch pedal and note the time required for the grind/rattle noise to stop.normal spin down time,time required until grinding noise stops,is approximately 3 seconds.

=if the noise stops,input shaft stops spinning,within approx 3 seconds,the clutch disc/pressure plate and clutch hyrolic system are not the cause of the hard to shift into gear concern.

=if the does not stop within 3 seconds,inspect the clutch pedal travel.

measure the pedal travel,normally between 4.6 - 5.4 in.if the clutch pedal travelis not between the above mentioned,check for faulty bushing/damge pedal.

important to check;
air in the system
damage master/slave cyl.
master/slave cyl. improperly installed.
thats it for now, do it and let me know what the results are and theres more info to come.

[baludoy]

you can try prens in alabang (it's along the alabang-zapote road(i hear they do good work and they're supposedly honest)), shell times in lpc (they're pretty reliable and their people are ok), or camspeed also in alabang (they're in the atc compound) i'm pretty sure i saw them fixing trannies too)

btw, no offense meant but maybe you can modify your driving habits and save yourself from further tranny headaches in the future. pahirap talaga kasi sa tranny kapag clutch driver

hth

[roninblade]

i agree, since aware ka naman na sa bad driving habit mo, konting effort na lang para di ka paayos ng clutch parati.

[speedyfix]

no need na to bring it to casa if you're confident in the mechanic. that's a relatively easy thing to do naman.

[russpogi]

Take it to SpeedyFix's shop.

[_Cathy_]

Wow Dennis! You really know about cars Actually I am really in need of advise that helps me go through the process of elimination. I will try what your suggested later.

I've heard about prens in Alabang. Don't they have one in Sucat as well? I'll try and call them first.

Indeed my being a clutch driver costs me a lot of headache and money as well. Kasi naman when I went to driving school the instructor told me that I could use the clutch as an alternative to the brakes (when slow driving). Since I was taught to drive that way, it's been really difficult for me to break that nasty habit off me. I also have a tendency to "babad" my foot in the clutch pedal. Now I'm slowly getting used not to "babad" my foot in the clutch pedal kasi I really got scared of that incident when I couldn't shift gears.

[_Cathy_]

Additional Advise

[_Cathy_]

Additional Advise.

My car alarm (stock from Toyota) stopped working na. I tried having the remote fixed at an Electrical shop, it would work for a while but then the battery (on the remote) just keeps getting drained after 2 days so I stopped replacing the batteries na. I am assuming then that the problem is only with the remote. My spare remote is also busted so I just disabled the alarm. I was wondering lang if my remote can still be repaired or should I just buy a new car alarm system. If so how much would it cost? I called casa kasi and they said that the replacement for the remote is around 4,000 ata if I remember correctly. Baka naman its cheaper to have a new alarm system installed. Anywhow, I just want an idea. I'll deal with it after I solve my clutch problem.

[slip-slick]

i might have the same problem. when i step on the clutch, there is no pressure. the clutch pedal goes straight down, and the shifter won't go into gears. it just happened tonight, and i haven't had time to check under the hood yet. im leaning towards master/slave cylinders. still original and 10yrs old. can these be repaired? or just replace the entire thing?

[dennis powell]

i might have the same problem. when i step on the clutch, there is no pressure. the clutch pedal goes straight down, and the shifter won't go into gears. it just happened tonight, and i haven't had time to check under the hood yet. im leaning towards master/slave cylinders. still original and 10yrs old. can these be repaired? or just replace the entire thing?

try paandarin ang makina tapos set ang parking brake,pero dito kailangan mabilis ka,

pump mo yung clutch pedal three times or hanggang sa maramdaman mo na kumagat na sya ,pag kumagat na sya ihold mo yung pressure tapos sabay shift to reverse,pag pumasok sya huwag mo bitawan kaagad ang clutch pedal hanggang sa maibalik ang shifter sa neutral or patayin ang makina.

result:

internal or external hydrolic leak (clutch hydrolic system).
air in the system.

kung di naman kumagat at di rin naishift.

large leak (in or external hydrolic leak)
worn or damage cable (cabled system)
missing components (clip.etc.)
misalign clutch pedal or linkage.

[speedyfix]

if there is no pressure it is either the master, slave or clutch line with a leak.

remember, brake pads are cheaper to replace than the clutch so use the brakes when slowing down. that's what they are there for.