Transmission/clutch problem (won't engage)

[MikeIsAbstract]

s13, manual aftermarket master and slave cylinder installed bout 2 years ago.

here is the low down.
driving all dandy and got hit by red light and went from 3rd to first...
(was going like less then 10, so it wasn't a power shift, just normal driving.)

when i put it into first gear (as i was slowing down) it went in, THEN immediately grind'ed and spit it back out. i was like holy crap!
was a massive grind.

obviously is wasn't making connection with first.
so i tried 2nd 3rd 4th 5th gear. nothing engaged, all grind'ed like mad. i'm thinking my tranny blew up cause i'm in a middle of a intersection trying to make a left.

After about 30 seconds i turned car off. and then i noticed it went into all gears but reverse.

i put it into neutral and turned car on, same story would not go back into gear.
turned car off, put it into first gear and then turned the car on.

NOW heres the funny thing. the car moved forward even though my foot was all the way down on the clutch in first. so i had to brake as i needed to make a left into oncoming traffic. i noticed my rpm's drop a tad cause i was working against the car from moving.

well when traffic let up i let off the clutch and it drove normal. when i tryed second gear it wouldn't let me (normal grind and wouldn't shift in). so i quickly turned car off slapped it back into first and then turned on and drove in 1st.

i'm thinking whoa!! my cars moving!! and my foots all the way down on clutch, something ant right.. my pedel feels a lil bit lighter, not as stiff. so i'm thinking it's my slave cyl.... my work was around the corner (thank god) so i rolled up and parked.

i got under the car and i looked at the slave. sure enough it has liquid on it. it had a smell that i couldn't forget.. (chinese food lol). so i checked my master cylinder and sure enough that had the same smell and it was not full but half.

now, we know i need to replace my slave as it's leaking, but what i don't understand is i had a buddy come push the clutch in and my slave was pushing the fork like it should.. now maybe the pressure isn't there and that fork needs to move more then what i'm seeing, but it looked somewhat operational.

i'm guessing since the slave isn't engaging fully with the required amnt of pressure it's causing the car to move even though i have the clutch pedel all the way down.. it makes sense so i'm going with that.

and i know with reverse that nissan likes that you have the clutch half engaged before it lets you fully into reverse...
i'm worried since i can't get into reverse that it is the transmission also or something with my clutch and pressure plate...

regardless replacing my slave today as i'm friggen stuck at work and it's the only logical reason, but some clarification on this from others would be amazing!

also my fluid is amazingly dirty (in the master cyl reservoir). would this cause my slave to fail??
i'm going to flush it later today with a new slave.

also would a aftermarket clutch cable with high tension strength (obviously) combined with dirty fluid cause my slave to fail??
just looking for precautions to know whats up in the future.

the auto zone slave puts massive amount of force on my pedal that most people stall in my car the first time they try to get it going. dunno if this is a issue or what causes the slave to fail or what.

[MikeIsAbstract]

anyone??? any ideas???

[ZENKI SR20]

do you still have your stock clutch dampner if so bypass it by just removing it and screw in the original hard line when you look at it its pretty self explanitory

[MikeIsAbstract]

car was auto. now manual. no dampener straight SS lines from master to slave.

[yokotavia]

sounds like your slave blew out or the seals in the master blew out.

check your clutch fluid level?

and if there is no leaking then to me it sounds like you need a new clutch cover.

my .02

[az_240]

autozone slaves suck... I'd get a OEM one.

Dirty/bad fluid will cause the seals to wear out faster making the master cylinder/slave fail.

[93nismo]

that happened to my Z and it ended up being the master cyl. i replaced it and everything was fine again:]

[Sileighty_85]

First of all your Clutch system DISENGAGES when the Clutch pedal is pressed. So your system wont disengage, Not Engage.

autozone slaves suck... I'd get a OEM one.

Dirty/bad fluid will cause the seals to wear out faster making the master cylinder/slave fail.

Meh.. AZ part are not all that bad, I'd def go with OEM, using the AZ slave as a temp.

Altough Ive been using a Advance Auto Z32 Slave on my Twin plate for almost 2 years, works fine. But its really a hit and miss ordeal

replace master and slave, if problem persist pull tranny and inspect clutch assembly.

I had a tripple plate on my AE86 long time ago and snapped 10 of the 13 PP bolts causing the same thing as yours ALMOST.

Also had a buddy with a Nismo organic (or some shit like that) PO rode the clutch so much and beat it up that the fibers in the cluch got tangled in the PP causing the cluch system to not disengage.

[MikeIsAbstract]

ok. so i replaced my slave. and the car when turned on WILL not go into gear.

so i turned the car off jammed it in 2nd gear..
turned car on and it still moved even though clutch was to the floor. it moves as if it's an automatic. not fast but a good 3mph idle.

i looked at the master and all seems fine i look under the car and the slave is pushing the fork. i can not see what could be causing this to happen. could my master be blown out??? i don't see and leaks and the pedal feels good.

i used an entire bottle to flush out the old liquid and i know there is no air in the lines.
what else could it possibly be.

one thing to note, i know the car moves on it's own in either 2nd or 3rd gear even though i press the clutch all the way in, but when i get driving i notice it's pretty hard to pull it out of gear like really hard.. is that because it's like half engaged or something?? when i drive the car (stuck in 2nd basically) it drives as if nothing is wrong just can't shift. could something be wrong in my tranny or the clutch??

i'm sure this has happened to some one.. it's just hard for me to get the tranny out as my car is really low and i'm tight on cash.

[Pure_JDM]

I recently had this problem... so I pulled the transmission off to inspect it and was stunned to see that my clutch fork pivot point was sheared in half, which cause my release bearing collar to shear the sleeve that it rides on in half as well. The plate that slides over your output shaft usually has a tube on the end of it... Mine was broken clean off and fragmented inside of the release bearing collar. Was able to buy a aftermarket (SPL Parts) chromally pivot point, a genuine nissan release bearing collar (no longer manufactured... was lucky to find), and now I'm waiting on a buddy in north carolina to send me the plate that i broke. Supposedly they're the same off of a KA transmission, so we'll find out shortly. Hopefully your broblem isn't as bad as mine... Either way it was only about 50 bucks for me to fix, just a whole lot of time waiting to gather nonmanufactured parts.

[MikeIsAbstract]

rofl forgot about that. guess i got some work to do this weekend pffffft.

[az_240]

Your clutch is not properly disengaging from the flywheel thats why it's so hard to put it into gear. It's usually pretty easy to diagnose because there are only so many things that can go wrong. Usually it's either the slave, master, that rubber line near the slave or the pivot fork in the bellhousing.

Try gently moving the fork around.... if it seems loose then the pivot point may be broken.

Double check the slave to be sure it is pushing the fork all the way like it is supposed to.... also check to make sure it is maintaining that pressure on the fork. Check for oil on your clutch pedal which would be from the master cylinder. If everything checks out okay then you'll have to drop the transmission and make sure the fork is working correctly and that you did not break any bolts or anything.

[Pure_JDM]

Yeah, as AZ said, I could see that my pivot point was broken with just looking under the car at the clutch fork to slave cylinder contact... the fork was push to far inward since it broke that sleeve and so my slave cylinder rod was cocked at a retarded angle toward the bell housing...

[design240sx]

its the pivot ball. my car just did that to me last weekend. i was gonna dyno it and car didnt want to move. i can only put in reverse gear. not 1st-5th gear.

[codyace]

While Pivot ball is a common culprit,these are commonly diagnosed by an easily moveable clutch fork arm (as mentioned above)

If the car has been bled, and new hydraulics, it's certainly time to drop the transmission to look for a busted clutch disk or pressure plate.

[jspec240]

autozone slaves suck... I'd get a OEM one.

Dirty/bad fluid will cause the seals to wear out faster making the master cylinder/slave fail.


Hellz yea they do I went through 3 of them in a month.. lol Just buy a rebuild kit for 5$ if its not that try a master rebuild ( first looks and just try to bleed again)

if none works jerk the tranny :)

[codyace]

Also be sure to check the 'ultimate clutch pedal thread'...you can upgrade to a Wilwood MC setup, with stainless lines/fittings for roughly 10 dollars more than JUST the OEM MC from Nissan.

[Pure_JDM]

Also be sure to check the 'ultimate clutch pedal thread'...you can upgrade to a Wilwood MC setup, with stainless lines/fittings for roughly 10 dollars more than JUST the OEM MC from Nissan.

yeah everyone says that, but i was able to buy 4 NISSAN master cylinders for 13 a piece... find me a wilwood for that. haha. i only needed one, but when i had the opportunity, i jumped on it.

[MikeIsAbstract]

i had my wife driving me around.. been busy with work and what not, going to check if the fork is floppy but i don't call it being floppy . it was rather stiff. it seems my clutch might have went... that that prolly sucks for me.. pfft :(.. hopefully this weekend i get time to pull off my tranny. my master is not leaking at all and my slave seems to fully extend. i have SS lines so it shoudl be fine. it's possible my master needs replacement but the pedel feels great, and o nthe slave it pushes the fork a good distance. i'm hoping the pivot fork thing broke on the tip and that the fork is resting on whatevers left.

[codyace]

yeah everyone says that, but i was able to buy 4 NISSAN master cylinders for 13 a piece... find me a wilwood for that. haha. i only needed one, but when i had the opportunity, i jumped on it.

That's a good deal, but dealer closings aren't always available when we need them :D

i had my wife driving me around.. been busy with work and what not, going to check if the fork is floppy but i don't call it being floppy . it was rather stiff. it seems my clutch might have went... that that prolly sucks for me.. pfft :(.. hopefully this weekend i get time to pull off my tranny. my master is not leaking at all and my slave seems to fully extend. i have SS lines so it shoudl be fine. it's possible my master needs replacement but the pedel feels great, and o nthe slave it pushes the fork a good distance. i'm hoping the pivot fork thing broke on the tip and that the fork is resting on whatevers left.


Sounds like a clutch issue for sure then. If the slave cylinder is operating a fair amount, then you know the M/C is at least workign enough to operate the clutch. Sounds like a spring may be shot.

[SmogSUX]

Not reading all the responses, but it could be your clutch pivot ball. Its what pushes on the clutch fork...busted it on my Rx7 being overly agressive shifting. I bought the beefier nismo pivot ball or my S13 so I feel more at ease abusing the clutch.

[DALAZ_68]

gonna post this question here instead of making a new thread...
heres my situation

at the track...transmission is no bueno

the shifter goes in and out of every gear, 0 resistance...clutch pedal goes in and out normally, went under the car, and clutch fork engages and disengages as normal...

heres the wierd part, if you put the car in gear (1-5), normally, if you were to push it in revense, there would be that resistance...right?

if i put my car in reverse with it in gear, itll move backwards with 0 resistance...

my thoughts, and others, think , the actual shaft that goes into the motor snapped after overheating...

cars originally an MT chassis, has its damper box still...doubt that helps...

so...my question is...is it the tranny shaft that snapped...of did the clutch give way...

mind you i do not know what clutch i have...all i know is, that everyone that dorve my car agrees its not stock, but it was grabbing great thru out the day till this happened...

(yes it was at the track not the streets)

edit:

please note: the motor still starts, so that tells me its not the flywheel since the starter uses that to crank...

and when the car is on, i dont hear any clanking in the bell housing or anything, leading me to believe that it is the shaft, not the clutch...but im unsure, just need help here...

[fcdrifter20]

only way to find out is to drop it and take a look

[DALAZ_68]

only way to find out is to drop it and take a look


true, but i wanna know if i should spend XXX.XX amount into rebuilding a transmission, or XXX.XX on buying a new clutch and resurfacing the flywheel...

i just need some input on what to expect, and where i should put my money towards...

[MikeIsAbstract]

you put no money towards anything till you open it up and scout things out.

[DALAZ_68]

i just like to be ready...

fuck it...i might just buy a new trans and rebuild it and new clutch/flywheel/starter...

LOL.... so serious... maybe finally buy my single piece Alum driveshaft.

[fckillerbee]

I broke the shaft inside my tranny at track. every now and then it would go in gear, and drive, then dis engage...I didn't tear it apart as I picked up another tranny for 150.