Gear grinding question

[sharpii]

Latley my car does not want to go into second gear and rarely has problems with first. When I go to shift to second the stick seems kind of catchy and if I keep forcing it at the time it will start to make a slight grinding sound. This grind is not loud and I can eventually just get the car to go into gear without having to force the stick in, but it takes time and a slow descent into second gear. Anyways this is not fun for me as im sure it is not fun for anyone to having their car doing this. I would appreciate any advice on what the problem is or how to fix it. I finally got my car running and now it is scaring me with this new additional problem. Although it probley dosent matter I will list what my car is anyways.

1994 Chev, Camaro V6 manual.

This will probley just confuse some of you because im not quite sure how to word it, but ill try anyways. Persay, if I am in 5th gear doing 60 mph and I keep my foot on the clutch and put the car into 1st or 2nd (ofcourse without releasing the clutch duh) the stick is kind of grabby crabby. I just thought I would throw that information in there because it may help.. Anyways thanks for your time.

[oldblu65]

Your post is somewhat confusing as you mention clutch , being hard to get in gear , etc. then you state it is a V6 automatic ? I'm assuming it is a 5 speed manual from what you said early in the post . Difficulty getting it to go into gear is often a clutch or clutch adjustment problem . The " grabbing " you described could be a problem with the transmission itself . Could have a synchronizer going bad . As far as putting it in 1st or 2nd gear at 60 mph - well , I know you said you'd never do it and let the clutch out but even doing it is dangerous ! What could happen during that time when you're doing that if you had a sudden brain fade moment or someone distracted you suddenly , you might release the clutch in that split second . That could cause you to lose control of your vehicle and ...well , lots of bad things could happen to you , your car , and anyone that happened to be close to you whether in your car or in a nearby car ! I don't bring that up in any way to question your driving skills or ability , just saying be careful . If I offended you in any way , I never meant to as that was not my intention .

[sharpii]

Originally Posted by oldblu65

Your post is somewhat confusing as you mention clutch , being hard to get in gear , etc. then you state it is a V6 automatic ? I'm assuming it is a 5 speed manual from what you said early in the post . Difficulty getting it to go into gear is often a clutch or clutch adjustment problem . The " grabbing " you described could be a problem with the transmission itself . Could have a synchronizer going bad . As far as putting it in 1st or 2nd gear at 60 mph - well , I know you said you'd never do it and let the clutch out but even doing it is dangerous ! What could happen during that time when you're doing that if you had a sudden brain fade moment or someone distracted you suddenly , you might release the clutch in that split second . That could cause you to lose control of your vehicle and ...well , lots of bad things could happen to you , your car , and anyone that happened to be close to you whether in your car or in a nearby car ! I don't bring that up in any way to question your driving skills or ability , just saying be careful . If I offended you in any way , I never meant to as that was not my intention .

You are correct in your assumptions about it being manual. Im not quite sure why I said it was automatic but I edited my post and fixed it, thankyou.

[curtis73]

The part where you are testing it by putting it in first and second at 50 mph isn't a fair test. The synchronizers' job is to match the speed of the drive gear with the chosen gear. That means when you're trying to put it in first or second at highway speeds, the synchro is trying to make the drive gear spin about 10,000 RPM. There is no way it can do that effectively. Even a brand new transmission has trouble shifting to second at 50 mph.

Your transmission is a T5. Its a Borg Warner design, now made by Tremec. Its very common so parts should be cheap. Any way you slice it, you're looking at an internal failure. Even the shift rail is internal on that transmission. From your description, it could be a bent shift fork, worn snychro, missing tooth on a dog ring, worn input shaft bearing, bad pilot bushing... one of a thousand things. There is a very slight chance that you have a failing slave or master cylinder in the clutch causing the problem, but two things make me say its internal: 1) a clutch hydraulic problem would show up in all gears, not just one, and 2) when you are trying to get it into second and you hear the light grinding, it suggests a shift fork/synchro issue.

Something cheap you can do is change the oil in it. Bad oil modifies the friction between the synchros and the cones. Most of the time if its become an issue, the bad oil has already let the synchros wear down, but its worth a shot. Its a real hail-mary in your case, but its cheap.

[sharpii]

The whole entire clutch system was replaced and the gears still want to grind in second and reverse, any ideas?

[oldblu65]

Even if the clutch and all related parts are new , they still have to have the proper adjustment to work correctly .

[Black Lotus]

Originally Posted by sharpii

The whole entire clutch system was replaced and the gears still want to grind in second and reverse, any ideas?

Probably 2nd gear sychro is worn. Common thing to happen after a lot of miles.
Before you shift into reverse--- try shifting into first, then to reverse. Might help.

[curtis73]

Reverse doesn't have synchros. When you push the clutch in, the tranny is still spinning from inertia and reverse grinds a bit. Just wait a few seconds, or do like blacklotus says and shift it into another gear first to stop the transmission. BUT, if you still get grinding after waiting or shifting to another gear, it suggests that the clutch is still partially engaged. Your hydraulic clutch is non-adjustable (meaning it self-adjusts) which means there may be an air bubble in it and its not fully releasing the clutch when you push the pedal in.

Sounds like worn synchros to me for the second gear thing. Second gear is usually the one to go first since it gets used the most and has a lot of inertia to overcome. Rebuild time.