Clutch/shifting problems

Saw a similar post from April, but thought I'd post again...

I have a '92 Cavalier, recently and suddently started to become difficult to shift into gear. A slight grinding or that "drop out" clunk can occur when shifting into reverse. First gear is the worst, especially from a stop. Other forward gears usually shift just fine, but occasionally are a little difficult; never as bad as first. I noticed the clutch seems to grab at a slightly different point than before. That is, I now have to push the clutch all the way to the floor to allow a shift. It feels a bit like if I could push a little further, this problem wouldn't occur. Oddly, if the car has been off and sits in the sun for sometime (inside is very warm) this problem does not occur.

So, in your opinions, is this going to require a clutch replacement, master/slave problem, pedal linkage adjustment?

Thanks for the advice!

bump

I have the same problem the "Drop out" sound in switching to reverse, first isnt bad but i have to like slam on the clutch to switch where before i barely had too. Its getting worst and worst what to do????

is your fluid full in the clutch resovoir?... my g/f ran empty and yea... shifting became a bitch... i looked into it and she had no fluid in there...

same thing happened to me. it was damn near impossible to shift into 2nd.

It was empty i found this out the next day... put brake fluid in it BAM! works like a charm.

welcome...:smile:

If it was empty then you have a leak and it will happen again very soon, look at the slave cylinder for any leaks

the same thing kinda hapens to me in reverse it would grind but all i did was push the cluch in and let it start to roll back and then put it into reverse and it went fine

I had a similar problem with my last Z...a little different tho. It was a 99, and every gear felt mushy. I could never tell whether or not I was in gear, cuz there was never a solid shift...i just kinda smashed it into every gear. I think the synchros went bad...then i wrecked it so i never found out what the problem was.

is your fluid full in the clutch resovoir?... my g/f ran empty and yea... shifting became a bitch... i looked into it and she had no fluid in there...

You know, I have a similar problem with my 88 z24. But there is fluid still in my reservoir. My mechanic thinks that the seals are shot in my master and slave cylinder. Just was hoping someone on here might have the same or different opinion.

I just put a brand new clutch kit in this car and I can get it into all the gears no problem with the car off, infact I don't even need to push the clutch in to change gears when the car is off. When on I can only get into 3rd, 4th and 5th. It will go into reverse but only after chewing at the gears. which I try very much to avoid. But 1st and 2nd are a no go because the other cable is trying to move at the same time. my mechanic held the one cable back and then I could shift into first and 2nd.

The car does move if I get it in gear so that leads me to believe that the clutch works but that it's not being disengaged properly. So I'm about to go and buy a new master/slave cylinder in the next couple of days. But before doing that if someone else here agrees or disagrees with this theory or has any questions I'd love to hear from you.

This thing is really bothering me because I've spent alot on this old car and I can't quit now. Thanks.

i dont think u need to push the clutch in with any car to shift when the car is off... i might be wrong tho...