Clutch?

Hey, I just did a whole tranny rebuild deal... I put the whole piece back together... and when the car's off... it shifts fine... but you've gotta start it in gear and double clutch like a mofo to get in and outta gears... or they'll grind really bad... I don't know that I torqued the clutch pressure plate bolts good enough... the torque wrench (micrometer style) messed up... so I was kinda estimating... would this make the clutch feel as though it wasn't fully disengaging? I bled the system and have a lot more pedal, but not as much as it did before...

maybe you need to adjust the pedal itself.

what the pushrod underneath the dash... I'm definitely willing to give it a try... tell me more...

aight, I did the clutch pedal adjustment... got it as tight as possible... but no improvement... the gears are still grinding... I get the same grind whether the pedal is pushed down or not... and it don't matter how much it's pushed either... I think I'm gonna drop the transmission again... and adjust those clutch bolts... but first, could that have anything to do with it... as I do not know...

Well you don't want the pedal adjusted too far either way, you gotta find the middle ground that it releases and grabs fully.

What do you mean by adjust clutch bolts?

the bolts that hold the pressure plate to the flywheel... my micrometer torque wrench broke... (on something else) so I just guesstimated aboout the actual torque on them... I think maybe they're not tight enough...

Well they don't have to be too tight, with some locktite and a 1/2" drive wratchet i'd say mine are torqued at about 40-50 ft/lbs (1/2 turn past snug). As long as the pegs on the flywheel were through the pressure plate fully, that shouldn't be the problem. I guess if you have time and energy to take it off again it couldn't hurt to check. I would have to think the problem lies either in your rebuild, the pedal adjustment, release bearing/clutch fork, or something with the hydraulics...seeing how you just rebuilt everything, I would think the rebuild..but you should check everything else before concluding that.

well, I know that the bolts on the flywheel were fine... b/c I was able to use a different torque wrench on them... and I'm pretty sure the hydraulics are fine... as all of them (minus the hoses) have already been replaced... so I'm leaning towards the pressure plate bolts... I'm almost definitely sure they weren't on that tight... as I feared rounding them off... I'm gonna buy an adapter to use my other torque wrench on them... I'll let you know what I think...

Not to say I'm a master mechanic... but I'm not leaning towards the rebuild... b/c it shifts fine while the car is off... When I first started it on the jackstands... it seemed as though the car was in gear... b/c the clutch wasn't releasing right... but I really don't know...

Ok, it's been awhile but I've had a lot going on... I managed to drop the transmission the other night (literally, and cut my wrist up pretty good too, that's another long story)... and I checked the bolts on the pressure plate... and they were definitely a problem... they weren't even snug anymore... so I went back and torqued them all down... that was it for the night... it was dark, cold, and beginning to rain... and it's rained ever since... so I haven't had a chance to go put it all back together... that and my wrist is pretty bruised and swollen... so it'll be after T-giving before I can check... but I'm almost certain that was a problem... maybe not the only problem... but I'll let u know when I find out...