My 88 GT 5spd grinds as it is shifted into reverse unless I shift into another gear first. Does anyone have this same thing happen to them? Is this normal or is it something I can fix?

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Chris Rogers
88 T-Top GT (Turbo on the way)

I had an 85, and it would always grind going into reverse, it went away after I put in a new clutch

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Ottawa Fiero

The clutch was replaced with a Center Force II about 4000 miles ago...

Sounds to me like the fly wheel is still in motion, happends to me all the time unless I put into 1st-4th first. Really, save your money and just put it in 1st and then reverse

clutch slave and or master cylinder or both are going out. and could be the clutch pedal that cheap gm metal bends after awhile do not i repeat do not put in a new clutch plate unless you really need one. one trick to keep it from grinding everytime is to put the gear into first then quickly into reverse it stops the clutch from moving.

For ten years, my Fieros *always* ground into reverse, until I put GM Synchromesh tranny fluid in them - now they no longer grind into reverse.

It wasn't the cause/solution, just a happy side effect that I found after switching to the real Synchromesh fluid. Give it a shot - only takes two quarts... it's worth it to me even at dealership rip-off prices.

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Patrick W. Heinske -- LZeitgeist@aol.com
1988 Red Fiero Formula
- 1st Place - Stock Coupe - FOCOSEVA 2000
- 3rd Place - Stock Formula - FOCOA Nat'l 2001
- Class Winner - 1982 to Present - Tarheel Tigers All-Pontiac Show 2001

I personally know of NO manual tranny that doesn't do it because reverse has no synchronizers in it. That's why you can shift to 1st then to reverse and get no scraping. Shifting it to 1st first stops the rotation and thus the grinding.

Phil

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GTDude
OVER 25 years GM experience

this is true, but usually after a few seconds the clutch will stop rotating on its own without the need to put it into first if everything is working properly. but if the clutch doesn't stop spinning on its own than the clutch is not egaging properly. try this experiment depress the clutch pedal and wait a few seconds before putting in reverse. it should go in with no problems.

I don't know if the fiero tranny has really heavy internals or what, but I find I have to wait a lot longer for the tranny to stop spinning before shifting into reverse than any other car I've driven. I usually just shift it into first to stop the spinning.