Well I am having some shifting problems again. I was having these problems before and bleeding the clutch seemed to help. for a while anyways. The problem is back though.

It shifts fine normally. Sometimes it will suddenly be REALLY REALLY hard to shift into first, and second. I could force it and I would hear AND feel it click into gear. No grinding or anything. It almost just feels sticky. For those that know how to drive Manuals. Ya know how if you want to go into reverse and sometimes you just cant go in? So you pop it into 4th and then something gets alligned and you can now enter reverse? It feels like thats happening but on a much larger scale for all gears. Heres the wierd part. When this problem comes up I can usually fix it by putting it in nuetral, letting the clutch out, then pushing it back in. Or the second thing that fixes it sometimes is shift into 3rd and it suddenly makes 1st and 2nd shiftable. Could anything need to be cleaned possibly that is making it so sticky? Or could it be a clutch line problem that just came back again? Bleeding it last time SEEMED to help. Could just be a bad slave or master cylinder thats leeking small amounts of air into it so it goes bad a few weeks after bleeding.

Anyways its starting to annoy me and I am fearing permenant damage to my car. Any help is appreciated.

Ok...let see

Here are a possibility of problems

Pressure plate not exactly making enough pressure...if so you'll hear a LITTLE grinding and/or the RPM's going down slightley when putting it into gear.

Clutch Pedal
Any 84-86 Fiero had an "aluminum" clutch pedal that, after time, bends like NOTHING...how if you take a look undernieth you'll notice that it MIGHT and PROBABLY is bent and will have to be manually straightened out. Get an 87-88 Clutch Pedal

Hydrualic Line
Just bleed it some more! You still might have the tiniest ammout of air in there.

quote Heres the wierd part. When this problem comes up I can usually fix it by putting it in nuetral, letting the clutch out, then pushing it back in

Ever driven a Truck? Thats double clutching...if you press the pedal down twice you'll get enough pressure to put it in no problem. When in doubt...double clutch (press pedal down twice before putting it into 1st}

Hope this helps

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Steven Rossi
2M4 Cadero Converted GT

Does your car have a Getrag? Mine does that all the time. Sometimes the shifter will rattle and pop back into neutral when I try to put it in first. I cant usually tell when its going to do it cause it gets hard to move into first and doesnt feel like it went all the way forward. Sometimes it even feels a little hard when I go to shift into 2nd.

Here is my thoughts:
I tried shifting it with the engine off and the clutch pressed to the floor. Sure enough it gets hard to shift. My shift cable is about 4yrs old and I think I got it from Advance Auto (dont carry them for the fiero w/getrag any more). My select cable is less than a yr old and it came from Rodney. I installed his Ultimate Getrag shift kit. Bushing rebuild kit, short throw shifter and lubed the shifter and everything alse I could think of. My slave and master cylinders are both new GM parts. I noticed when I lubed the shifter the part the shifter rotaes on cracked. It only has a few tack welds holding the entire shifter assembly together so check those. I looked at my clutch pedal last night and I noticed it had some play side to side. So I need to get Rodneys bushing kit for that. I also noticed when I pushed the pedal down the "O" moved back and forth on the shaft so I put some washers on each side and then put the clip back on so it cant deflect and reduce the amount of throw the pedal has. I am not sure but I think the pedal needs to set a certain amount higher than the brake pedal but mine is about level. SO I think I may swap out the clutch pedal as well. The rod to my clutch master cylinder is straight so I know thats not the problem. I have pressure bled the system but even though sometimes it seems to help if I pump the clutch pedal before I try to put it in gear. Seems the worst time is first thing in the morning when I back out of the driveway it gives me a hard time going into first. I am gettting VERY upset about this. Not sure what else to do from here. I am using 5W30 in the trans but may switch to GM syncromesh. Also may call rodney and order a new shifter cable and even look for another 5 speed shifter assembly and rebuild it using rodneys kit too. I'll post on the board if I get this figured out. I hope some of this helps you.

Oh yeah, my 88 coupe NEVER gives me any trouble shifting. Its SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better than the Getrag EVER dreamed about being. Its getting to the point I may just swap out the getrag for an Isuzu! REALLY!. Anyone else notice just how much better the 4 cyl cars shift?

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88 Fiero coupe 2.5 5 speed, Custom IHI RHB6 turbo equipped, gutted and track abused
87 Fiero GT 14.9/ 89mph CSP car
87 Mazda RX-7 SBC v8 5.0L/700R4 ---FOR SALE
84 Fiero 2M4 T-top, Turbocharged and tons of extras!
87 Conquest TSi 406 SBC V8!
93 Lumina Z34 organ donor

[This message has been edited by BV MotorSports (edited 11-06-2002).]

Steven, I have an 88 GT so the clutch shouldnt be the problem. I have checked it and from what I can tell the pedal as well as the banjo are fine. I guess I will bleed it again.

BV, yes I have a getrag. I will look into that ultimate shift kit from Rodney though!

I just completed clutch jobs on a 85 and 88 and using the information furnished by Ed of the Fiero Factory had absolutly no problems in checking out the systems replacing the parts and bleeding and purging the masters and the slave cylinders and the lines... Here is the web page you can go to and see what you might do to prevent a lot of headaches Ed's directions and instructions are bullet proof smartest reading I ever did.... http://www.thefierofactory.com/clutch.htm