We power bleed the system and verified that there are no leaks. Fine right away and then after driving for about a half hour she decided not to go into reverse again.
I think you just answered your own question there
If it worked right away and then went out again after 1/2 hour, that would point me to a slow leak somewhere.
I am glad that I am not the ONLY one dealing with this type of issue. But really happy to hear there are so many alternatives.
I have an 87 GT that just crossed over the 150K mark. Rebuilt engine roughly about six years ago at the same time just as well figured to do the clutch too. So much for background. Let me know if more info like this is needed to help me out.
Now the problem is, after replacing the slave and master, all of the sudden my car does not want to release into reverse. It goes in when the car engine is off and when the car is cold; but once it warms up it does not want to go into reverse. Sounds like it is still spinning and that it would grind were I to push things. I have NEVER forced it into gear. Somehow I found that turning the engine off and then putting it into reverse worked although the car did sound like it did not want to start while in reverse after a bit of driving. When I have been parked overnight it starts in reverse just fine.
I have been able to use all gears and in order to keep the beast on the road and have just avoided any reverse motions (incredible how many times you will drive in circles till you can find a place to park with those requirements). We power bleed the system and verified that there are no leaks. Fine right away and then after driving for about a half hour she decided not to go into reverse again.
Right now I have the car at a shop and they are talking about $400 just to open it up to find out what is wrong and telling me that it could be some kind of bushing/bearing/fork problem and that if they were to fix this it would cost me around $500. If this does not fix the car they would need to open the tranny to see if it needs work there and that could well run me over $1150 clams.
Hey this is an old car and although I love it my other half is not as fond of it as I am and would probably be happy to see it go up in flames and have me drive something more sensible. Yuck. It has also NEVER slipped gears.
I just don't know if I am being a sucker and hope that maybe I could get a different idea of what to look for through all of this or to find out if these people are talking out of the wrong side of their mouths. I do, after all, live in LA. Smiles.
Unfortunately, I am not an expert in this department but have been through some forced learning (I have been driving one of these for twenty years).
Any suggestions for me? Thanks in advance.
Sounds heat related. Check and make sure that the slave isn't getting too hot, also as your clutch wears down the slave will have farther to go to get the clutch to disengage. Look at your slave and if it still has the boot on the end of it see if its full of fluid or dry, if you don't have a boot on it see if the inside of the slave is rusted. Heat and rust could be causing the problem. Is your fluid real dirty or have you tried flushing all of your fluid? I didn't have the push rod for my 4 speed so I made my own, I didn't know what length to make it so tried several until I found one that worked. Its 1 inch longer than stock and I have not had any issues with it. After I found out what the right size was I made a new one and I had problems getting the car in gear. Put the long one back in and it fixed the problem. I'm not saying that you should or shouldn't try that only that it worked for me. Good luck.
[This message has been edited by Jake_Dragon (edited 06-27-2007).]
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06:15 PM
shawnkfl Member
Posts: 2457 From: Largo, Florida Registered: Oct 2004
i thought there may be a slight chance that i had air in the system causing my troubles, so i just vacuum bled the line dry. pulled fresh fluid through until no bubbles came out. sucked it dry again (thinking maybe something is lodged in there) pulled fresh fluid through again until no bubbles came out. i unhooked the vacuum system, pushed the slave rod into the slave and tightened the slave bleeder, then released the slave rod. clutch feels good. same as when i started though. and guess what......it STILL won't go into reverse! so i know this. it is not air in the system. the master and slave are both functioning properly. it has to be these damn cables. if the whole clutch hydraulic system functions correctly with a brand new clutch pedal, and the transmission shifts when i shift it by hand at the transmission. it only leaves the cables to blame. fiero store says these work for an 84 but i don't believe that for a minute now. anyone have an original set of 84 cables i can try? i'll send them back, i just want to prove to myself that it is in fact the cables.
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06:41 PM
shawnkfl Member
Posts: 2457 From: Largo, Florida Registered: Oct 2004
disregard my last post guys. I figured it out just now. while i was typing i was thinking "i wonder if the ball stud adjusts"....guess what. it does! i went out and looked at it. i knew damn well i had the cable adjusted to the correct length. so i moved the select shifters ball stud about a half inch in (toward the engine) and it works perfectly! it goes into all gears easily. except 1st is so close to reverse. i'll have to get used to that. it seems to be easier to go to 2nd then straight up into 1st. not easier to shift. just easier to find. anyway. i'm all good now! finally!!!
now i need to throw a new belt on it. it squeals like the dickens. i probably could just tighten it up but since it's sat for the past eight years, i think i'll replace it....so, i could break this beast out of the yard this weekend!! yeah!
ok. just tried to replace the alt. belt. should have known i'd have to remove the AC belt first.....thanks GM. for making every simple task take more time than it should, and for making me remove parts just to get to the one i need to replace! for now, i just tightend the alt. belt. that stopped the squealing. i'll grab a new ac belt this weekend and replace them both. mental note....check cable length BEFORE installed adjustable cables. did i mention how much i loathe the adjustable cables?..
[This message has been edited by shawnkfl (edited 06-27-2007).]
disregard my last post guys. I figured it out just now. while i was typing i was thinking "i wonder if the ball stud adjusts"....guess what. it does! i went out and looked at it. i knew damn well i had the cable adjusted to the correct length. so i moved the select shifters ball stud about a half inch in (toward the engine) and it works perfectly! it goes into all gears easily. except 1st is so close to reverse. i'll have to get used to that. it seems to be easier to go to 2nd then straight up into 1st. not easier to shift. just easier to find. anyway. i'm all good now! finally!!!
now i need to throw a new belt on it. it squeals like the dickens. i probably could just tighten it up but since it's sat for the past eight years, i think i'll replace it....so, i could break this beast out of the yard this weekend!! yeah!
ok. just tried to replace the alt. belt. should have known i'd have to remove the AC belt first.....thanks GM. for making every simple task take more time than it should, and for making me remove parts just to get to the one i need to replace! for now, i just tightend the alt. belt. that stopped the squealing. i'll grab a new ac belt this weekend and replace them both. mental note....check cable length BEFORE installed adjustable cables. did i mention how much i loathe the adjustable cables?..
Great News! I have a theory that Pizza Hut is "brain food", it just sometimes takes several hours to be effective Like I told you at lunch today, some cars fight you every step of the way and then at some point suddenly seem to "give in" and then things go together like butter. Also like I said, I can't count the number of times I've been so fed up with my 87' that I seriously thought about shoving it out into the street and setting fire to it... I know you must be thrilled to have that issue fixed.
[This message has been edited by randye (edited 06-27-2007).]
Gee, I'll head over with my 87 and we can have a twin bonfire! I get the sentiments exactly. Sigh.
I appreciate all of the suggestions and I am heading down to a person's shop that is about an hour away from me tomorrow to see if I can get them to go through the suggestions that have been offered to me. I will be keeping my fingers crossed. Smiles.
Is there any chance that someone knows a reputable shop that they might suggest closer to me? I am in LA about ten miles away from the 405 and 101 Split.
I just dropped off my Lil' Blue at a shop with a printed out version of your suggestions as well as Archie's instructions on proper bleeding for a Fiero. Keep your fingers crossed. I could use the good luck! Of course on the drive over she operated as if I have NOT had anything wrong at all -- going right into reverse without a problem. Figures!
