Hard to shift into gears?

heyybaker · Post by **heyybaker** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 1:34 am

I have a 2002 R/T, manual obviously. I'm not sure this is the transmission orjust the shifter so I'm posting here. Tonight I noticed that suddenly when trying to shift into any gear, it is physically hard, and I have to apply a lot of force to the shifter. It seems to get easier as I go into higher gear, but when downshifting, as I get to first, I reallyyyy had to fiddle to get it to go up to the shift area which is first. As far as actual shifting goes, I don't detect anything obviously wrong.. no slipping or anything, acts normal after I actually get the shifter into the spot. I always make sure my foot is firm on the clutch when shifting. I'm anal about doing it right because I personally can't (or can, if I want to eat Ramen for months) afford a transmission or clutch.

I haven't tries shifting when the car is off, this is happening when the car is on and moving. I tried researching before posting but got no clear answers.

Since I've had the car, it sometimes doesn't like to go into reverse. It'll sound kind of grindy and move nowhere, so I will immediately disengage, go to neutral, put it back into reverse very firmly to make sure its in place, and it goes.

To be honest, I'll ram it into reverse to get it to go, otherwise it seems it might get stuck in that grinding, non moving area. Is the fact that I move it roughly into reverse a factor of why it is now difficult to movr the shifter to other gears? If so, I need to get to the bottom of the reverse issue, or else I'm going to ruin the whole thing.

nerox · Post by **nerox** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 3:56 am

Does it get easier to shift when the car warms up?

chipdogg · Post by **chipdogg** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 7:35 am

Sounds like your clutch isn't disengaging all the way or your cables are acting up. Check all your shifter cable bushings.

Try shifting with car off. If it shifts fine, bleed your clutch. Otherwise you have an issue with the clutch.

INVUJerry · Post by **INVUJerry** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 7:56 am

Can't you adjust the engagement of the clutch on a hydraulic setup?

He Hate Me · Post by **He Hate Me** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 8:44 am

Try this: viewtopic.php?t=26&highlight=adjust+clutch

But PULL (so the pedal is going higher essentially) the pedal all the way to you while you tighten the bolt down. Also while your under there check to see if the bushing on the pivot arm (pretty much the peice of that bolt your tightening) doesn't have any play it in, cause that will affect your problem.

I was kind of having this same problem and a Rage-Tek Pivot Arm from MPx helped A LOT.

boostalot717 · Post by **boostalot717** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:48 am

adjust clutch and adjust cables.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:04 am

Yep the clutch pedal height will make a difference, it actaually doesn't take much movement to make a change. You may have to experiment a bit to get it perfect. Like said, check the plastic bushing.

Adjusting the cable/crossover requires removing the console.

viewtopic.php?t=55884

Both these are free, so you won't have to risk fading away on Ramen. You wouldn't last to long from the looks of you.

heyybaker · Post by **heyybaker** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 3:09 pm

Nerox: Sort of. It'll still have bouts of it though, as in it really doesn't clear up when it warms up.

chipdogg: It does shift fine when it's off, so I'll have to see about that.

occasional demons: I did notice that when I push in the clutch to change gears, it goes to the floor. Also, rather than starting to 'pull' when I release it half way, it's more like only 1/4 way.

I think the clutch may be adjusted. But, I took it to the smart man, who has 30+ years of experience on me (good ol' dad).. however, neither of us have Neon experience, so it's still an adventure :p.

He drove it down the road and it didn't do it for him once. I had to leave for work but I told him to go out down the road and just keep downshifting and upshifting.. it has to do it, as it did it all the way to the house!

It couldn't also be an issue with the shifter itself? When it's in any gear, it has a lot of play.. it just wobbles around freely (like my key in the ignition

). Maybe it's supposed to be that way, though.. this IS the first 5 speed that I've actually owned rather than just driven.

ETA: I also considered I may be doing something wrong, but I can't see what. I'm not leaving the parking break on (I don't even know if that could affect it), I'm making sure the clutch is all the way in and I can't find anything that I'm doing that would make it not work right.

Oh, and funny to mention it, but I brought Ramen to work.. the starving begins.. hahaha

heyybaker · Post by **heyybaker** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 3:35 pm

Well, he put it through as much shifting as possible, and said it's fine. I guess I'm doing something wrong, I just can't think of what I'm suddenly doing wrong than I've been doing before. What he specifically says is he "likes it the way it is" so maybe there is something odd about it, but he prefers it that way. He is a lot stronger than me.. maybe I'm super frail and the resistance I'm feeling when trying to move the shifter in to place is normal and I need to go lift some weights

. I'm going to see if I can't pull off the console and fiddle with the linkage when I have the time.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 8:30 pm

Well if the shifter has a lot of play, even in gear, the cable end bushings are likely shot. Some Booger bushings will fix that. You really can't do a decent crossover adjustment until you replace the bushings.

www.boogerbushings.com

viewtopic.php?t=58977

mjrpaine · Post by **mjrpaine** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 10:31 pm

heyybaker wrote: maybe I'm super frail and the resistance I'm feeling when trying to move the shifter in to place is normal and I need to go lift some weights

Well if you show up at Carlisle ... I will let you try mine ...

heyybaker · Post by **heyybaker** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 5:04 pm

We found the culprit! There was no fluid in the clutch slave cylinder. We can't find anywhere that it was leaking, but it is a closed system so it had to have went somewhere, it doesn't normally evaporate. We filled it up and I'll be watching it to see how quickly it disappears.

And it did finally do it for him, I made him drive it to work :p.

mjrpaine, I'll be there for sure :)!

chipdogg · Post by **chipdogg** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 7:11 pm

Told ya to bleed your clutch!

The slave cylinder itself was empty? It may not be leaking out, but it may be sucking air back in when you let off the pedal.

Post by **occasional demons** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 7:19 pm

Glad you found it. You should still check your cable bushings tho. All the play in the shifter is not normal. It sucks when you have lots of play, and you inadvertently shift into 1st instead of 3rd. It is an awesome way to peg your tach.

Yes I did that before I found this forum, and learned about the bushings. It gave me a new respect for how well the 2.0 can hold together.

heyybaker · Post by **heyybaker** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 11:22 pm

chipdogg: It was pretty darn closed to empty. We filled it up to the line and now it's working fine.

occasional demons: Yeah, I don't like all the play either, it does sometimes cause me to go into the wrong gear. Next chance I get I'll check them out.

chris1211 · Post by **chris1211** » Wed May 09, 2012 1:13 pm

same happend to mine my slave clynder was leaking i but fluid in pumped the clutch about a million times and its good now

supertrick_05 · Post by **supertrick_05** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 12:16 am

I may have to look into this...I just bought my '01 R/T, but the guy I bought it from said that the fluid was low before he left, so he filled it up. Then on the 4 hour drive to my house, he said it started doing it again...usually when it gets warm. Maybe the slave cylinder is shot...I dunno. Might just take it to a trans shop and have them look at it.

chris1211 · Post by **chris1211** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 1:00 am

Mines had a leak plus a bad master same prob now its fine that I repl
Aced it

Fuzzyneon · Post by **Fuzzyneon** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:05 am

Get boogers they are FTW
glad you found the issue keep your eye on the fluid levels

and neon trans ive found can be finicky for no real reason sometimes i cant get first have to go second to first real fast and reverse can be a pain and not engage fully all the time

If you cant find it .....grind it