broken08

Thanks for the ideas! I will try these tricks next time I can get one of my sons to come over and help me...

Thanks mcuh, great thoughts so far. What if i lift one rear wheel off the ground, put it in gear, have someone depress the clutch and try and spin the lifted wheel by hand? If the clutch was dragging I wouldn't be able to, or it would at least be difficult, right? Perhaps that would be an easier way to check? Feel free to correct my thought, I'm not sure if it might need to be some variation thereof due to LSD. So lets say in the end I need a new clutch; who is the best (or at least the cheapest of good quality) supplier for the US? Are there good aftermarket options? Thanks again!

Actually...I wasn't clear here...sorry... the original single plate clutch was upgraded in the first thousand miles and a twin plate with flywheel, bellhousing, etc was fitted. I remember it well...it took two months off my first summer of driving the car. The dealer was to have serviced the trans @ 5 years (in 2003) but I have pretty much figured out that he may have deferred some of the service items...Now I'm thinking the trans oil could be the culprit??? Maybe there is no oil in it anymore but without any new oil, I'm not going to to open the case plug and try to check...I know putting redline in an old MR2 we had rehabbed the gearbox so I figure the Lotus might be happy with it as well.. My slave was leaking profusely...I tried a new aluminum slave but I couldnt get it to fit. The line hits the frame. I couldnt bend the original line, it already has the 90 too close to the slave. I ended rebuilding the old slave and replaced the master. I don't expect the old slave to last forever since I didn't get 100% of the slave bore honed perfectly... I have the manuals so I adjusted the downstop at the pedal to achieve 10 mm travel at the slave. I bled it out fine. Since the car won't even shift well in the garage, not running... I assume the clutch is not a suspect. I would think that a clutch isn't necessary (?) for shifting with the engine off and my little rocket car parked. About the only way to get it into first now is... the car has to be rolling. Then I go to second and get it to roll, double clutch down into first. (I used to have an AH Sprite that I shifted into first with no synchro so I can handle this). Just pushing in the clutch and putting it in first is a futile exercise in gear grinding. It stopped going into reverse about 5 years ago. I always turn off the engine, start it in reverse, then hopefully make it into a spot without having to go back to first. I would have tried the "lifting the reverse collar" trick but it was snowing a little today so I couldnt do that. Hopefully tommorow. Thanks for the advice so far..I will try most everything. I'm not sure about trying a different slave yet since again, it won't even shift well with the engine off, in the garage...so to me, that eliminates the clutch as a problem... Any more thoughts? Am I wrong? Could the clutch still keep the trans from shifting in a stationary vehicle w/o the engine running?

Hello all. New here and in desperate need of some help with my 97 with 14000 miles. Original clutch and internals. Over the past couple years shifting has gotten more and more difficult. This spring it got terrible/ impossible. I had to turn off the car to shift in to 1st or reverse. Even with a very well timed double clutch 1st is nearly impossible to hit with the engine on. I replaced the slave and master, bled and adjusted per the manual. The clutch feels fine and normal with the proper throw at the slave, but i still have the same problem. I also verfied the cable / arm adjustment. Furthermore it is even very difficult to put it in to these gears while the engine is off and none of the other gears are great either. the cables more freely and I have looked at the trans where they more the shaft and everything moves pretty well, and even if i help try to put it in to 1st from under the car with someone in it moving the shifter, that doesn't seem to help. From what i've read here most people want to blame the clutch, but i have confirmed the slave throw is sufficient. Since it doesn't even want to shift with the car off it isn't the clutch dragging that is causing it. It just feels like there is some resistance to it getting in to 1st. I am going to change the trans oil now, (once I can find it in the US, might get redline). I hope that helps, but i'm not holding my breath. When in gear it hold well and there is no further clunking (no missing dogs). What on earth can I check next? I can barely afford the insurance on this car, much less another transmission that goes out after 10k, so I hope I can find something to make my garage rocket fly again. Any thoughts are appreciated!!! Thanks