endless clutch problems

[lovehamr]

MM brings up a good point; do you know if your bellhousing was aligned with your block/crank? Lateral missalignment can only be like .015" or something like that before you have problems.

You also didn't mention what clutch or transmission that you have. I had problems like you describe with the Centerforce clutch that I bought with my TKO600RR. I since have installed a McCloud that I got from Brent at B2 Motor Sports (advertised here on the forum) and haven't had a problem in 3K miles. Seems the weights on the CF pressure plate would get all wonky and do stupid things.

[scootter]

I have/had some of the same issues with mine. I have the TKO 5 speed. Hard to get into first when at a dead stop. It seems like it hits a wall. Mine has always done this. Grinding into reverse. Just a mentioned above, drop into second then reverse.
My clutch was extremely hard to push in. I have the Ram in mine. After messing with it forever, I changed the oil to DOT 3/4 synthetic, built the heat shield, re-worked the bracket as it wasn't aligned properly, made a slightly larger push rod that has a steel ball on the end and not a bolt, greased that, got spray lithium grease and carefully sprayed the input shaft on the trans, greased the hell out of the fork ball. It made a huge difference. The slave is 1"(I have ac deco push type #386251) and the master is 7/8".
My clutch pedal is higher then the brake pedal. I have to push it to the floor to fully disengage the clutch. I have my set so the fire wall is the stop for the pedal. Even if you have free play when you first install the slave cylinder, once you bleed all the air out, it will be tight against the fork since all the air is gone. You can push it back with your fingers to see it still does have free play.

*make sure alignment is perfect with the slave to the fork
*synthetic brake fluid DOT 3&4
*lube parts
*make sure the pedal has enough travel to fully release clutch
*heat shield.
*better contact piece to the fork. I cleaned all the burs from the fork hole with my dremel tool since it was all beat up. I found a fine thread metric rod that has a nut to adjust it and a steel ball with a hole drilled for contact on the fork

Good luck with it. As I mentioned, I still have the first gear syndrome at times. It just seems like it were it decides to stop sometimes and not mesh correctly. In my case, I think it is just the trans I have as I have a TKO from around the 2002 year that has been slightly abused!!

Scott

[jhv48]

Agree with the centerforce comment above. Might be the problem. The cause is a clutch that is not totally disengaging for one reason or another.

Now, what are the causes? I experienced much the same symptoms you are experiencing (grinds in reverse even if you engage a forward gear first, hard to shift into first at a stop. But once driving, everything shifted just fine) and threw a whole lot of time and money at the problem in order to solve it. Eventually I did everything you have done so far. Replaced the slave cylinder, fluid, master cylinder, installed heat shields over the lines, adjusted the clutch many times, moved the clutch rod to both the top and bottom holes on the lever, made a new slave bracket to facilitate a straight push on the clutch fork all to no avail. Next, I pulled the tranny and replaced the throwout bearing and pilot bushing and dialed in the bell housing and trans when reinstalled. Bingo! All problems went away for about 1500 miles, and then they returned. After removing and replacing the trans and throwout bearing and pilot bushing three more times, with the problem disappearing and then returning within 500-1000 miles, I decided to replace the entire clutch mechanism from the pilot bushing to the clutch fork, even though the clutch pressure plate (not a centerforce unit) and disc were pronounced in excellent shape every time it was examined.
Upon examination of the throwout bearing, the inside of the bearing, the part that rides back and forth on the bearing retainer from the transmission, was gouged. WTF? Upon further investigation, we found a slight burr on the bearing retainer that was gouging the throwout bearing causing it to eventually hang up and fail to move freely back and forth when the clutch fork engaged it. We removed the burr and polished the bearing retainer shaft and then put all new components back together. That was over a year ago and 2000 miles and the trans shifts like it was made to. You still need to put the trans in a forward gear prior to engaging reverse, but it used to grind when I did this. Now it just slides right in.

So, the next step is to pull the trans and examine alll the parts. Something in there is causing the disc to lightly drag and not fully release. It only takes a milimeter worth or play to cause the disc to remain in contact with the flywheel and cause your problems.

If your car is new and still being handled by the installer, this should be a no cost fix for you. Mine wasn't. If you do pull the trans, replace everything clutch related (from the pilot bushing to the clutch fork) check the bearing retainer for smoothness and have it dialed in before you put it back together. You don't want to have to do this again. Replacing individual parts might solve the problem, but then you might have to do this again if you chose the wrong part to replace.
Good luck, you'll find the problem.