Possible tranny problem

[SuperSubie]

I have a 98 obs. I was driving down the road and as I went from 4th to 5th and let the clutch out the car didn't go into gear. I tried to go back to 4th with no results. I tried every gear and they all act like neutral. I got it towed home and put it in the garage. The clutch is fine and the car goes into all the gears fine. The only problem I can see would be the tranny. I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced a problem like this. Any feedback would be great, thanks.

 

[Chris]

It's really odd for a 5speed to lose all the gears. It's one of two things. Either the shift linkage is completely broken. But you said you can find all the gears.

So that leaves total clutch failure. Sounds like all the friction material came off the clutch or something.

I don't know how you diagnosed that the clutch is good, but it's definitely almost certainly a completely failed clutch. Just because the pedal goes in and out doesn't mean the clutch is good, the car won't move. So my diagnosis is that it's bad.

 

[Matt]

We just had this issue with a car at prime. Goes into gear fine but won't move. Once we got it apart we found that one side of the clutch disc was gone. This thing only had 60k on it. Time to pull the trans and inspect

 

[CoupedUpSubie]

Would there be a strong odor with that? This is actually my cousin, the linkage is good. No odor, no noises when running.

 

[Chris]

The clutch disc probably let go, and when you pushed the clutch in all the friction material just flew off. So it's basically like there's no clutch disc installed.

 

[SuperSubie]

Alright, looks like it's time to take the tranny out then. I'll post again when it gets diagnosed. Thanks for the help

 

[Chris]

Alright, looks like it's time to take the tranny out then. I'll post again when it gets diagnosed. Thanks for the help

If you're doing this not on a lift, pull the engine.

 

[CoupedUpSubie]

Engine is on its way out... it will soon be known the cause of no movement

 

[SuperSubie]

We pulled the engine today and you guys were right, clutch was toast. Also found a ripped cv boot and decided since the engine is out and needs a reseal we're doing that as well. Time to get parts tomorrow

 

[2point5RS_Dan]

A clutch is cheaper and easier to find than a gearbox. You just go on rockauto/amazon or go to crapa or something. VS gearbox you have to deal with finding one, negotiating a price, and praying it works.

 

[i-wagon]

Or an auto and changing valve bodies and crap like I'm doing today. glad it was relatively simple for you

 

[Chris]

If you guys end up needing a hand, give me a holler. I'm only 20 minutes away. I have all kinds of spare parts and random tools.

 

[Matt]

Nice clutch!!!

 

[SuperSubie]

Well it's all done, a few hang ups here and there but all in all it went well. Thanks again for the help you guys