Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) 6-speed intermittently won't go into gear

[Gordon Maney]

My 2001 with 6 speed has, since new, intermittently had a problem in going into gear from neutral. It has gotten gradually worse, and now, at about 30,000 miles, it has done it so bad that I could not get into any gear but reverse, and it would grind going into that, and even repeatedly, all the while the clutch was held to the floor.



So, either pilot bearing or hydraulic clutch circuit has been my thought. The dealer has the transmission out as of yesterday. The pilot bearing looks perfect, and still has grease in it. The clutch parts look fine, but that, of course says nothing about the slave cylinder and related hydraulic circuit.



What they say they are going to do now is take the transmission apart, which I think has no purpose, since the noises this thing makes indicate the input shaft of the transmission is turning when this intermittent symptom occurs. The maddening part is that it is intermittent.



It never does it when cold, only when hot, and then only when having been run in city, stop and go traffic.



My best guess is that there is something going on with the group of parts made up of the clutch master, the lines, and the slave, all of which are affected by... . what... . underhood temperature?



Any thoughts on this? Thanks, as I am running out of warranty, and I would like very much to get this fixed on Chrysler's dime, particularly since it began during the first month I had the truck.

 

[South Bend Clutch]

BINGO!



I think you are right, it is the hydraulics. They are waisting their time in the transmission.



Peter

 

[NVR FNSH]

Is there any way to test the hydraulic clutch system to determine if there is an internal leak? Something like the travel distance on the slave cylinder?



The mainshaft was replaced in my 6spd at ~34k and then the entire trans was replaced at ~36k - still does the same thing. It's never been so bad that it won't go into gear but there is a definite 'catch' that drives me nuts.



Brian

 

[Diesel Freak]

Try putting the transmission in 5th first and dragging the clutch a bit. The transmission should then go right in to first or seccond.

 

[fredflinstone]

I would deffinately agree that your problem is a hydrolic failure. I had the same thing happening in my trans-am shortly after I rebuilt the trannsmission. I had origionaly thought it to be the clutch itself since it was new but found that in my case the problem was the clutch master cylinder. It would only really cause problems when it was warm out or I had been driving long enough to warm everything up, this would cause the shifting to be very notchy and make it hard to get into gear from a stop. I would personaly insist that they look at the master and slave cylinders in your truck I'm sure thats where you problem lies, and if I'm not mistaken I believe I've heard of others having problems with the hydrolics in the 6 spd trucks like our's. Good luck Seth