Can't shift into 1st, 3rd, or reverse. Please help!

[ilovelucy]

This is a first post for me, I'm very appreciate for this kind of community forum! I recently bought a 19992 3000GT VR-4 from a friend about 10 months ago. 69,000 miles. Recently got rebuilt heads, complete with valves, rockets, etc. put inside of it to replace the old heads; they had bad valves so I just went ahead and did the whole thing. It was running fine for two weeks, but I noticed some weird clutch action going on soon after. After driving for 10 minutes or more at highway speeds (~ 70mph) the clutch losses most pressure. It's as if there is little to no resistance. After I punch in the clutch a second time, sometimes it takes three tries, the pressure is restored and everything is fine. I broke down the next day on a major highway. There was tons of stop and go traffic, lot of clutching into 1st and back out. After 30 minutes of driving through this intense traffic, the clutch lost pressure completely, no amount of pressing it was bringing back the pressure. I was able to take the cap off a clutch cylinder (I think that's what it is, pictures attached) and pressed the clutch in with the cap off. The level of the fluid rose momentarily when I did this. I put the cap back on, turned the car on, and the clutch pressure came back, I was able to take off and use all gears properly.

Fast forward a couple weeks to yesterday when a different problem happened. In the middle of driving after about 25 minutes, I was stopped at a light. Light turned green, tried to shift into first and noticed the gear didn't catch, gassing the car only made RPMs go up with no power to the wheels. Tried it again, same thing. Luckily, my car can take off in 2nd gear from standstill so I did that, in which I noticed 2nd gear DID work, but 1st did not. After some acceleration, tried shifting into third, same issue like with 1st: It kind of goes into it's spot to be in gear, but not quite. There is no grinding synchro sound. So basically, 1st and 3rd don't work, the shifter kind of goes where it's supposed to, but just doesn't go far enough to engage that gear. 2nd and 4th work, however. Then when I parked, I noticed reverse gear doesn't catch either.

I did some googling and heard that it could be either the master/slave clutch cylinder. I checked the fluids, they are real old looking and dark; not the way I know it's supposed to look. It has looked like this since the first time I popped the cap off when my car broke down on the highway two weeks prior. I know it needs to be bled and changed. But I also read that it could be that something went bad with some kind of linkage under my shifter. This morning I tried to move it, reverse still didn't work so I had to push it. But 1st did work. I could tell that 3rd gear still wasn't catching.

I have intermediate automobile experience but I feel like a fairly intelligent person who could figure things out if someone could point me in the right direction. I am here asking for this community's opinions and possible troubleshooting instructions. Thank you so much for your time and effort!

[TLVDoghouse]

This is a first post for me, I'm very appreciate for this kind of community forum! I recently bought a 19992 3000GT VR-4 from a friend about 10 months ago. 69,000 miles. Recently got rebuilt heads, complete with valves, rockets, etc. put inside of it to replace the old heads; they had bad valves so I just went ahead and did the whole thing. It was running fine for two weeks, but I noticed some weird clutch action going on soon after. After driving for 10 minutes or more at highway speeds (~ 70mph) the clutch losses most pressure. It's as if there is little to no resistance. After I punch in the clutch a second time, sometimes it takes three tries, the pressure is restored and everything is fine. I broke down the next day on a major highway. There was tons of stop and go traffic, lot of clutching into 1st and back out. After 30 minutes of driving through this intense traffic, the clutch lost pressure completely, no amount of pressing it was bringing back the pressure. I was able to take the cap off a clutch cylinder (I think that's what it is, pictures attached) and pressed the clutch in with the cap off. The level of the fluid rose momentarily when I did this. I put the cap back on, turned the car on, and the clutch pressure came back, I was able to take off and use all gears properly.

Fast forward a couple weeks to yesterday when a different problem happened. In the middle of driving after about 25 minutes, I was stopped at a light. Light turned green, tried to shift into first and noticed the gear didn't catch, gassing the car only made RPMs go up with no power to the wheels. Tried it again, same thing. Luckily, my car can take off in 2nd gear from standstill so I did that, in which I noticed 2nd gear DID work, but 1st did not. After some acceleration, tried shifting into third, same issue like with 1st: It kind of goes into it's spot to be in gear, but not quite. There is no grinding synchro sound. So basically, 1st and 3rd don't work, the shifter kind of goes where it's supposed to, but just doesn't go far enough to engage that gear. 2nd and 4th work, however. Then when I parked, I noticed reverse gear doesn't catch either.

I did some googling and heard that it could be either the master/slave clutch cylinder. I checked the fluids, they are real old looking and dark; not the way I know it's supposed to look. It has looked like this since the first time I popped the cap off when my car broke down on the highway two weeks prior. I know it needs to be bled and changed. But I also read that it could be that something went bad with some kind of linkage under my shifter. This morning I tried to move it, reverse still didn't work so I had to push it. But 1st did work. I could tell that 3rd gear still wasn't catching.

I have intermediate automobile experience but I feel like a fairly intelligent person who could figure things out if someone could point me in the right direction. I am here asking for this community's opinions and possible troubleshooting instructions. Thank you so much for your time and effort!

Where in TX?


there's nothing wrong with being in the doghouse

[ilovelucy]

Austin, Texas!

[TLVDoghouse]

If fluid is brown, flush and bleed. If black, start thinking cylinders with failed seals. Might want to check hose near slave. But for now, do the bleed. I had similar when I upgraded clutch. Opted to replace everything.

there's nothing wrong with being in the doghouse

[RealMcCoy]

Have you checked for something blocking the shift linkage at the trans? Pretty common complaint right after repairs... Lot's of stuff in that area that can be dislodged and get in the way.

[ilovelucy]

Have you checked for something blocking the shift linkage at the trans? Pretty common complaint right after repairs... Lot's of stuff in that area that can be dislodged and get in the way.

See, that was the other thing I had heard to check through the forums. I'm gonna move it to a suitable place where I can work on it, and just take a look. I know I'm going to have to change the clutch fluid anyway, but for some reason I think that the issue with my shifter is related to the linkages on the transmission and under my shifter. I don't know a whole lot about any of that, but I reckon I can figure out by googling and asking you all questions!

[ilovelucy]

Solution: Bracket that holds shifter linkages to the top of the transmission had both bolts missing so there was absolutely no stability. Hahaha, I can't believe it was shifting at all! Thank you everybody for the help