Results 1 to 14 of 14
  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    New Mexico
    Posts
    33

    Black
    2001 Trans AM WS6

    Hard Getting Into All Gears

    I was hoping I could get some help and opinions please. Ok, so a couple of weeks after I bought my 01 WS6, which was not too long ago, I noticed that getting into reverse was hard, not too hard, but hard. Well about 4 days ago, getting into reverse got really really hard. I didn't think much of it since I don't use reverse too often. However, 2 days ago, I jumped into my car, which is my daily driver, and was shocked to see that getting into 1st was now very hard too. I basically have to slam it into first gear. Same goes for 2nd, 3rd 4th and 5th, haven't tried 6th though. Now this is where it gets weird. After driving around for some time, it goes back to normal. Shifting is easy again, and if I turn off the car and get back in and turn it back on in less than a couple of hours, it stays normal. If I over 2 hours go by, it goes back to being really hard to get into gear. I have been doing searches on google and here on the site and from what I have found it sounds like a synchro problem, but the people that had synchro problems had problems with only some not all gears, and it was always hard to shift. In my case it's only hard to shift when the car has been sitting still for over 2 hours, which is what is making this so hard for me to figure out. Has anybody had or heard of this issue? What do I need to do? How much will it be and where do I get the parts? Any advice will be much appreciated. Thank you everybody.

  2. #2
    Veteran 35th-ANV-SS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Wherever life takes me
    Posts
    12,526

    Red
    02 35th LE Camaro SS

    I would start by checking your hydraulic fluid level and seeing if it is low or dirty. The reservoir is on the driver's side, near the firewall. Since you're having an issue with all gears, it sounds clutch related and not transmission related.

    If you are low on fluid, most likely you have a leak which generally means faulty master cylinder or slave cylinder.

  3. #3
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    New Mexico
    Posts
    33

    Black
    2001 Trans AM WS6

    Quote Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS View Post
    I would start by checking your hydraulic fluid level and seeing if it is low or dirty. The reservoir is on the driver's side, near the firewall. Since you're having an issue with all gears, it sounds clutch related and not transmission related.

    If you are low on fluid, most likely you have a leak which generally means faulty master cylinder or slave cylinder.

    Thank you for the quick reply on this one, I really appreciate it. So I just went out to my car, im at work right now, and noticed a small leak. Because I'm at work right not I can't really check to see exactly what is leaking and stuff right now, but as soon as I get out of here I'm going home and jacking up my car to check it out. Do you think the leak is related?

    Thank you.

  4. #4
    Veteran 35th-ANV-SS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Wherever life takes me
    Posts
    12,526

    Red
    02 35th LE Camaro SS

    It's possible. You could very well have an oil leak though. I would check the level in the reservoir. Depending on how many miles you have on your hydraulic clutch fluid, it probably needs to be changed. It should be a honey color. It it's black, it's dirty.

    If it's your slave cylinder leaking, you will need to drop the transmission to access it/replace it.

    The master cylinder is in the engine bay, driver's side. Kind of hard to access it.

    FYI - the stock hydraulic system in these cars sucks...

  5. #5
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    New Mexico
    Posts
    33

    Black
    2001 Trans AM WS6

    Ok, I will check it out after work and let you know what I find. Thank you very much for your help with this.

  6. #6
    Veteran 35th-ANV-SS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Wherever life takes me
    Posts
    12,526

    Red
    02 35th LE Camaro SS

    Has your clutch pedal ever stuck to the floor at all?

  7. #7
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    New Mexico
    Posts
    33

    Black
    2001 Trans AM WS6

    Quote Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS View Post
    Has your clutch pedal ever stuck to the floor at all?
    No I haven't had any problems with the clutch pedal at all.

  8. #8
    Veteran 35th-ANV-SS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Wherever life takes me
    Posts
    12,526

    Red
    02 35th LE Camaro SS

    Well if it was 1 particular gear that you had trouble getting into and there was grinding happening, I would suspect synchronizer keys were damaged, which are internal to the transmission. However, this doesn't sound like that....at least not to me. I've been known to be wrong a few times in my life though

  9. #9
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    New Mexico
    Posts
    33

    Black
    2001 Trans AM WS6

    Good morning all. So last night I went ahead and changed the transmission fluid, it was pretty dirty. This morning while driving to work I had the same issue I have been having, it was hard getting into gear. I'm glad I changed the fluid as it's probably a good thing to do once in a while, but what should I check next? I am starting to think it's clutch related. What exactly could be the issue?

    Thank you everybody.

  10. #10
    Veteran 35th-ANV-SS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Wherever life takes me
    Posts
    12,526

    Red
    02 35th LE Camaro SS

    I would change the "clutch fluid"

  11. #11
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    New Mexico
    Posts
    33

    Black
    2001 Trans AM WS6

    Quote Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS View Post
    I would change the "clutch fluid"
    Ok cool, I have been searching to see how to do it but I haven't been able to find out how to do it or what I will need. Do you have any links?

    Thank you again for all your help with this, I appreciate it.

  12. #12
    Veteran 35th-ANV-SS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Wherever life takes me
    Posts
    12,526

    Red
    02 35th LE Camaro SS

    If you go to the manual transmission main page, there are what is called "stickies" at the top portion. Here is one of them: http://www.ls1.com/forums/f65/how-bl...ty-vac-124254/

  13. #13
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    New Mexico
    Posts
    33

    Black
    2001 Trans AM WS6

    Finally figured it out!!! It's a leaking Slave Cylinder. So I refilled the brake fluid in the reserve and it works perfect :-) Here is my question though, any suggestions as to how to fix the Slave cyclinder? Again any help is appreciated.

  14. #14
    Veteran 35th-ANV-SS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Wherever life takes me
    Posts
    12,526

    Red
    02 35th LE Camaro SS

    If your slave is leaking, it's bad and needs to be replaced. You have to drop the transmission to access the slave cylinder. Replace with a stock GM model.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Help: about to change my plastic gears for brass gears
    By edrvsqz1980 in forum General Help
    Replies: 17
    Last Post: 07-18-2009, 05:09 PM
  2. Hard noise when shifting gears
    By DesertRat in forum Drivetrain
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 05-26-2009, 06:23 PM
  3. hard to engage gears?
    By eiyse98ls1 in forum Manual Transmission
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 08-02-2007, 03:36 PM
  4. hard to get into any gears, then...
    By ivan1 in forum Manual Transmission
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 06-21-2007, 07:53 PM
  5. 3:73 gears, 3:42 gears, clutch, flywheel, plug wires
    By ls1hater in forum Parts For Sale / Trade
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 08-16-2005, 06:15 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •