2009 base model. V6 manual trans.
So, I started noticing some grinding of gears (all gears. Shifting up) when I shift. If I shift slowly, there is no grind. It just takes a brief pause after I shift out of a gear before I shift into the next gear, and then there is no grind. So, I came to my own conclusion that the clutch master cylinder was bad. Put a new one in. I borrowed a vacuum pump from Auto Zone and bled the system. After that, for the first 15 minutes of driving there was no grind. After 15 minutes, it went right back to the exact same issue. I bled it multiple times and the same thing continued to occur. 15 minutes of good driving, then back to grind grind grind. I tried talking to a guy at a transmission shop (I was up there getting a trans part for my lakester that I race at the Bonneville Salt Flats). I asked if he’d take my car for a drive and give me his professional opinion. He kinda blew me off and said “it’s the clutch”, simply based on the symptoms I reported. Now, the clutch is original and has 164,000 miles on it. Yes. 164,000. But the clutch isn’t slipping at all. This car has been VERY well maintained since it was brand new and it has been driven very lightly. Never abused. I’ve never even spun the tires. I don’t want to shell out $1,000 to get a clutch replaced before I’m sure it’s the clutch. Is it possible that the slave cylinder is bad and causing this issue? Did I screw up the bleeding process after installing the new clutch master cylinder? Sorry for the long-winded post. Your help would be enormously appreciated. Thanks!
So, I started noticing some grinding of gears (all gears. Shifting up) when I shift. If I shift slowly, there is no grind. It just takes a brief pause after I shift out of a gear before I shift into the next gear, and then there is no grind. So, I came to my own conclusion that the clutch master cylinder was bad. Put a new one in. I borrowed a vacuum pump from Auto Zone and bled the system. After that, for the first 15 minutes of driving there was no grind. After 15 minutes, it went right back to the exact same issue. I bled it multiple times and the same thing continued to occur. 15 minutes of good driving, then back to grind grind grind. I tried talking to a guy at a transmission shop (I was up there getting a trans part for my lakester that I race at the Bonneville Salt Flats). I asked if he’d take my car for a drive and give me his professional opinion. He kinda blew me off and said “it’s the clutch”, simply based on the symptoms I reported. Now, the clutch is original and has 164,000 miles on it. Yes. 164,000. But the clutch isn’t slipping at all. This car has been VERY well maintained since it was brand new and it has been driven very lightly. Never abused. I’ve never even spun the tires. I don’t want to shell out $1,000 to get a clutch replaced before I’m sure it’s the clutch. Is it possible that the slave cylinder is bad and causing this issue? Did I screw up the bleeding process after installing the new clutch master cylinder? Sorry for the long-winded post. Your help would be enormously appreciated. Thanks!