Tranny Problem!! please help, I know nothing..

1809 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Miatatude, Jun 6, 2002

Stro

Discussion Starter · May 28, 2002

I dont know ANYTHING about Standard Transmissions. THis is the first one ive owned in the 8 1/2 years ive been driving..

I also dont mean to be turning into a post whore. But all of a sudden everything seems to be going wrong at once. Im getting sort of nervous. So if anybody has some good advice...please help

K. this is how it goes. All of a sudden today, I was driving around town running errands. I burnt my clutch 3 times today(that stinks bad, never did it before) I called my father and he said it was because I was riding the clutch. But ive been driving this car for over half a year. Doing very fine at that, and never did this before. Maybe I just was really tired and didnt notice I was riding the clutch so bad.

Anyway, back on topic. Since then. My tranny has been acting funny. Whenever I gear up, after I engage the clutch and release it, it takes awhile for the transmission to respond.more so than before. It lags so to speak. I dont know if these incidents would be related. I was also told by somebody that my fluid might be low, which would be the cause of both problems.

On that note, how do you check Tranny fluid in a 93lx standard?

Thanks in advance to anyone with good advice. I dont wanna loose my car, and if my tranny goes, I might as well dump it( most likely....) unless I can find a good cheap used one(not too used...) I WAS thinking about a new Protege 5. But I was hoping to get a couple more years out of this baby at least. And even if I do buy the protege 5, I still want my scort so I can baby it.

Thanks

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Dustin

· #2 · May 28, 2002

To start with, it doesn´t sound like there is anything wrong with your transmission. Most likely your clutch is slipping. This is because the clutch disk has worn out and the preasure plate can not apply enough preasure to it.

Your transmission fluid level will not cause any problems like this on a manual transmission, but if you do want to check it, you need to jack up your car and safely support it. Try to get the car as level as possible. After you have done this, crawl under it. Between the transmission and the firewall you will see a cable running into your tranny. This is your speedometer cable. To check the fluid level you need to unbolt the bracket that holds it into your tranny with a 10mm wrench. Pull it out. The gear on the end of the cable should be cover with oil just to the top. If it is low add an appropiate amount of dextron atf. (escorts use auto tranny fluid in their manual tranny too.) Doing this is a really big hassle, and i wouldn´t worry about it, if you get your clutch changed by a shop, they will have to drain the transmission anyways.

Back to the clutch... If you arn´t very mechanically inclined, take it to a transmssion shop and get an estemate. I would guess it would prob cost somewhere between $300-600 USD. Depending on who you take it to and what clutch you get. (ford vs. aftermarket)

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limpscorter

· #3 · May 28, 2002

i agree, its most likely your clutch is slipping from being worn out.

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Stro

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 28, 2002

At what point should I become very concerned if this is indeed the problem?

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Stro

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 31, 2002

Ive been told by a few that my master cylinder may be to blame..

Just a thought...

Peace

Wes

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RedRocket

· #6 · May 31, 2002

Master cylinder, no. That´s a brake part. Slave cylinder maybe. That´s what acts as the reservoir for the clutch hydraulic fluid.

In my experiences driving manual though, you are describing the good old burnt clutch. Get a good tranny shop or a good Ford dealer (not Crappy Tire) and have them put on a good brand clutch. Ram, Centerforce, Zoom and the original Ford ones all come time mind. Should be able to replace for about $600 (200 parts + whatever labour).

In all my years I´ve driving, I´ve replaced two, both from too many smokey burnouts with my other red beast, my 1984 Mustang GT (5.0 5-speed). You want to smell burnt clutch?Try a 3000 rpm clutch dump in the middle of July on sticky tires!

Hope this helps,

Ryan

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Stro

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 31, 2002

isnt there a master cylinder for the clutch hydraulic fluid also? ill take your guys word for it though, I dont know jack..

But, ya, I figured it would be the clutch, which is bad news cuz I am REALLY not financially secure enought for that right now.

If you got a used clutch at the scrap yard, would a good tranny shop be able to tell you if its good? Or is that even worth it?

Thanx

Wes

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Dustin

· #8 · Jun 4, 2002

In most any hydrolic system on your car, there is a resevoir, a master cylinder, and a slave cylinder. On Escorts there is one two piece brake master cylinder. (half powers your front left and right rear brakes, and half powers your front right and left rear brakes. The calipers and drums are the slave cylinders. The clutch uses a single piece master cylinder and a single piece slave cylinder. There is one resevior for the whole system located on top of the brake master cylinder. It is devided into three sections on the bottom half to prevent the whole system from loosing fluid if only one sections fail.

The clutch slave cylinder will very rarly if never cause the clutch to slip. If it does fail it can cause the clutch not to disengage, making it hard or impossible to shift.

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Miatatude

· #9 · Jun 6, 2002

The clutch and pilot bearing are relatively cheap. The labor is what costs the $.

Getting a used clutch is really a waste of time.

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