Wish I still had access to the old garage...I would love to build a hot rod out of a roadster...v-6 chevy turbo'd, stick, narrowed 12 bolt rearend...old style...lol

 

Fred's Lifetime Powertrain Warranty is looking better & better......

 

Ok I had my girlfriends dad drive the car he works at the ford dealership, he said it didnt feel like the transmission to him, but that if it is its only first gear going out, and I would only have to replace 1st gear not the entire transmission, and he said to avoid it I can just start in 2nd from now on. Sound like he knows what hes talking about?

 

Whatever the problem,(Clutch,trans,whatever,) Starting out in any gear than 1st will only ruin your clutch. Always start from stop in first gear, just a little less gas pedal if it makes noise.
Drove trucks with all kinds of Transmissions,including 10speed Road Ranger which actualy gave you 20 speeds in high gear,over 35 years. Drove most never using clutch to shift other than from a stop.

 

I have too, and am still driving. The gearing in the crossfire is such, that starting in 2nd is fine...and I doubt you ever started in low in most truck transmissions...granny gears at best, unless you had a heavy load. I have logged over 3 million miles, and rarely use 1st when empty...he'll be fine starting in 1st on these little light cars...and I doubt it is the clutch plates, still think he broke a spring on the clutch, rattling around...or something else altogther, or he would have be complaining about the smell, and slippage...good luck either way....

 

Never start out from stop in any gear higher than 1st, you will only ruin what is left of your clutch. You said it does well when you take off slowly in first gear, well, TAKE OF SLOWLY". But take off in 1st only.

 

My two cents. Second gear is no different than first in a 60s 3 speed. My guess is that the materials are even better today. Shouldn't hurt anything as long as done well.

 

NO on the starting with 2nd gear and no, you dont just get 1st gear fixed. Once that tranny is down, you are rebuilding the whole thing or throw a new one in there. That grindint noise comes from the pressure plate. Your clutch is shot.

do this real quick, as you are rolling at 40mph, put the car in 6t and floor it. Watch the RPM and see if it climbs pretty fast, faster than the speedo. or simply while rolling at 15-20mph, in second gear, hammer it and see if the RPM goes sky high while the car is not really accelerating. if that is the case, your clutch is fried.

 

I am amazed. You beat the the car to death and then you worry how much it is going to fix it. I guess I do not understand the value or return on investment in that but that is what makes money for the economy. It is called the multiplier effect of your dollars.

I agree with others that the clutch is going. You can expect to pay about $ 900 for parts plus tax and an additional $600 to 800 for labor. If you have to go into the tranny for synchros I would suggest doing them all while you have it apart.

 

Do you have room to take the car apart? If you don't have the money to pay someone, checking it out yourself is always an option.. and a learning experience. This way you can continue power shifting and do it again no problem.

 

C' mon now, dont try and tell four wheelers 1st gear in a car is like granny in a truck, you know thats BS. Granny gear is for starting out in bad weather with heavy load, 1st gear in a car is not . Im sorry, but I dont beleive in starting a car in any gear other than first, if you start in second, you will more than likely ride the clutch to get going, as when starting out in a truck with a heavy load and using higher gear.
This is just my opinion, BTW thought you were full time cop, now you drive trucks too____________WOW

 

You could have broken the flywheel, since its dual mass. Although I put mine though hell and havent had any flywheel issues (yet)
it is possible, you could have broken a spring or one of the indexing tabs. It would make more noise in first do the the high torque load, but not be noticeable in other gears

 

I hate to disagree with the GFD, but if you do have a tranny problem, then there's more than likely metal bits thrashing around inside the case eating away precious and salvageable parts ! For your own good and pocketbook, have this checked out and let us know what they find ....

Just my Dos Centavos !

 

I am sitting at the dealership right now posting this from my iPhone. I've been here for 2 hours and they haven't found anything yet. But they did say it dosent feel like it's the transmission.

 

Sitting there for 2 hours!!! Must be like waiting at a hospital with a loved one in surgery waiting for the doc to come out and give you the news.

 

well, what the dealer is gonna go on is the fluid in the transmission never has to be serviced, it has to be pumped in ala bmw style iirc

so they probably wont drain it. thats the first thing i always do. if it comes out looking like powdered silver, you've worn the synchros and sleeves down

 

clutch clutch clutch. Did you even try what i suggested to see if it was your clutch?

 

I did and it wasn't. They just got done and said all it is is a broken engine mount and will cost around $250.

 

Congrats, you got lucky. By the way, what is the highest speed that you have ever downshifted into first? What RPM level did you rev-match?

 

Dodged the bullet, but a broken motor mount would not cause a grinding noise that I can think of. Have them explain that to you .....