Hi all, new owner here.

My vantage has started to grind 2nd and 1st gear, even when the clutch is fully depressed.

It's strange, i'm pushing the clutch ALL THE WAY IN, try to shift to 2nd and it grinds. it doesn't happen all the time, and only when the car is cold. The solution is to shift to 3rd, then try again and shift to 2nd.

Some additional information: The clutch currently starts engaging right away as i start letting off the clutch, but it didn't use to be this way, not too long ago the engagement point was WAAAAY up high, later on it (seemingly on it's own) changed to where the engagement point was more mid-way through the travel, and now that i serviced it and had the trans-axle fluid change it started engaging right away.

Any ideas?, car has about 27k miles and it's a 2012

 

Do you feel actual grinding or is it just a harsh engagement? What fluid was used when you serviced the trans-axle? Has anyone one else been driving the car that may have abused the clutch more than normal?

 

IMHO The clutch system should be bled before you do anything else

 

It is actual grinding.

I'm afraid the problem *may* have started one time i was driving, and i downshifted to 1st (hopefully not reverse but who knows) and the car stalled abruptly and was not happy about it. I'm not sure what i did really, it happened fast, it was at low speed just before a stop sign.

The weirdness of how the clutch engagement point has been changing is prior to the situation i just described though.

 

I have similar problem as you when I go from 1st to 2nd (only when car is cold like first driving in morning). So instead of shifting quickly straight from 1st into 2nd, I would pause slightly (like for half a second or so) in Neutral (between 1st and 2nd) before continue shifting into 2nd gear. This seems to solve my gear grinding problem. Once car and gears are properly warm up then shifting from 1st to 2nd is smooth and no grinding at all. BTW, this problem of grinding gears while cold shifting from 1st into 2in also existed in all my previous manual transmission cars.


As far as clutch engagement point issue, I think mine is also temperature related. Such as when the gears are cold, clutch engagement point is fairly high (at near full release). But once car and gears are warm then the clutch engagement point becomes a bit lower (closer to fully-depressed position).


Car is 2014 with 9K miles.



I think that stalling at low speed was a separate issue which has happened to many of us here. Do a search and you'll see.

 

it sounds to me like there's a problem with either clutch fluid or the clutch fork pivot ball.

low fluid in your clutch hydraulics: there should be a clutch master cylinder under the hood near the brake master cylinder where you can check the fluid level - quickly - if you can't physically see it through a sight window in the master cylinder. i say quickly because most clutches use brake fluid, and there are only one or two brake fluids which are not hydrophyllic - they absorb moisture out of the environment. this entrained water will obviously have a much lower boiling (expansion) point than brake fluid and thus could be altering the engagement / disengagement point if the fluid is already contaminated. while you're looking at the clutch master cylinder, i'd check to make sure the cap is properly sealed, and sealed tightly.

the clutch fork pivot ball: ok, i'm sure 99% of us understand how a clutch works and is mechanically configured in the bellhousing, so this'll be for the 1% who don't. the clutch is disengaged by depressing the pedal, which presses on the master cylinder on the firewall, which pressurizes a line, which pressurizes a slave cylinder on the bellhousing, which presses on a ram, which presses on one side of the clutch fork, which presses on the pressure plate, which removes tension from the clutch plates and allows them to disengage. the possible confound is at the OTHER side of the clutch fork, which rests on a ball that's usually just a bolt with a funky-shaped head and screwed into the other side of the bellhousing. sometimes, and i've seen this several times on aftermarket (usually multi-disk where stock application is single-disk), the pivot ball backs out of the bellhousing probably due to improper torque at some point during the install process. typical fix is firstly, determine that it's not another problem which can be fixed without yanking the transmission. once it's definitely the pivot ball by eliminating ALL other options, yank the trans and loctite the crap outta that little sucker. i try to squeeze a thin lockwasher behind it as well if there's enough clearance.

yes, this is a ridiculous amount of shop time for what amounts to either flushing and bleeding the clutch or installing probably three cents' worth of loctite and a washer. but the alternative of the clutch failing to disengage and planting the car into a pole (or worse: a min -urk- minivan... just threw up in my mouth a bit.)

hope this helps.

 

There's no clutch fork or pivot ball on this set up.

As suggested by embdenb, check and possibly flush the clutch fluid line. Also recommend using BOT270A fluid in the trans if you haven't already. Incorrect trans fluid can cause 1-2 shift problems.

 

I would like to check the fluid, but i don't know where this 'master cylinder' is. Could anyone point me in the right direction?, what does it look like? and whereabouts under the hood is it?.

Thanks!

 

@timodc, good catch. i mistakenly made the assumption the clutch worked like, well, every manual trans i've had the (mis)fortune of having to yank and service.

i dug up this schematic of a DB7 Vantage manual and, my god, i'm glad i've never had to pull one. looks like the hydraulics go directly to the throwout bearing to pressurize it and release the clutch.

http://www.scuderiacarparts.com/diag...656-23794.html

 

PM sent

 

When my clutch failed, it was a (somewhat) similar signature, but I couldn't even shift gears, except into 3rd), unless the engine was off (then no problem to shift). It ended up being a broken pivot ring, which is inside the pressure plate (the clutch fingers pivot on the ring - when it snapped, it wouldn't allow the clutch to disengage completely).

I replaced the clutch, pressure plate, and release bearing/cylinder, and all is well.

I would start though with bleeding the clutch - can't hurt, and may be the solution.

 

Still hoping to find someone who can point me in the right direction regarding where to check the clutch fluid.

Thanks!

 

J_portland- check your private messages. Sent you one last week.

 

Have a look at the Redpants site - he has a DIY for this.

The clutch bleed nipple is under the car, right beside the bellhousing.

http://www.redpants.lol/brake-and-clutch-fluid-flush/

 

I would bleed your clutch line first based on the info provided. It is super easy to do if you have a pressure bleeder (you can fill it with fluid and pressurize to 15lbs. This makes it a 1 man job). I just did the procedure a month or so back using a MOTIVE 0100 Bleeder off Amazon. While you are in there you might want to do the brake lines too if it has not been done.

Repants also had a good write up; including a YouTube video as others have mentioned