Manual transmission won't go into any gear

[eurosurplus]

As the title say's i can't it get into any gear. I can only get to any gears if the engine is shut off. The audi will move if i shift into first gear, then press the clutch pedal and start the engine but as soon as the engine have started i can't get into second gear up to 5th gear. The clutch pedal can still be depressed and upon release it will return into original position. Help !

[dumpedb5]

Slave cylinder. Try bleeding your clutch first and see what that does.

[eurosurplus]

Slave cylinder. Try bleeding your clutch first and see what that does.

I can smell a burn clutch. Before I start the engine, I depress the clutch pedal, I shift into the first gear, when i started the engine, even if i haven't release yet the clutch pedal, the car is moving. Do I need a new clutch?

[nick17]

hopefully its the slave cylinder, but my car did the something very similar a few months ago and the pressure plate was in 4 pieces when the shop removed it. You could put it in any gear with the car off, and the clutch still functioned in whatever gear you were in but you could not change gears.

[M-Hood]

It can be a few things.

Start off by trying to bleed the slave a few times with a power bleeder. If that doesn't work it could be an issue of the top of the TOB snapping off causing the PP not to push down enough to release the disk. You can try making a slave rod that is about 1/8-1/4 inch longer to see if it does release. If it doesn't then something on the clutch is broken not allowing the disk to release.

The 228mm pressure plates are known to crack, I have cracked 2 of them myself. This is not an issue with the 240mm clutch kits since they tend to use a much tighter grain iron for the pressure plate.

[dumpedb5]

Just happened to me last night. Went to Matrix integrated and they said they have seen the problem before and it ended up being something in the clutch. So you just need to buy a new clutch.

[melomandn]

Old thread, but I'm having this same exact problem. This morning it was only 1st 2nd and reverse giving me problems, now its every gear though. The thing is though I replaced by clutch/pressure plate/flywheel and TOB all about 500 miles ago as well as bleeding the slave, any one have any idea whats going on?

[walky_talky20]

So the only way to get the car moving is to start in gear? And once you start it, the car is already moving forward even before you release the clutch?

If that is the case, there are only a couple different possible causes.
1) The slave cylinder is not engaging far enough. This can be due to the slave leaking off the hydraulic pressure internally, air in the line, not enough fluid (a leak), the master leaking off the pressure internally, or the slave being plain broken.
2) The slave is engaging plenty far, but the pressure plate is not releasing. This can be due to the pressure plate being broken, the clutch disc shredded and jamming up the works, the clutch disc welded itself to the flywheel, the throwout bearing is broken, or a problem with the release fork.

Obviously, if it is anything to do with item 1 it can generally be fixed as is. Anything to do with item 2 and you have to drop the transmission. Basically if it is a hydraulic problem, your golden. If it isn't, your screwed. Basically.

[Papa_Dios]

Text you......

[TConklin821]

Happened in my Miata all the time. The fluid was just low.

[melomandn]

The brake fluid or the tranny fluid? I should have mentioned that I replaced the clutch slave and master cylinder when I did my swap. And my brake fluid level is fine, I havent had a chance to bleed it yet and I'll be trying that today. As much as I'm praying its something small I dont have my hopes up and I have no desire of dropping that tranny again.

[danphines]

Brake fluid has absolutely nothing to do with your clutch.

[M-Hood]

Brake fluid has absolutely nothing to do with your clutch.

The clutch system uses the brake fluid from the same tank the brake system uses. So if the brake fluid is low the fluid for the clutch slave cylinder is low.