no power to driveshaft

[jrobie79]

So I was driving along the other day and all of sudden the engine RPM's jumped a shitload, stepped on the clutch, went to a lower gear, same deal, car goes nowhere.

So I jacked up the rear wheels, turned the car on, put it in first and let go of the clutch....wheels dont spin, driveshaft doesnt even turn. Guibo is still intact so the D/S is still attached to the output shaft on tranny. I put the car in first gear with the engine off, and I can spin the driveshaft by hand (doesnt seem right does it? - spinning driveshaft in gear)

I was thinking maybe the slave cylinder was blown and causing the clutch to be permanently dis-engaged from the engine...

any other suggestions?

btw. m42 with open diff

[jlevie]

You can spin the drive shaft with the wheels on the ground? That would indicate a problem in the differential, failure of one or both half shafts or a failure of the drive shaft (but that should be obvious). But if the drive shaft doesn't spin with the transmission in any gear and the clutch engaged, I say the clutch is failing to engage, the transmission isn't going into gear, or the input shaft of the transmission is broken. It would be a weird coincidence to have a simultaneous clutch and differential failure.

[jrobie79]

Yes, its all very confusing to me. It shifts into any gear without pressing the clutch pedal while the engine in running just as easy as it would if I were pressing the clutch pedal. So i put the 2 rear wheels on the ground and shut the car off and I could spin the driveshaft by hand with the car in first gear... clutch was replaced 30-40K ago, with a complete kit, reground flywheel, new guibo, etc....slave and master cylinder were not changed however.

[Teaguer]

My money's on a shift linkage issue. Meaning trans is still in neutral.

[jrobie79]

everything looked as it should from underneath, how would I go about inspecting that?

[Teaguer]

everything looked as it should from underneath, how would I go about inspecting that?

Does the shifter feel as it should when you go through the gears?
Try looking at the linkage from underneath as a helper goes through the gears from above. See if the shift coupler is moving in unison with the linkage and shifter.

[jrobie79]

everything seemed exactly the way it should if I were stepping on the clutch, it even makes the same sounds just this time I didnt have to step on the clutch to cylce through the gears, I will check that again when I get home

[jlevie]

Well, if the clutch isn't engaging, you would be able to shift without depressing the clutch pedal.

[jrobie79]

thats what I've figured from the diagnosis I can see/feel, Im gonna check the slave cylinder and see if that yields anything, its probably the easiet to check at first anyways

[Unearth078]

thats what I've figured from the diagnosis I can see/feel, Im gonna check the slave cylinder and see if that yields anything, its probably the easiet to check at first anyways

if your master or slave cylinder failed (normally) you would be stuck in gear until forcing it out. this woud not be the cause of you to rev out of nowhere.

teaguer seems to be sniffing up the right tree from personal experience. why your gear would pop out and then shift linkage would fail is beyond me though. is your shifter extremely sloppy or alot of play vertically or horizontally?

[jlevie]

thats what I've figured from the diagnosis I can see/feel, Im gonna check the slave cylinder and see if that yields anything, its probably the easiet to check at first anyways

A failure of the clutch hydraulics is going to cause the clutch to fail to disengage, which is the opposite of the problem you have. Something more serious is going on here.

[jrobie79]

ok well I'm an idiot, I had one wheel up in the air when I turned the driveshaft by hand...so we can eliminate the differential from the equation...I edited the original post. I just pulled the boot and had my dad shift and it sounds like its going into gear, he said it felt a little stiff to him to shift tho (without depressing the clutch) however you can shift into all 5 gears and not go anywhere with the car running.....so I'm thinking its the clutch at this point, or the input shaft into the tranny got foosed

[Unearth078]

well, if the clutch was bad i dont think you would still be able to turn it by hand.. cant think of what would really go bad inside the trans. broken forks?

[jrobie79]

yeah i dont think its the slave cylinder, took it off, seemed to work fine, and it the tranny is still "disconnected" from the engine....driveshaft moves by hand, Im guessing its something wrong with the tranny/clutch assembly......gonna take the tranny out tomorrow and diagnose

anyone got a getrag 240 near boston??

[MR 325]

Do you feel like your clutch was pretty worn out before this happened?

I have seen a clutch SO BLOWN that you could go through every gear and the car wouldn't move an inch.

It's either going to be a clutch or something went wrong inside the trans. My bet is clutch.