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So it seems I'm a regular here now that I decided to buy and rebuild a salvage cobalt. With 180,000 mi on it. But I have a 2009 Cobalt SS LNF. I have recently been doing some minor upgrades to make it stage one. Everything has been going fine. Car running good. Some minor issues but just think I needed a tune. Anyway, so I went to drive the car last night. After I had put a new Forge BPV solenoid on. And it ran great. Made sure to get it hot and drive it around. Parked it. Less than an hour later went to go drive the car and shifted in reverse hard. Then I couldn't get it to go into any gears. I barely limped it back to my parking spot. Tried doing an A BA. Wasn't the BPV valve. Which I didn't think it would be. But my car will not go into gear now. But it shifts just fine when the engine's not started and I depressed the clutch. my clutch seemed fine. I didn't notice it going out or anything. I don't think it's the whole clutch. What's my problem? Thanks in advance.
Shifter cables maybe. I would inspect those first.
Okay. What's the best way to do this? I'm assuming jacking the car up and getting under there but I'm not really sure where they are or anything. Also would it still be able to shift with back shifter cables?
I'd check roll pins first, they're a common thing to fail on cars that have high miles and that have been beat on.
The cable connections will be right on top of the transmission. The roll pins hold the bronze/gold colored shifter arms onto the transmission; they're the little black dots you see near the bottom of the shifter linkage. You can either try to dig your way through from the top or take off the LF wheel to get a semi-decent view of them. There is no truly easy access, imo.
Checking the shifter cables can be done from inside the car; where they connect to the box under the shifter boot. I think that's our only point of adjustment on these cars. I've never had to do an adjustment to mine, so I can't offer too much advice on what to look for.
I'd check roll pins first, they're a common thing to fail on cars that have high miles and that have been beat on.
The cable connections will be right on top of the transmission. The roll pins hold the bronze/gold colored shifter arms onto the transmission; they're the little black dots you see near the bottom of the shifter linkage. You can either try to dig your way through from the top or take off the LF wheel to get a semi-decent view of them. There is no truly easy access, imo.
Checking the shifter cables can be done from inside the car; where they connect to the box under the shifter boot. I think that's our only point of adjustment on these cars. I've never had to do an adjustment to mine, so I can't offer too much advice on what to look for.
Okay. I am going to check into that later this week. I found a thread from this website where a guy was able to get in from the top. Kind of like you were saying. It doesn't look too hard. Under the fuse box. Here's the thread link. Is this what you're suggesting? Thanks
Being able to shift into gear with car off makes me think it's not roll pins or cables, and actually more related to clutch it self or or the hydraulics.
Okay. I am going to check into that later this week. I found a thread from this website where a guy was able to get in from the top. Kind of like you were saying. It doesn't look too hard. Under the fuse box. Here's the thread link. Is this what you're suggesting? Thanks
Yes, if you want to go through the trouble of removing the fuse box, you can do it that way - I wouldn't. At least inspect them from the wheel well. I wouldn't remove everything to do an inspection.
Originally Posted by blu3_v1p3r
Being able to shift into gear with car off makes me think it's not roll pins or cables, and actually more related to clutch it self or or the hydraulics.
My thoughts exactly. Sounds like the system needs bled or there's a failing part.
Warm the car up (you want good oil temp/pressure) and park it on level ground. Put the car in first gear with the ebrake down (turn it off first, if you have to). Clutch in (then start car, if you have to). Hold clutch in. Rev engine to the moon. Does the car move? If so, your clutch is dragging. Could need a bleed... could be running that Luk flywheel that other LNF people are having trouble with.
Yes, if you want to go through the trouble of removing the fuse box, you can do it that way - I wouldn't. At least inspect them from the wheel well. I wouldn't remove everything to do an inspection.
My thoughts exactly. Sounds like the system needs bled or there's a failing part.
Warm the car up (you want good oil temp/pressure) and park it on level ground. Put the car in first gear with the ebrake down (turn it off first, if you have to). Clutch in (then start car, if you have to). Hold clutch in. Rev engine to the moon. Does the car move? If so, your clutch is dragging. Could need a bleed... could be running that Luk flywheel that other LNF people are having trouble with.
So after a few days of ignoring the car I decided to see if it would go into gear this morning(cold temps) so I started the car and to my surprise I was able to get the car in gear like normal. I decided I'd try to drive it to work. Made it maybe 3 gear shifts(about a block) before I couldn't get back into gear. I then went to park it and had to turn on and off to get it into first gear to park. When I put it in first with the clutch completely depressed my car was shuttering and moving like I was engaging my clutch. So is this my slave cylinder? Where do I inspect? Thanks guys
Being able to shift into gear with car off makes me think it's not roll pins or cables, and actually more related to clutch it self or or the hydraulics.
Also, I checked my brake fluid. And the level is too full and very black. I don't know if that helps at all.
So after a few days of ignoring the car I decided to see if it would go into gear this morning(cold temps) so I started the car and to my surprise I was able to get the car in gear like normal. I decided I'd try to drive it to work. Made it maybe 3 gear shifts(about a block) before I couldn't get back into gear. I then went to park it and had to turn on and off to get it into first gear to park. When I put it in first with the clutch completely depressed my car was shuttering and moving like I was engaging my clutch. So is this my slave cylinder? Where do I inspect? Thanks guys
TOB is a common failure - they don't like heat, either. Probably why yours was fine, but after a bit of driving, stopped working.
In early 2010, mine died. I had a swapped supercharger to turbo, was making mid-300's... clutch held fine, but the TOB gave up on life. Mine would shift fine when I was regular driving, but if I did some WOT driving, it wouldn't work for a minute afterwards.
Originally Posted by Keenan Lyon
Also, I checked my brake fluid. And the level is too full and very black. I don't know if that helps at all.
You need to change your brake fluid. Bad. Brake fluid is hygroscopic, so it absorbs water. The more water it absorbs, the lower the brake fluid's boiling point becomes. Eventually, this leads to your brakes not working very well. This also tends to mean that if you have a bottle of brake fluid sitting around that's already been opened, it may not be good anymore.
Get something to suck the old fluid out of the reservoir. I used to use a turkey baster (you have to ziptie the bulb on tight), but use a fluid transfer "syringe" now.
Suck out as much as you can before refilling and flushing the system. Try not to drip the brake fluid on anything, it's corrosive and toxic - it'll mess up your paint and it'll burn your skin (if you get it on yourself, wipe it off immediately, you don't want it absorbing into your skin).
I suggest using a high quality brake fluid like ATE Typ 200. There's definitely better stuff out there, but the ATE stuff is great and more than enough, especially if you aren't doing track days with the car. You should be flushing your brake/clutch hydraulic system every year or two, depending on usage.
Yes, if you want to go through the trouble of removing the fuse box, you can do it that way - I wouldn't. At least inspect them from the wheel well. I wouldn't remove everything to do an inspection.
My thoughts exactly. Sounds like the system needs bled or there's a failing part.
Warm the car up (you want good oil temp/pressure) and park it on level ground. Put the car in first gear with the ebrake down (turn it off first, if you have to). Clutch in (then start car, if you have to). Hold clutch in. Rev engine to the moon. Does the car move? If so, your clutch is dragging. Could need a bleed... could be running that Luk flywheel that other LNF people are having trouble with.
What is the problem with the Luk Flywheels ? I just put one on my car 2 weeks ago from Rockauto with a new Gm clutch. The clutch seems to work fine. Although my shifting from 2nd to third is a bit notchy now ONLY when the car is cold. As soon as the car is warmed up it shifts almost totally normal. What kinds of problems are people having with the Luk flywheel ? I assumed mine just needs to be bleed again as well as change the tranny fluid again as i pressure washed the transmission when it was on the ground and i may have got some water in it.
What is the problem with the Luk Flywheels ? I just put one on my car 2 weeks ago from Rockauto with a new Gm clutch. The clutch seems to work fine. Although my shifting from 2nd to third is a bit notchy now ONLY when the car is cold. As soon as the car is warmed up it shifts almost totally normal. What kinds of problems are people having with the Luk flywheel ? I assumed mine just needs to be bleed again as well as change the tranny fluid again as i pressure washed the transmission when it was on the ground and i may have got some water in it.
Dimensional differences compared to stock units that are causing the clutch to drag (incorrect flywheel step height). Details in that thread on how to test to see if yours is doing it.
Dimensional differences compared to stock units that are causing the clutch to drag (incorrect flywheel step height). Details in that thread on how to test to see if yours is doing it.
So I replaced the master clutch cylinder hoping that was it. Bc of the black and discolored brake fluid. Pulled the old one out and put the new one in. Everything went decently smooth. Bled the clutch. Or at least I thought I did. And now the car won't even start. Not turning over at all. No crank or anything. WTH? I put everything in the way it should be. Established all connections. Reset the battery. Now it won't start. My god this cars gonna make me have a heart attack. It's almost like the car doesn't think the clutch is enraging at all. Any suggestions?
So I checked the clutch switch. And everything looks fine visually. It's the white lever/switch above the clutch? It looks like a pain to pull out and replace. But I was able to get the wire connectors off and am going to try to somehow bypass it with a paper clip to see if that's my problem. Any suggestions in how to do that? Or suggestions if I can't get it started while bypassing the switch? Thanks
Yes, if you want to go through the trouble of removing the fuse box, you can do it that way - I wouldn't. At least inspect them from the wheel well. I wouldn't remove everything to do an inspection.
My thoughts exactly. Sounds like the system needs bled or there's a failing part.
Warm the car up (you want good oil temp/pressure) and park it on level ground. Put the car in first gear with the ebrake down (turn it off first, if you have to). Clutch in (then start car, if you have to). Hold clutch in. Rev engine to the moon. Does the car move? If so, your clutch is dragging. Could need a bleed... could be running that Luk flywheel that other LNF people are having trouble with.
So I finally got the car to start today. Which was great. Looks like I just didn't put my fuse box together all the way and had a wonky connection. Anyway, I am still having trouble shifting when the car is warm. I was able to shift through gears when the car was off. Or when I first started the car and the engine temp was under 140°. Once it's warm It is extremely difficult to put into gear. Let alone it starts to move itself when I try to engage it. Is this my throwout bearing?
So I know it's been multiple months. But I finally got the car to shift into gears and it turns out it was my clutch and throw out bearing. Also needed my flywheel resurface. I'm assuming it ultimately was my throw out bearing failing. As I was missing an o ring. But I've got a new clutch with a new throwout bearing and a resurface flywheel and she has been running great for the last couple of months. still breaking in the new clutch. And might still have just a tad bit of air. But I have a good pedal.im using an Mpact clutch from rock Auto. The nice performance one. I'll update how it's doing after 5k miles. Thanks for all the replies. I don't like seeing threads left unsettled. Figured I'd update in case anyone else can use the info.
I wouldn't waste time on a clutch "break-in". I treat them like bedding brake pads. Start with light driving/shifting and work your way into full boost/WOT shifting. I'm usually at the WOT stage in less than 50 miles of city driving.
