AdsoYo

I drove the car about 320 miles today and 170 miles into it I stopped for some food. When I went to back out of my parking spot, I couldn't put it in reverse. I couldn't even move the shifter to the reverse side, I had to wiggle it a bunch and then muscle it over, then slam it into reverse. No grinding, but it felt like it barely clicked into gear.

I drove the other 150 miles home and turned the car off on the street to move my uncle's car out of the driveway so I get mine into the garage. When I started mine up and tried to put it in first, I felt like I was hitting a wall again. I had to force it into first and when I did, the car wanted to move forward. It wasn't a steady pull though, it was a like a gentle bucking, like a small section of the clutch was grabbing as it spun around.

I converted to a manual in 2009, then changed the clutch in February 2011. Reverse has always been a little difficult but nothing like this.

With the car off in the garage I tried all the gears starting with first, clutch pedal pressed down. They were all clanking louder than usual and first had more resistance than the others. Reverse wouldn't work, I had to shake the shifter and go through a few gears before I could get it in reverse. After that I could put it in any gear fine. Any ideas what's going on?

AdsoYo

So I searched like crazy through this site and others and found this from a sticky:

Q: Why is my transmission hard for me to put into 1st gear and reverse? It seams like all of the other gears are fine. What could my problem be?

A: Most of the time if the clutch is not releasing the first sign is 1st and reverse problems. Check the clutch to make sure it is not worn. Bleed your hydraulics and replace if more than 30,000 miles on the slave and 50,000 on the master. While most of the time this is a clutch related problem, check the fluid in the trans to make sure it is full. Transmission fluid should be replaced ever 10,000 miles or 1 year which ever comes first. You wouldn't let your engine go 10,000 miles without changing it!

So then I found a thread that led me here:

LT1 and LS1 clutch bleeding

It's good step by step with pictures on how to bleed the system with a Mighty Vac. I gave that a shot and only got about 3 small bubbles after 5 minutes. The Mighty Vac also didn't hold vacuum, not sure if that means anything but the write up led me to believe that you could pump it to 12" of Hg and it would stay there. I tried plugging the vac's hose and it held and I tried pressing the nozzle firmly into the fluid reservoir but still wouldn't hold vacuum.

The fluid wasn't black, it was a medium brown I'd say.

So then I started it in neutral, and none of my gears would engage. Every time I tried the car would start to move a little. I couldn't even get through the reverse gate. It wasn't until I rev'd the engine to 2500 rpm that it effortlessly slid into 1st. I let it come down back to idle and was able to easily put it into reverse. Drove around for a few miles and everything is still fine. Very mysterious.

AdsoYo

Soooo just to be extra thorough I followed this guide:

Take Care of Your Clutch--Preventing or Curing Pedal Issues - Corvette Forum

Did a lot of beeboppin around town today with no issues.