Charlie Trevino

have a 99 black ss w/6speed manual trans w/90,000 miles w/no warring car now onlly goes in gear w/engine off once in gear clutch feels normal other not able to shift any ideals

Injuneer

Do you mean that after you put it in gear with the engine off, the clutch feels normal, but you can't shift gears WITH THE ENGINE OFF, or WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING? Unclear, and lack of punctuation doesn't help.

JakeRobb

I'm pretty sure he means that if the engine is running, he can't get the shifter into gear with the clutch pedal depressed. If the engine is off, he can.

I am in the process of installing a new slave cylinder (and a new, upgraded clutch and flywheel while we're in there) my '02 Z28 to resolve the same problem.

The slave cylinder is the thing on the other end of the clutch hydraulics that actually disengages the clutch when you press the pedal. Mine failed, so nothing happens when I press the pedal. The clutch itself stays engaged.

Here are some more details about my symptoms:
The clutch pedal has no effect on what I'm able to do, except that it still has to be depressed in order to start the car. I can get it in and out of gear with the engine off regardless of the clutch pedal being up or down.

With the engine running, if I push HARD on the shifter into first gear, the car will crawl forward. Again it doesn't matter what I'm doing with the clutch. This works because it uses the first gear synchros to try to match the layshaft speed to the output shaft speed. The same does not work in reverse because there is no synchro in reverse.

With the engine off, I can put the car in first or reverse, press the clutch pedal, and start the engine to make the car move. Pressing the pedal down triggers the switch which allow the car to be started, but the clutch doesn't actually disengage, so the car moves immediately under the power of the starter motor. Then the engine starts and I can drive. Shifting (clutchless) is possible but difficult. You have to make sure the driveline is unloaded to get it out of gear, and you have to rev-match to get it back in.

If all of those thinks work the same for you, then there's definitely a problem with your clutch hydraulics. It could be the master cylinder, the hydraulic lines, or the slave. Or you could just be out of fluid. I'd check the fluid level before anything else.

I used a combination of these tricks to drive my car home when the slave cylinder first died, and again once all of my replacement parts arrived to drive it a few miles to my friend's house where we're doing the installation. Note that this is pretty dangerous. I wouldn't try it if there were other cars around.

I bought a replacement ACDelco slave cylinder from RockAuto. I think it was about $80.

Injuneer

Odd... he posted the above, signed off, and has not returned to this site since.