I've always had 2 issues with the transmission since I've owned. One a leak between the case halves, second issue is the clutch has always slowly disengaged when holding the pedal in. I've bled it multiple times, and got to the point I just dealt with the clutch disengaging issue, as well as the leak from he case halves. Don't drive it much so no biggie.
Put Rodney Master and Slave in it about 5 years, 2K miles, ago.
Finally decided to tackle the leak this year, dropped the trans, separated the case halves, resealed it all. Put in a new clutch and throwout bearing in while I had it apart.
Well, screwed up that bad, and put the TB in the wrong way. Didn't know that was possible, but it drove about a mile and smoked the TB. Clutch pretty much locked up, pedal wouldn't move. Luckily I was in the driveway and pushed it back into the shop and dropped the cradle... again... Another new clutch and TB, checked over the clutch fork for any damage or excessive movement (bad bushings) but didn't find anything out of the ordinary so put it all back together (again) and got it back in the car.
Of course, now the clutch does not disengage all the way, can't shift into any gear when it is running, and I can't quite figure it out.
Slave and clutch fork arm have about 7/8 - 1 of an inch movement. This is the same amount of movement my other '88 5 speed has... and that one is GTG. I've read some posts that say that is within specs, some posts that say it needs 1.25 inches.
Clutch pedal is steel. Removed it and made sure it wasn't bent. It's not.
Rebuilt slave cylinder with a Rodney kit just (since I had one laying around) incase I jacked something up in there when the TB burned up.
Spent many, many hours of the past few days bleeding and bleeding the system over and over again, using multiple methods. Same results, won't shift into a gear when engine is running.
I can only figure 3 things at this point.
1) I blew the internal seal on the MC when the clutch locked up and I stepped on the clutch pedal. No obvious leaks. But, since it is a Rodney unit (and can't get them anymore) I hate to replace a good part with a unknown (quality of replacement MC is iffy)... but since it has always had an issue, maybe it was bad to start with? Are these rebuildable?
2) Clutch fork received a slight bend to it when the TB locked up. I don't know if this is even possible. As a last resort, I guess I'll drop the cradle for the 3rd time and replace it, but I'm hoping to get another idea.
3) a pinhole leak somewhere that I can't find.... Allowing air into the system. Maybe the metal line from the Slave to the hard line underneath the car? I can't seem to find a replacement for this line though.
1) Did you bleed the Clutch Master Cylinder on the bench? Since it's a RD unit, see if it will push fluid on the bench; if not - Schaeffler LuK LMC501
2) '88 5 speed clutch arm/fork shaft can be early and later; early 8ZL trans code gear boxes use GM 8672937 / Later 8XPX {2nd design} gear boxes use GM 8672942
3) Visual inspection of the line, search for fluid leaks, have an assistant press the pedal as you look for fluid under pressure
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Maybe the metal line from the Slave to the hard line underneath the car? I can't seem to find a replacement for this line though.
1) Did you bleed the Clutch Master Cylinder on the bench? Since it's a RD unit, see if it will push fluid on the bench; if not - Schaeffler LuK LMC501
2) '88 5 speed clutch arm/fork shaft can be early and later; early 8ZL trans code gear boxes use GM 8672937 / Later 8XPX {2nd design} gear boxes use GM 8672942
3) Visual inspection of the line, search for fluid leaks, have an assistant press the pedal as you look for fluid under pressure
I believe I did bleed it, but it has been a while.... Hate throwing parts at things, but I'll try a new MC just to see if that is the issue.
Copy, thanks.
Can't find any leaks. Thanks for the link, I had thought you can replace that braided flexible line going to the slave separately, but I guess it is all or none for the clutch line.
I've always had 2 issues with the transmission since I've owned. One a leak between the case halves, second issue is the clutch has always slowly disengaged when holding the pedal in. I've bled it multiple times, and got to the point I just dealt with the clutch disengaging issue, as well as the leak from he case halves. Don't drive it much so no biggie.
Put Rodney Master and Slave in it about 5 years, 2K miles, ago.
Finally decided to tackle the leak this year, dropped the trans, separated the case halves, resealed it all. Put in a new clutch and throwout bearing in while I had it apart.
Well, screwed up that bad, and put the TB in the wrong way. Didn't know that was possible, but it drove about a mile and smoked the TB. Clutch pretty much locked up, pedal wouldn't move. Luckily I was in the driveway and pushed it back into the shop and dropped the cradle... again... Another new clutch and TB, checked over the clutch fork for any damage or excessive movement (bad bushings) but didn't find anything out of the ordinary so put it all back together (again) and got it back in the car.
Of course, now the clutch does not disengage all the way, can't shift into any gear when it is running, and I can't quite figure it out.
Slave and clutch fork arm have about 7/8 - 1 of an inch movement. This is the same amount of movement my other '88 5 speed has... and that one is GTG. I've read some posts that say that is within specs, some posts that say it needs 1.25 inches.
Clutch pedal is steel. Removed it and made sure it wasn't bent. It's not.
Rebuilt slave cylinder with a Rodney kit just (since I had one laying around) incase I jacked something up in there when the TB burned up.
Spent many, many hours of the past few days bleeding and bleeding the system over and over again, using multiple methods. Same results, won't shift into a gear when engine is running.
I can only figure 3 things at this point.
1) I blew the internal seal on the MC when the clutch locked up and I stepped on the clutch pedal. No obvious leaks. But, since it is a Rodney unit (and can't get them anymore) I hate to replace a good part with a unknown (quality of replacement MC is iffy)... but since it has always had an issue, maybe it was bad to start with? Are these rebuildable?
2) Clutch fork received a slight bend to it when the TB locked up. I don't know if this is even possible. As a last resort, I guess I'll drop the cradle for the 3rd time and replace it, but I'm hoping to get another idea.
3) a pinhole leak somewhere that I can't find.... Allowing air into the system. Maybe the metal line from the Slave to the hard line underneath the car? I can't seem to find a replacement for this line though.
Anyone have any other ideas?
this is exactly what the Tangerine menace was doing a frw weeks ago. what ended up fixing it was actually making sure the master cylinder was able to bottom out and in the end grabbing a new clutch fork and throwout. how we achieve the mc adjustment was....tweaking the pedal and u bend to be a little forward since our actual clutch pedal arm itself had bent slightly
Fierostore sells a clutch braided line w compression fitting. I remove the slave and wedge it on the trans so the pushrod is all the way in and the bleeder at the top while bleeding. Otherwise I always have air in the slave and not enough throw. Plenty of threads on this, I made one last year too!
Well, after a new MC, and countless hours bleeding it, finally got it drivable again.
Still just doesn't feel quite right though, very notchy, and really does not like going into 1st. Maybe I have another issue... But drove it around for a bit, and it's drivable again.
Feels like I wasted just a ton of hours on it. I don't know why it was so difficult. My other '88 with a 5 speed, have replaced clutch, MC, slave, and the clutch line and just did a gravity bleed on it, it has been GTG ever since.
Well, after a new MC, and countless hours bleeding it, finally got it drivable again.
Still just doesn't feel quite right though, very notchy, and really does not like going into 1st. Maybe I have another issue... But drove it around for a bit, and it's drivable again.
Feels like I wasted just a ton of hours on it. I don't know why it was so difficult. My other '88 with a 5 speed, have replaced clutch, MC, slave, and the clutch line and just did a gravity bleed on it, it has been GTG ever since.
But it is drivable for now.
the notchyness is very bad. check your cable adjustments and clutch throw again or you might not have 1st for much longer (speaking from experience unfortunately) sometimes fieros just hate people trying to fix them. its a combination of wear and not so great new parts and sometimes you really win the lottery of suck with em. its happened to me alot
Slave and clutch fork arm have about 7/8 - 1 of an inch movement. This is the same amount of movement my other '88 5 speed has... and that one is GTG. I've read some posts that say that is within specs, some posts that say it needs 1.25 inches.
My experience is that for an Isuzu transmission, 1-1/8" is the absolute minimum slave movement for proper clutch disengagement. The Getrag in my Formula seems much more forgiving.
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Originally posted by 06GTO:
Clutch pedal is steel. Removed it and made sure it wasn't bent. It's not.
Does your clutch pedal hit the floor when pressed all the way down? If it does, that means that either the banjo is bent, is too short, is installed upside down (the loop goes up)... or your pedal is bent.
Does your clutch pedal sit an inch above your brake pedal at rest. If it doesn't, see above!
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Originally posted by 06GTO:
I blew the internal seal on the MC when the clutch locked up and I stepped on the clutch pedal. No obvious leaks. But, since it is a Rodney unit (and can't get them anymore) I hate to replace a good part with a unknown (quality of replacement MC is iffy)... but since it has always had an issue, maybe it was bad to start with? Are these rebuildable?
Years ago, Rodney had a bad batch of clutch master cylinders. He was selling two types, the 1st and 2nd generation master cylinders. I don't recall which version had the issue. If you can't fix your problem any other way, replace your clutch master cylinder with the cheapest one you can find. Rodney's dual-seal slaves were mandatory as replacements, but IMO the master cylinders are far less critical.
the notchyness is very bad. check your cable adjustments and clutch throw again or you might not have 1st for much longer (speaking from experience unfortunately) sometimes fieros just hate people trying to fix them. its a combination of wear and not so great new parts and sometimes you really win the lottery of suck with em. its happened to me alot
I'll have to check the cable adjustment. IIRC only one cable is adjustable. Yea, this particular Fiero has been almost perfect, until now. And it seems to hate me wrenching on it....
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Originally posted by Patrick:
Does your clutch pedal hit the floor when pressed all the way down? If it does, that means that either the banjo is bent, is too short, is installed upside down (the loop goes up)... or your pedal is bent.
Does your clutch pedal sit an inch above your brake pedal at rest. If it doesn't, see above!
Yea, I think it does hit the floor, but I'll go double check today. Just put a new MC in it so the banjo is GTG, and I'll double check it is installed the correct way.
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Originally posted by Patrick:
Years ago, Rodney had a bad batch of clutch master cylinders. He was selling two types, the 1st and 2nd generation master cylinders. I don't recall which version had the issue. If you can't fix your problem any other way, replace your clutch master cylinder with the cheapest one you can find. Rodney's dual-seal slaves were mandatory as replacements, but IMO the master cylinders are far less critical.
Replaced the Rodney one with the LUX one yesterday, made the car drivable again, but it is still notchy when going into gear, especially 1st. Maybe the one I had from Rodney is from that bad batch... And I paid quite a bit more than $14 for it... Maybe I'll pick up a spare at that price!
Thanks for the feedback everyone, been very helpful.
[This message has been edited by 06GTO (edited 03-15-2025).]
Great deal! [EDIT] Back up to $25.79 today. 
