My 93 festiva grinds when shifting from first to second gear! Help!!!

[Blaster2005]

My 93 festiva grinds when shifting from first to second gear! I will think its in second gear as I let out the clutch it will grind. This is a 5 speed tranny it has 154,000 miles on it. If I firmly pull or jerk it into second, I will hear a clunk sound and it will not grind. It has been doing this for awhile now. It shifts into all the other gears nicely. I checked the linkage rod under the car, no loose play in it. I have been running dextron 3 tranny fluid and I keep it changed about every 20k Has anyone had this problem? Any help or info would be appreciated!

Thanks, Mike

[festivaWES]

syncro may be going bad....idk the only problem i have had with tranys is that mine was stuck in reverse.

[stefan]

If im reading that right it sounds more like the linkage, If it was a syncro, it would grind when you try push it in gear, not after you let the clutch out. Sounds like the linkage isnt pushing it all the way into gear.

[Icedawg]

If I understand you right, when it grinds it turns out it is not in gear, and when it clunks it is? If so, it sounds like the gear or the syncro is going bad. The synchro may be so worn it is binding and preventing you from fully engaging the gear without extra force. Or some teeth on the gear "dogs" that engage the gear selector hub may be chipped and causing the gear to slip back off. If my understanding is wrong, then it might be the linkage. The alternative is pressure plate on the clutch is acting up.

[Kraig]

How's the clutch and it's adjustment? If it's not disengaging all the way it will be tough to shift especially because of the bigger ratio change between first and second and the other shifts......