My '87 GL Wagon totally shat out on me and I dont really want to spend the money on taking it into the mechanic to find out that I could have just fixed or adjusted something myself. It all started when I was having troubles shifting into 1st-3rd gear. Unfortunately I kept driving with it like this until it just couldnt shift into 1st at all (lazy me). I finally got a little money and decided to start from the cheapest fix by replacing the clutch cable. This helped a bit but when I force it into 1st the car dies. Does anyone know if this is a common Suby problem and if I can get it fixed fairly easily?

Can you shift with the engine off?

Does the clutch slip?

Grinding?

Could be that the clutch is toast.

Or a worst case scenario.....the tranny is

it does shift when the car is off. another thing that has been wierd about the car is that i dont have to push the clutch in to start it. I know that in most 5-speeds you need to have the clutch engaged to start the car. is replacing the clutch yourself very difficult?

I'm not 100% but I dont think any of the 80's 5spd's have a clutch ignition lock out. Sounds like the clutch is gone. If your able to pull the engine the replacement is easy. Others will say to pull the tranny, I prefer to pull the engine. It doesnt require any work heavy work under the car.

Sounds like the clutch cablel is too loose, if it will shift fine when the engine is stopped, but not when running. It's not actually disengaging when you push in the clutch pedal. Tighten it up a little. That would be the easiest thing... if not... not good.

 

And luckily the GL's never had the clutch/ignition interlock. I don't like that "feature"