Hi-
Today I got on the highway and had the most trouble getting into 6th gear. At first, I couldn't find it. Then I was able to force it into 6th and it was tough to get out. As the drive progressed (I did about 50 miles with on and off highway stops) it got progressively better, but 6th gear is still not like the other gears.

I didn't run the car much beyond the driveway this weekend, but last week all the gears felt the same.

The only prior trouble was earlier today when I shifted out of 2nd at high rpm to go to neutral, I touched 5th gear and grinded it for a milli-second. Could I have caused damage?

-John

 

sounds like the pressure plate is getting weak. someone correct me if im wrong.

 

When you say the pressure plate, do you mean the clutch? In looking over the fluid the clutch fluid is brown rather than clean. Could that be a factor?

 

Do a search for "worn synchro" or "dog teeth" - there is a known issue where the teeth on the 5-6 synchro sleeve get chewed up when skip shifting and a gear is lost (unable to select the gear or very difficult to shift). Some people have overcome the problem by force, but this most likely is just hiding the issue by further damaging the synchros.

HTH, tjc.