ampline

hello,, my name is kevin... i am stuck in the middle of a situation.. My friend drives an 1993 es300. my other friend is a mechanic. the friend with the es300 had parked the car for a while (about a year, duty). When he returned,, after charging the battery and starting the vehicle he went to engage the vehicle in gear,, and noticed that it was really hard to get into gear. So he had it towed to an AAMCO where he was told that it needed a new clutch but they wanted a fortune for the repair. So I (trying to help two buddies out) suggested that he take it to my mechanic buddy for a much cheaper rate, which he did.
My mechanic buddy replaced the clutch, pressure plate, and throw out bearing and axle seals and everything went smoothly. However the es300 is STILL very hard to get into gear. It will go in gear, but you have to force it. The clutch is adjusted correctly, slave cylinder fork is actuating fully. Now none of us are experts on these cars (my passion is old land cruisers)
So i am at a loss here. Could it be the flywheel? Mechanic said that it feels like it is 1mm away from working correctly, but there is nothing else for him to adjust and he thinks it may be the flywheel? (don't wanna have other friend drop 300 on a flywheel and labor and car still wont go in gear easily). Could a past clutch repair have turned too much off when polishing flywheel? (my mechanic buddy did not turn flywheel (car has 100k on it and has been cared for). Could it be in the transmission? I know there are so many variables but perhaps someone on this forum has addressed this situation? Thank you so much for your time.. Any help or suggestions to figure out exactly what the problem is would help me tremendously. Thanks again for your time

12340987

master/slave cylinders?
Is it 1st or every gear?

llcoolpass

what would change in on year to a manual transmission, just sitting there?

the clutch ? not likely

the DOT3/4 fluid and parts it comes in contact with? likely

the gears? not likely

I would need more info, and seeing it in perfect would be best, to tell you more....

edit:
1234... has good thoughts too [we posted at the same time]

ampline

Master cylinder and slave cylinder are in perfect working order. it is hard to get in every gear. does anyone know if this could be a worn flywheel? trans syncs? the mechanic swears it is a worn fly wheel, but everyone else says no. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

thanks

ivory98es3

iTrader: (1)

typically when you change a clutch, you are supposed to check the flywheel for run-out and machine as necessary. My guess is the throw out bearing if the master and slave cylinder are working fully.

llcoolpass

that would be a good guess. mine is a little bit bad and makes my shifts a little bit hard.

I guess the pt is, we assume you changed the throwout bearing, and assume that it can't be bad, but , if it is, then it would VERY much cause these symptoms. there's a simple test to see if it is the likely cause. did you do it?

12340987

I always see posts where people regret not replacing the flywheel.
Have you checked the oil? How does it drive? No noises? Any difference while running?

llcoolpass

explain how the flywheel could cause this

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

Wrong fluid type?

dallison

does it happen i all gears?

This idea is really a stretch....

Something could have built a nest under the shifter and it makes it very hard to get it into the gears towards the front of the car.