Hi guys, Im a newbie on here, right then...down to business.....My girlfriend owns a 99 Accent and has been having intermittent problems with the car struggling to find the gears, strange thing is after she has driven a few miles it gets easier??? A friend who knows more about cars than me has had a look and has said the cluch is fine, not slipping but has noticed the gear linkage is very loose, he said it has to have a bit of play but what he has seen on our car is too much, the gator which is attached to part of it has disintergrated. He suggests that i get a gear linkage from either a scrappy or a dealer (i know which i think is going to be cheaper!!!!). So does anyone one agree with the diagnosis and has anyone else had this problem before???? Thanks in advance for any answers.....

:00000732: antz!

Let's see...99 Accent, 9 years old, probably 96-110k miles, yep your diagnosis makes sense.

Just to make sure your diagnosis is correct, did you check the clutch pedal play- (engagement and disengagement points) using the nice instructions in your owner's manual. For most Hyundai's your clutch should disengage after 3 1/2 inches of downward travel, but upon release completely engage without slippage about 1 inch from the top of pedal travel moving upward. Also, check under the hood for two more things:

1) Looking under the hood at the clutch slave cylinder, have your girlfriend pump the clutch pedal up and down while you observe the clutch fork. Does the clutch slave cylinder piston slide smoothly and push the clutch fork out, and release cleanly as the pedal is released? Or is it binding?
2) What color is the clutch hydraulic fluid in the clutch master cylinder? How old is it? If the answer is black and don't know, consider bleeding out the black fluid and refilling with new DOT 3 or DOT 4 brake fluid (yes its ok in the clutch system) until the clutch master cylinder is now filled with 'clear-as-water' hydraulic fluid. Try shifting the car now. Should be better.


One more thing: You can tighten up the tension on the gear shift lever. under the center console, there is a ball and socket assembly with an upper cap. The cap has a tightening screw on each corner. Tightening the cap will change the shift feel and remove some of sloppy feel.

Byron

Thanks for your fast and helpful reply Byron, I will take a look tomorrow afternoon when i can see ( 11pm here now!!) I will let you know how i get on....... :liebe011:

Hi,

Cheers for that Byron, I have a similar problem with the gears. Just the other day my gearstick started to sound clunky and a bit looser and sometimes getting into 1st or reverse gear can be a pain, especially reverse!!! Will have a look myself might save a trip to the garage!

Cheers

Jim