[danielfulloa]

Good morning,

Last week, I attempted to teach my girlfriend how to drive my 6spd LT1. She stalled quite a few times, which I didn't think was a problem because I did too as I was learning. Some of these stalls happened from 3k RPMs, not sure if that will have something to do with it. She was also slamming the car into gear which I corrected quickly, but some damage could have occurred there. When I got back into the driver's seat, I noticed that my shifter is now significantly more difficult to get into any gear. Sometimes it gets better, and after hard shifting, it stiffens up.

Anyone have any ideas as to what could be wrong with the car? Debating on taking it to service department.

[LT1ornothing]

Unless you have tons of disposable cash, you don't teach someone to drive manual in your new sports car. Your transmission is now fried and I doubt any dealer will repair it under warranty as I am pretty sure they can determine it was driver error which caused the failure upon inspection. Get ready to to pay a very large repair bill. They will most likely need to replace the entire TR6060.

The proper way to teach someone how to drive manual is in an old car or pick up. Used running 5 speed manual Saturn's from the 90s can be had for under $500 bucks. That would have been much cheaper and trouble free for you. Good luck, your going to need it.

[nancygrl]

What he ^^ said
In the 70's I learned on a old POS, Capri 4-spd. Made all my mistakes on that beater.
You could try and see if dealer will fix it under warranty, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. Good Luck

[NA18CamaroSS]

Between you and your girlfriend, you may just have killed the clutch. Transmissions can take a fair amount of abuse, but slipping the clutch at 3,000 RPM on a 455 HP car can chew up clutch discs pretty quickly.

[dpevans]

I am not sure how you can stall a car at 3kRPM. Seems to me she would be doing a burn out. Anyhow, I would think you have more of a clutch problem teaching someone to drive a stick with a dual disc clutch. These tremecs are pretty stout and stalling the car and over revving is hard on the clutch. Did you smell burnt clutch while this was happening. I would start by checking your release point on the clutch pedal, next I would change the trans fluid and check for any metal shavings. When I taught my son I had him in a parking lot and practiced feathering the clutch until he could get the car rolling without gas, then I had him feather the gas until he could hold the rpms steady then put the two together. Now I do have the single disc clutch so it has to be softer than the dual. Next question, unless you are in a logging accident and your left leg is cut off why would you let your girlfriend drive your LT1.

[Crushin_LT1]

Stalling and teaching someone can be hard on a clutch. I'm not sure it would cause serious issues to the tranny itself, how often did you all stall?



Did she learn right after you learned?


You'll probably need a new clutch as others stated, hopefully nothing about the transmisison itself.

[LT1ornothing]

Originally Posted by NA18CamaroSS

Between you and your girlfriend, you may just have killed the clutch. Transmissions can take a fair amount of abuse, but slipping the clutch at 3,000 RPM on a 455 HP car can chew up clutch discs pretty quickly.

That's wishful thinking, im sure those plastic shift forks are trashed as well as the synchros on at least 1st and 2nd with tons of fresh metallic shavings from the grinded gears. I'm sure the damage goes beyond that if I had to wager. If the OP just fried the clutch AND only the clutch, that would be miraculous.

[Crushin_LT1]

While we are on the topic, I've been driving stick for years now, but I want to improve - anyone have tips specific to high hp applications like a V8 camaro?

[splatrd]

If you are that concerned that there was transmission damage I would change the fluid and check for metal filings or pieces. Drain fluid in a open pan and look for metal, and maybe use magnet.
However, unless you both were overly abusive with grinding gears, I agree with the others that it is likely that the clutch is fried. If so, it is likely the flywheel has burnt spots on it and needs to be resurfaced.

[Memphis SS]

The group here in the forum can guess all day long but, your best bet is if the car is still under warranty take it to the dealer an let them look into it. You never know they may cover it under warranty or send you down the road if they feel it is because of abuse, it doesn't hurt to try. Best of luck.

[LT1ornothing]

Originally Posted by Crushin_LT1

While we are on the topic, I've been driving stick for years now, but I want to improve - anyone have tips specific to high hp applications like a V8 camaro?

Nothing you haven't already learned, don't ride the clutch, keep your left foot off the clutch pedal as often as possible. Pay attention to your wide open throttle 2-3 shift. Power shift at your own risk. Keep your rev match on if you do not have the habit of doing it yourself. Be mindful of your clutch operation while pulling away from a stop when on an incline, etc...

[SSDan]

I think some of the advice here feels like its from the dark side. I doubt you killed the tranny. A 6060 is a tough unit. Maybe took some life off the clutch. Like mentioned drain the fluid, check for debris and go from there. If you find debris - take it to the dealership and tell them it is hard shifting and go from there. Its easy to become hypersensitive after an uncomfortable issue and then worry about damage. If the gears aren't grinding with the shifts after the fluid change I'd roll with it.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by danielfulloa

Good morning,

Last week, I attempted to teach my girlfriend how to drive my 6spd LT1. She stalled quite a few times, which I didn't think was a problem because I did too as I was learning. Some of these stalls happened from 3k RPMs, not sure if that will have something to do with it. She was also slamming the car into gear which I corrected quickly, but some damage could have occurred there. When I got back into the driver's seat, I noticed that my shifter is now significantly more difficult to get into any gear. Sometimes it gets better, and after hard shifting, it stiffens up.

Anyone have any ideas as to what could be wrong with the car? Debating on taking it to service department.

Take it to Chevy and consider it a lesson in what not to do.

[LT1ornothing]

Originally Posted by SSDan

I think some of the advice here feels like its from the dark side. I doubt you killed the tranny. A 6060 is a tough unit. Maybe took some life off the clutch. Like mentioned drain the fluid, check for debris and go from there. If you find debris - take it to the dealership and tell them it is hard shifting and go from there. Its easy to become hypersensitive after an uncomfortable issue and then worry about damage. If the gears aren't grinding with the shifts after the fluid change I'd roll with it.

They said the same thing about the T56 back in the day, and I definitely saw several fbodys and c5s needed them repaired or replaced because someone attempted to learn how to drive stick in them. They are strong in the sense that they will hold and transfer high amounts of torque. But their strengths do not carry over into protecting the internals from driver error.