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I already posted on the Tiburon forums, but no one seems to really have a answer.

I have a 2006 Hyundai Tiburon, 5 Speed 2.7L.

I am currently having 2 issues that started just happening. My first issue started about a week ago, I am experiencing stiff gears when driving. What I mean is, if I am driving lets say in 4th gear doing about 40-45 MPH, and I go to shift into neutral, it feels like there is a lot of tension and it doesn't pop out of gear as smoothly as it use to. My first thought was the clutch as this means the clutch is not disengaging properly, but as the transmission does not slip, and still has all it's power in gears, tells me that it is NOT the clutch.

 My second issue weird, when I am engaging first gear from a complete stop, if I try to engage at normal pace, I get a slight hop / buck right before the clutch is fully engaged. This happens mostly in first gear from a complete stop, or sometimes in 2nd. I took my uncle for a ride, and he told me it's probably time for a transmission flush, and new transmission oil, as he said both, the hop, and stiff gears is caused by lack of transmission lubricant... does this make sense?  The car is 6 years old, with 58,600 miles. I never had a tranny flush done to it yet, so you think that could be the issue for both my problems?

Any information will help a lot..

Thanks  

Sounds like the clutch is not disengaging properly. It's most likely either an issue with the clutch hydraulic system or a faulty pressure plate. Does the clutch pedal feel stiffer,lighter or the same as it used to?  

Well, I recently bled my clutch thinking that was the problem, and after I bled the clutch, the pedal does feel a little stiffer, but I thought stiff was better than mushy  

I also spoke to my family mechanic, and he said something about the pedal needing to be adjusted. But what can be causing the hop?  

well, to be honest, it's not really a hop...it feels more like something is sticking, and then quickly unsticking and then shooting back to where it should of been causing the skip feeling..it's hard to explain, almost like the engage is delayed because of it, and it's not actually wear the pedal says it is until it catches up....it's a really hard thing to explain, that's why going to have my mechanic buddy drive it tomorrow so he can feel what I am talking about  

A clutch that is working properly will have a little pop feeling to it when the pressure plate releases. A bad pressure plate will have a very stiff feeling that remains all the way to the floor. A clutch with over 50,000 miles usually needs an adjustment but not because its not disengaging but because its not fully engaging. In other words the clutch has to be adjusted because the clutch is disengaging when the pedal is too high. Thats when the rod going from the pedal inside the car to the master cylinder has to made shorter. Your clutch is not disengaging which should not require an adjustment. When you are at a full stop in first gear with the clutch pedal on the floor how far can you let the clutch up before the car starts to move?  

well, it starts to roll fairly quickly, but doesn't fully engage til almost all the way, here check this link out, that's how it always feels because we have a restrictor in our slave cylinder. Please note I have not done the mod yet.

 http://www.newtiburon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1962

Can anyone explain what the spring and valve do and the effects after they're removed (besides the obvious better clutch engagement)?

Will the slave cylinder become damaged over time from these missing items?


1. The valve and spring are there to cusion the engagement and disengagement of the clutch. For people that are never going to drive the car hard it works fine and usually creates a smoother engagement.

Think of this also. Between full engage and full disengage the clutch is slipping. The valve and spring lengthen this amount of time to make the shift smoother for the everyday driver, but when you drive it hard this extra slipping heats up the clutch big time and it's possible for it to cause premature failure. I think this valve is one of the factors of the clutches slipping and buring up in the cars of people that drive them hard.

With the valve and spring gone you have more precise control of the clutch with the pedal.

2. This will not damage the slave cylinder at all.


But I do actually agree with you, this clutch is actually only 1.5 years old, but since you both and my mechanic both said pedal needs to be adjusted, than I am sure that is probably it.
 
  Also, the word  " pop " you used, is EXACTLY the correct way I should of explained it. That is pretty much the feeling I get, like something is popping or " gapping " if you will, but hey, I have to go to work, running a few minutes behind, but I am going to check back here after work to see your reply.

Thanks a lot dude!!!

I also hope that the pedal adjustment stops the popping, I would be so happy!!!  

Ok i just read your original post again.You may have two problems.The stiff shifting could be the clutch is not releasing properly and the pop you feel as you push in the clutch pedal could be the throwout bearing getting stuck on the sleeve it rides on. A good mechanic should be able to figure it out pretty easily after a road test.  

No, I dont feel any popping when I push in the clutch... I feel the pop / buck / jerk / skip  whatever you wanan call it when I am engaging first ( releasing clutch ) I am having my mechanic drive it tomorrow