# All gears in neutral 2012 cruze 1.4 Turbo Manual Transmission



## diiorioj64 (Oct 30, 2017)

Let me rewrite this a little seems to be many spelling errors
My 2012 Cruze 1.4 with manual transmission has 150K miles and yesterday I was driving and felt a little jerky. The shifter also had a little hesitation getting into a gear. So I continued driving and as I got on the highway entrance ramp at around 50mph the car went into a neutral condition with the shifter still in 5th. I switched into another gear but no gears engaged - all gears acted like neutral. the engine rpm increase but no acceleration at all. I glided to the shoulder with engine still running and stopped. It seems I can now move the shifter to any position without depressing the clutch with the engine running. I turned off the car and sat there about a couple hours waiting for the tow truck. As I waited about 1 hour I started the engine, depressed the clutch, shifted to 1st and attempted to move. The car moved slightly forward then stopped and started rolling back while still accelerating. A week ago I did change my front brakes and had to add Brake fluid and used an old can of fluid I had Dot 3 I think but don't know if this had anything to do with this problem. Brake reservoir is also for clutch on this car... Is this problem the cutch, Manual Transmission, or just Clutch Master cylinder? one more thing I manually shifted the gears with the linkage on the tranny and the shifter did move into the respected gear location as I did this.


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

The time it happened to me was a freak incident, so it's probably not what happened to you, but who knows?

At around 160k, I had a sudden box full of neutrals in my 1980 Citation. I could row the shifter around in a circle. 
When I took the trans apart, I found that the bolt holding the shift interlock on the shift shaft had fallen out. I also found the bent tab lockwasher which SHOULD have made it impossible for that bolt to unscrew. 

The shift linkage works a shaft that goes into the transmission. The shift interlock sits on this shaft, and it's the interlock that engages the shift forks which move the synchro rings to actually shift the transmission. A broken fork might cost you a couple of gears, a broken or loose interlock will cost you all gears except the one that's engaged when it fails. 

Another possibility is a broken axle or CV joint, but those usually announce themselves very loudly. 

Or maybe the clutch is stuck disengaged.


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

diiorioj64 said:


> As I waited about 1 hour I started the engine, depressed the clutch, shifted to 1st and attempted to move. The car moved slightly forward then stopped and started rolling back while still accelerating.


That sounds like your transmission is in gear but your clutch is slipping. 

Usually clutch failure from normal wear is a progressive thing, it transmits less and less torque when engaged, until finally it gives virtually no driving force to the car if you don't get it fixed when it starts slipping. It would seem odd to me for it to go from OK to 'can't move the car in first gear' all in one morning.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Kinda sounds like you lost the slave cylinder. Possible that the clutch system just needs to be bled.

Is there still fluid in the reservoir?


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## diiorioj64 (Oct 30, 2017)

There is still fluid in the reservoir at normal level. Slave cylinder is inside tranny right?


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## diiorioj64 (Oct 30, 2017)

If anyone is interested the problem was the clutch Friction disk separated, see attached picture. I never seen happen before. As a precaution I am also going to change the Dual mass flywheel ad clutch pressure plate. also probably the slave wile i'm I there.. Any other suggestions?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

diiorioj64 said:


> If anyone is interested the problem was the clutch Friction disk separated, see attached picture. I never seen happen before. As a precaution I am also going to change the Dual mass flywheel ad clutch pressure plate. also probably the slave wile i'm I there.. Any other suggestions?


Wow, never seen that.

It would be a good time to do a brake fluid change as a whole. Bleed the master/slave cyl, bleed each of the 4 corners of the car, etc. Brake fluid should really be changed every 3 years or so as it absorbs moisture, and it'll probably make the clutch/brakes feel better as well.

My advice would be to order the GMPP (Gm Performance) clutch and flywheel and just go that route. The stock clutch disc/flywheel especially are known for stupid issues.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Yikes!

I've seen friction plate failures like this in the past.........on cars that are used for drag racing, never before on a street car.

I am unable to even speculate on cause of failure and judging by the material depth (rivet to face) you certainly are not hard on a clutch.

Thanks for the pic.

Rob


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## diiorioj64 (Oct 30, 2017)

since I am also replacing the slave cylinder do I need to prime the air out of it since the bleeder is 4 - 5 inches away from the cylinder? I was thinking of priming the slave before I installing the transmission. Is this common practice or can just bleed normally after I install the tranny.....the I would bleed it is insert the hose at the bleeder in fluid open the bleeder then push in and out the thro out bearing until no bubbles........


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## melaniedb (Apr 8, 2020)

diiorioj64 said:


> If anyone is interested the problem was the clutch Friction disk separated, see attached picture. I never seen happen before. As a precaution I am also going to change the Dual mass flywheel ad clutch pressure plate. also probably the slave wile i'm I there.. Any other suggestions?


Did it fix it.


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