I am having troubles shifting into mainly second gear under normal driving conditions. At WOT it shifts perfectly. The problem is that it almost feels like its caught on something. I have to just hold the shifter towards second for a little before it will go in unless I pull really hard. This problem gets a little better as the transmission warms up, but is still very noticeable. It doesn't grind at all. It's just hard to get it to go into gear.

The other problem I'm having is that I can't shift into 1st 2nd or reverse very well when the car is stationary. The pumping the clutch method helps a little, but its still difficult. You have to push pretty hard to get it into gear some times. It also seems like you can feel the car moving a little when you try to push it into gear. This would seems like it would suggest a dragging clutch, but the clutch pedal was adjusted to the point of it engaging very close to the top of the throw.

I'm on the stock clutch still. I've already tried adjusting the clutch pedal. It was engaging almost all the way at the top of the throw, I moved it more to the middle, which helped some. I'm currently running Amsoil in the transmission which was changed about 4k miles ago.

Does this sound like bent shifter cables or a clutch issue to you all?

 

Sounds like your slave clutch cyl is on the way out.

 

Is there any way to test that the slave cylinder is actually the problem?

 

I could only think of a replacement as a test. Got any "evo" friend nearby?

 

I checked out the slave cylinder and it doesn't look like it is leaking at all. Is there anything else that causes these symptoms?

 

My car does the same thing but only while its warming up.

 

same here on initial start, afterwards its fine.

 

Mine is much better after the transmission warms up, but its never very smooth. When it does this, you can sometimes hear a sort of deep sounding "clunk" coming from under the car when you try to get it to shift into 1st or 2nd.

 

did you pull back the rubber boot on the slave cylinder? clutch pedal might need adjustment? i have you tried the slave cylinder pill delete, i would suggest getting SS clutch lines

 

Did you make sure to put GL4 gear oil in the tranny? If you put GL5 in it causes the symptoms you speak of. I had to go with that for a limited time when I did a clutch change and couldn't find any GL4 only oil in town. The stores around here don't stock any GL4 gear lubes. They all figure GL5 is better but that isn't how the evo tranny was designed. You can't get one that says GL5/GL4. GL4 only. The tranny hates GL5 oils. They don't have the correct drag and cause notchy shifting.

I might consider trying going back to stock mitsu fluid in the tranny. If it's hard to get in reverse when stationary throw it in 5th or 3rd then reverse. It helps line the syncros back up and get it in gear easier sometimes.

Clutch adjustment is usually a little better towards the top of the pedal IMO because then you get more extension of the fork arm and more opening of the PP to help free up the disk completely. The lower the engagement point on the pedal the less the PP and fork is actually moving.