First off I would like to say Hello to everyone. Im out here in Toronto, Canada.

Well to begin with I picked up a Z24 Cavalier yesterday with 150,000 Km for 900 bucks. It is actually a rebuilt but I thought what the heck right now I just need some cheap transportation.

K first thing I will like to start off with is when im reversing I hear a chain like Grind. It also Grinds like crazy when putting it in reverse gear

but

If I stop and move through the other gears say 1 or 5 and put it in reverse it goes in absolutely fine. im assuming the clutch is fine since the car goes in gears 1 to 5 normally with a little bit of play in the shifter But if your easy with it and dont shift like your jerking off your fine.

And last nite when I was parking in, my brother noticed a alot of smoke coming from the hood opening in the middle of the headlights. I even smelt it when I was driving it back. Its a burning smell. The car wasnt overheating, the temp was normal.

My cousin said my Transmission fluid might be low but what do you guys think?

I also need to get the front drivers wheel bearing changed but thats no biggie.

I would really appreciate the input guys, oh yea it passed emissions with really good scores.

Thanks

check all the fluid levels......start with that...........

what year is your Z?




-----> Fast? I can beat a Camaro in a free fall... <-----

Hey bro, its a 1999

And you got it for 900 bucks!?

I hate you! j/k

Man, fluids are the life of any vehicle... you gotta make sure that they are all topped up and changed regularly.

The burning smell is not a good thing, and I would diagnose what is wrong before you drive it again. If it's not something as basic as fluid, have someone take a look at it right away, you don't want to give yourself bigger job because you damaged something that could be avoided.

I may be moving to Ontario soon, if I do, I can hook you up with some cheap tricks to spruce up your car.

T




-----> Fast? I can beat a Camaro in a free fall... <-----

I believe your Isuzu transmission does not have a synchronized reverse gear. The Getrag manuals do, and will not grind in reverse.

You have to hold in the clutch for a few seconds before putting the car in reverse, or if you are in a hurry, shifting into another (synchronized) gear beforehand will stop the clutch so the gear will not grind as it goes into reverse.

I'm not sure if the 99 2.4 has the bearing problem that the other Z's do, but if so, a little extra oil in the crankcase might be a good idea. Maybe some Z24 guys can confirm.

2002 Cavalier 2200 5spd

Reverse is a little weird on the Isuzu... I know when I bought mine 4 years ago, I took it to GM and had their mechanic take it for a ride. I didn't think it was right myself. It will grind if not babied into reverse, you can't just throw it in there without thinking like you can the rest of the gears.

... of course, that wouldn't explain the smoke coming from the front, that's what I would be concerned with...






-----> Fast? I can beat a Camaro in a free fall... <-----

Solid Snake wrote:I believe your Isuzu transmission does not have a synchronized reverse gear. The Getrag manuals do, and will not grind in reverse.

You have to hold in the clutch for a few seconds before putting the car in reverse, or if you are in a hurry, shifting into another (synchronized) gear beforehand will stop the clutch so the gear will not grind as it goes into reverse.

Yeah, like Solid Snake said, just throw it up into first and then back down into reverse and it should never grind. That was one of the first things I noticed with the Isuzu 5-speed: if you head straight for reverse, your transmission gets angry.

Hey guys thanks for the reply's, I took it to 2 transmission places today and they said the clutch isnt slipping but is pretty worn. 1 one them told me that if it was fine I should be able to push the clutch down with 2 fingers.

Mine is pretty hard though, but I can live with it for a couple months. I just took this cav on the highway and hit 180 until the stupid rev limiter kicked in and the car was fine.

And that was with the front bearings being gone.

Anyways my coolent is low I need to top that off and yea Russel make sure you give me a shout when you move to ontario, if you ever need any help or anyone near me for that matter feel free to give me a shout.

Lol man this car can seriously peel out in first gear.

As they all said, top off. Since the car is new to you, get a can of engine cleaner and take the car to the coin operated car wash. I'm guessing something is spilled on the exhaust. If your luck stinks, it's oil leaking out of the valve cover. A clean engine will make that easy to find. Good luck is just a spill that will wash off.

Funny that. I always by habit change into another gear before going into Reverse. Hondas, SAABs (the old ones anyways) and many other foreign vehicles have no Reverse gear synchronizer so you don't accidentaly pull gear R thinking about pulling gear 6 or gear 4. If it grinds don't force it. just take it back to N, put it in another gear then go back to R.


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We all drive in a yellow Cavalier...

I don't remember much about the J's I owned, but I do remember that in all three of them, if I shifted into 2nd, then reverse, it never, not once made any noise going into reverse.

Try that.





**there is only one true love in my life... and my girlfriend has learned to live with it**

Since the smoke came from the middle of the headlights, could be a radiator leak, this would explain being short on coolant, fill it up and keep an eye on it.