T56 grinding into 1st gear

I know it's not a camaro, but I also know you guys are a lot more knowledgeable with t56 and ls series motors than most of the cadillac guys, and for obvious reasons, plus I know a few people with t56's have this issue.

So, please, let's pretend this car is an LS6 powered Z28 for right now.

So my car was getting increasingly more difficult to get into gears, namely 1st, 2nd, and R. I did some research and saw about bleeding the clutch, which I did.

Now the car pops into R and 2nd almost flawlessly, as well as any other gear, except for 1st.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04NYbCM6DiU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5VTyxB5zaM

one video is of me trying to get it into 1st at a stand still, and the other is of me trying to get it into 1st with the clutch fully pushed down at about 3-4 mph approaching a stop sign.

Don't worry I did it in a vacant parking lot. phew.

The car otherwise runs great, I can wind out 1st the whole way, hit 2nd and go through all the gears at high RPM's without any slippage.

Another curve-ball is that if i'm sitting there with the car running, no pedals being pressed, I can push the gearshift forward into 1st, and it makes the grind sound. No other manual I've driven has ever done this, and this car doesn't even do it in 2-R.

It goes into gear perfectly fine when the car is off (which I'm hoping eliminates synchro issues).

It also makes it easier to get into 1st if I downshift into 4th then 1st, and rev it up a little so it slides into 1st better, which makes me think some kind of clutch engagement issue.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so what are my options?

P.S the bleed method I used was opening the bleeder, putting fluid in the res, letting it drain and continuing the fluid runoff for a while until it leveled itself off at "max" with no air or bubbles coming from the bleeder.


Today I was going down a hill and decided to try to downshift into first, it ground, and I became frustrated. I said hell with it, and just pushed, it ground like a bitch but it slid in.

my guess is the syncros. sp

Could you give the title of the video you made because the link you put on the post for some reason is incomplete

Mmmm.... I dont think there is anything wrong with it, but then again I'm not there, right.
Ok, is this recent?

If not, let me explain.
I have a 00 firebird 5spd, and I too had the same problem, in a way. When ever I shifted to first, it too would grind like yours. And especially when I would shift into reverse. So, I got in the habit of (with the car on ofcourse) running it through 3rd 2nd and then 1st, and the same when I needed to go in reverse, well for that I would go 2nd 3rd 2nd then reverse. My point is that I would kinda loosen the tranny, well atleast thats the best explaination I had for myself.

Now, does the clutch feel different?
yeah, like when you shift. Is it to high or too low?

Have you done the service to it?

Mmmm.... I dont think there is anything wrong with it, but then again I'm not there, right.
Ok, is this recent?

If not, let me explain.
I have a 00 firebird 5spd, and I too had the same problem, in a way. When ever I shifted to first, it too would grind like yours. And especially when I would shift into reverse. So, I got in the habit of (with the car on ofcourse) running it through 3rd 2nd and then 1st, and the same when I needed to go in reverse, well for that I would go 2nd 3rd 2nd then reverse. My point is that I would kinda loosen the tranny, well atleast thats the best explaination I had for myself.

Now, does the clutch feel different?
yeah, like when you shift. Is it to high or too low?

Have you done the service to it?

when i shift, it's completely fine. clutch feels fine.

i have a 79 camaro that had a simular problem. after a rebuild of the trans. found out the trans was not the problem. the pressure plate in the clutch had some broken springs. replaced it and the grinding went away. i had the transmission out at least 7 times befor i found this problem.