I've adjusted my clutch cable 3-4 times in the past few months with minimal drive time in between. I know what the first suggestion is... the clutch tube is still attached to the tunnel. Here are my symptoms:

Shifts perfectly when cold. After a few minutes it starts to grind in 1st and reverse.
Even grinds at a full stop after sitting for 30 seconds, clutch in, 2nd gear, clutch out, clutch in, 1st gear ... crunch..

Is it possible that my clutch cable is stretching that badly? The last few times I adjusted it at the tranny side the problem dissapeared. The previous owner didn't have a pedal board installed, so i wouldn't be surprised. Now I have an Engman pedal board in.

Thanks

This is what you are doing wrong. Try keeping the clutch IN while putting it in 2nd or 3rd and then into 1st. Don't let the clutch out between 2nd and 1st. Reverse you just have to take it easy with. Make sure you are at a 100% complete stop and that the clutch is depressed all the way. Then slowly put it into reverse. Or try letting out and pushing in the clutch a second time for reverse. For some reason it does seem to grind more when warm.

I'm sure this would help a bit... but adjusting the clutch cable made a world of a difference. After its adjusted it would never grind, at all. I tried clutch in 2nd, 3rd whatever then 1st. Just two weeks ago I could even stick it in 1st with the car moving slowly.

Do you have the double nut locking the adjuster?

What kind of fluid is in there?

Yes... i'm almost out of adjustment. I think there is about 1/2" left.

Not sure what fluid is in there. It drives perfectly for a month or so, then it needs a clutch cable adjustment.

You can remove the nut and add some washers, this will give you some more adjustment.

bent shifter fork

actually I have no idea but a guy I know in his WRX had the symptoms and that's what it turned out to be

Check inside the center tunnel. The clutch tube may be coming loose on your....

--DD

I'm Going with Bad pressure Plate, Cracked right around where it meets the throw out bearing. Maybe not visibly cracked but all it's spring has been sprung.
Yes you will still be able to drive and shift, And yes adjusting the clutch cable will appear to fix it. But over a peroid of time will worsen. Pull the motor change the Clutch disc and pressure plate, and what the hell Put in a new o-ring around the flywheel and change the rear seal and throwout bearing while your down there.
That's a sure fix.

Hows your ground strap onteh tail of the tranny? Yes I am serious. Not the most likely culprit, but everything else was mentioned.

Bad ground = clutch cable is new ground = streaaaaatch = break = lots of cussing.

Sorry about that yarin. That was just my experience. Guess your problem is more serious than I though.
But alot of great suggestions here!
Hope you find the solution soon and it doesn't raide your pocketbook.

Before you go taking it apart first check your clutch tube like dave said. If it is

broken away in the tunnel but not at the firewall the wall can flex and you loose

adjustment. A cable is cheap compaired to the other things you mentioned, get

a new one and use the old one to pull the new one thru. If the cable is good

you can keep it in the spare tire well as a spare, and if it isn't your better off.

If I drive mine hard, to make the trans shift optimum I will have to adjust my

clutch, once a month sounds right.

The plastic ball cup is going bad. Had the same problem, look at the position of the fork relative to the bell housing with the clutch pushed down. If the cable/tube/roll pin in the pedal asm. is the problem this dimension will not change after adjustment. Once the fork is against the bell housing after adjustment you will have to drop the engine and go inside.
I kept adjusting, shimming with washers until the steel pivot ball sheared.

Yup after your post I thought the same thing. Easy to fix butr required to pull transaxle. You can do this leaving engine in car. I would and have.
little plastic pieces sure can be a PITA. but your symptoms are classic.

check that your not melting the cable by heat or bad ground .just last week my cable was touching my header and had the same problem it i saw/smelt the problem, frw years back had a bad ground that caused a similer problem

Ok, I don't get the bad ground. Are you guys saying that the clutch cable becomes the ground and the increased resistance causes it to heat and lengthen. That causes the clutch to be out of adjustment It sure seems like there would be lots of electical problems too.

Live and learn I quess

Dave

I had a fire in my car that was caused by the clutch cable, the accel cable and the driver side E brake cable becoming ground.

It was mad, melted a lot of wires.

Over a weekend I fixed it all up.

b

Interesting.... I swapped the motor a year ago, haven't driven it much at all. Maybe 15 hours total since then. Clutch disc looked new, not sure about the pressure plate. I remember the plastic ball cup that you are talking about. Sounds like a classic problem.

I'll check the gap between the fork and bell housing before and after adjusting to determine if the problem is that ball or cable, tube or pedal related.

Thanks for all the great suggestions!