hard Shifting gears

So at idle at a stop it is hard put into all the gears? Then if you shut the car off it goes right into each gear?

Hi CAROL,

It sounds like the clutch disc is starting to fall apart not allowing the input shaft of the transmission to slow down or stop which makes it hard to shift gears, the cost on a new clutch for your car should run about $850.00 to $1050.00 US depending on who does the work i.e. the dealer or an independent garage.

Please let us know what you find so it will help others.

Best, Ken

What usually happens on those Saturn's if that's the case is the pressure plate has lots of little fingers that pushed down by the clutch fork and throw out bearing.Over time the ends of the fingers wear and get distorted leaving different heights of the fingers.So only part of the clutch disc gets released.Also is the clutch pedal have pressure all the way down or does it drop some before there is pressure?

SaturnTech9. My car shifts easily when I turn off the engine. With the engine running, it is hard to put into gear.

So does the clutch pedal have pressure all the way down?Or does it drop some the have pressure?

Also it's hard to shift into all the gears?or just some of the gears?

It is hard to shift from 2nd to third, from fourth to fifth and from fifth down to first. Normally, it is easy to shift from 1st to 2nd and from 3rd to fourth. It is difficult to get it into reverse from any gear.

It really sounds like the clutch is having a problem. Like the input shaft is not stopping which would indicate a clutch problem.

Iam going to ask one more time when you push the clutch pedal down is there pressure all the down?or does it drop some then get pressure?If it has pressure all the way down you need a new clutch kit put in your car.

No, the clutch pedal has pressure all the way down.

Then you need to replace the clutch