88 non turbo idle problem (new)
 

I just bought an 88 non turbo and have already fallen in love. The guy I bought it from said he put an r158 tranny in along with a new clutch. When I was test driving it it ran perfectly and shifted real nice, but being a dumb 19 year old I jumped on it on my way home. Now she still idles in neutral fine, but when a push in the clutch and put it in gear she starts to idle real rough and lunges forward if I'm not stepping on the break. It is also abnormally hard to put in gear and shift, and down shifting is damn near impossible. Could this be because the clutch is not engaging all the way? I'm not real good with cars so I really would appreciate any help!!

Also, does anyone know where I could get the manual? I can't seem to track one down

Thank you in advance!!

Check your clutch fluid level. My eclipse had the same problem one day when i had to drive almost 50 miles home. It would not change gears at all unless you had big bubba in the passenger seat with a hammer. Your clutch master cylender might be leaking and now the resivoar (sp?) is now empty and air is now in the master cylinder. As everyone should know, fluids do not like to compress like air does. So in short, the air in the clutch lines are preventing the slave cylinder from dis-engaging all the way. If that is the case, refill the clutch fluid reserve and bleed the clutch. Just make sure when your bleeding it that it never empties out so air cant get back in. You might also have to rebuild the master cylender so it stops leaking.

Ok now I know I sound dumb..where is the clutch fluid resivour located? I have no manual or anything :-(

on the firewall on the driver side of the engine bay next to the brake fluid resivor on the right

Thanks for the help guys..unfortunately as I was driving it around the block I think I found the cause..she almost made it to 150k miles with the stock head gasket.I know there is tons of posts about them..but would someone like me (who has a little but not a lot of car knowledge) be able to fix the bhg myself?

Sure, you could fix it yourself no problem. If you're good at organizing you'll be fine. Just remember where everything goes and if you forget how something goes on look thorough a manual on these forums. I'd recommend ARP head studs or bolts with hks head gasket.