We are having transmission issues with our 88 suzuki samurai.  About a month ago we started noticing that it was getting hard to get in gear.  It doesn't grind gears and it doesn't pop out of gears once it goes in, it's just really hard to get in gear.  You have to use a lot of force on the stick to get into second and third.  The clutch doesn't slip and it works fine.  We've also tried flushing the tranny, but it still does it.

Any ideas?

Sorry man, I'm new at this, I'm not actually answering question, but want to knwo how to ask a question on the main sight. I have a question about mounting a Geo tracker power steering on my 88 sammy.  I would appreciate the help, thanks

Sounds a lot like your synchros are going out or are gone.  Try and double clutch when you up shift or down shift into 2nd or 3rd.  If you dont know how to double clutch this is how you do it:
driving in first getting ready to shift to second push in the clutch pull the shifter to neutral, then let the clutch out, give the engin a small rev say 2000 to 2500 rpm.  Push in the clutch and then shift to 2nd. You can do this with any gear.  The rev in neutral is pretty much dependent on what RPM you pushed the clutch in at.
If you woundering what the point of the double clutch is, its to by pass your synchros, in older cars they had no synrhros just stright cut gears so you would have to get the transmissions RPM matched with the engines RPM.  It will take a little bit to get used to if your first trying it, but once you get it down it can become natrual.

Also if you go to put it in gear and you hear a faint whining noise while your trying to push it into gear. Thats the synchro not allowing the shift to be compleated.


Hopes this helps


Amilla

OK, we tried the double clutch thing and it still shifts hard.  We don't notice any whining when we shift.  Anything else to check?

i would bet money the clutch needs adjusted, or the cable is split and not disengaging the clutch fully....if the cable is original i would say to go ahead and buy a new one now, before the old one breaks and leaves you driving with NO clutch pedal at all....

If you buy a new clutch cable get a real suzuki clutch cable.  Don't buy one from a parts store.

I would tend to agree that the there is nothing wrong with the tranny but here is a quick test.

Is it hard to get in gear when the engine is off?
If not then the clutch is not disengaging completely. Likely a cable issue. Adjust or replace