My car used to be a daily driver but now it sits in the garage. I drive it every couple of weeks. I usually leave it in 1st gear when the car is sitting in the garage and I don't use the parking brake.

When I first start the car I try to put it in reverse but it won't go in... so I try to slide it into 1st gear and it won't go in. I have to first slide it into one of the other gears before it will go into 1st or reverse. After that everything works fine.

Think this is a problem or normal? This only happens when the car sits for a couple weeks. Other than that I never experience the problem. I can drive it around all day and it always slides into gear.

 

Here is a quick tip, anytime you have a problem in engaging a gear, simply put it back into netrual, let the clutch go, repress the clutch and retry engaging the gear. It should do the trick

every manual car does that here and there. At least every one of them i have driven.

 

I usually never try to put any of my manual shift cars into 1st. gear unless I go to 2nd. and then down shift into 1st. Always seems to "wake up" the syncros enough to smooth things out.
A good habit to get into at long traffic lights, or when coasting, or practically anywhere you would normally have the clutch depressed, is to put it into neautral and let the clutch out.

 

From my experience in driving sticks, your clutch is going out. Replacement should be easy for an experienced mechanic and would not be covered under warranty.

 

Use the parking brake ..... trust me ~~~~~~

 

It can't be the clutch. It has always done this since new.

 

Then do as Stogey said, leave it out of gear and use the parking brake.

 

I will try that and see what happens. The only time I have ever engaged the parking brake was when I park on a hill.

 

It is a Musclefan said. What you describe is the "dog teeth" which can make gear engagement difficult if the happen to align by chance a certain way and no shaft is moving. This is easily remeadied by letting out the clutch in neutral and then shifting into gear after pushing back in on the clutch pedal. If your clutch were bad, you would hear a grinding noise everytime you tried to put it in reverse with the engine running.

 

This the answer for this thread buddy. Trust me

 

Cluch pedal linkage (fluid low, Master cluch cylinder or slave cylinder) could be the problem. Shifting into 2nd, 3rd, 4th, ect. gives you more leverage over the spinning cluch disk. Somewhere some how the cluch is not completely dis-engaging.

 

I beleave there is a TB on this also....

 

If there is a TSB on this, please point me in the right direction.

Black: sometimes it is hard for me to get into 1st as well, I actually do as AMX was saying, go into second all the way and downshift to first, always smooth...

 

I use mine every day and this is your answer. Once the gearbox is upto normal operating temperature it just glides into gear without issue.

If the clutch was on its way out it would slip under hard acceleration and you would smell it. You would know by the smell as its disgusting, much like rotten eggs or an eggy fart.

 

Here's what I Got.

 

Any manual tranny, Always start in nuetral and then shift into 2nd before going to first. The condition you describe is NORMAL until you wear your synchros down a little. If they line up tooth to tooth with the master cluster not spinning, the synchros do not work. You are simply jamming synchro teeth together.
Letting the clutch out in nuetral spins the master cluster and then the syncs will work.

Simple really.

Same thing with reverse when you haven't moved or let out the clutch. Double clutchers would do this automaticaly 'cause they know what is actually going on inside the gearbox.


roadster with a stick

 

Chris you are the man!

Does anyone know if cars not under warranty are covered by TSBs free of charge?