Oh boy.... My car is batting a thousand... 1st gear woes

[Sirius Driver]

I cant win with this car. I had 1st and 2nd gear rebuilt but I just cant believe that after several attempts my 1st gear gets knicked if I try to shift into it at a complete stop. I have noticed that if I depress the clutch for 5secs then 1st gear will go in but I can feel it catch. It will also grind if I try to downshift into 1st while coasting below 15mph. This really blows. I just paid money for basically the same problem I had before. The good thing is 2nd is smooth to shift into. Am I being taken for a ride by my mechanic? Or do I need to break it in? What does breaking in mean? And yeah I can quickly shift into 1st if I touch 2nd, but I paid so that I wouldnt have to do that. Id be happy to just be able to downshift into 1st when approaching my driveway.

[porwolf]

Have you tried double clutching when going into first while still rolling? I do that routinely and 1st goes in much smoother.

[Sirius Driver]

Yea, but makes no difference. I just spent 30 mins driving around to see if I could find the right moves. But its just not panning out

[80-911SC]

sounds like your coupler may have some sloop in it .. or need to be adjusted ... Do you have a Bently or access to one .. if not do a search for The Coupler Whisperer and look at his thread .. he has very detailed directions to set your coupler .. I have posted in there also the directions .. although you do need a thrid hand or if you are very flexible you can reach back and preload the coupler to the right .. while holding the stick shift to the left and tighten the bolt down ( hense the third hand .. you can hold the stick in the crook of your left knee but it is not as easy and my back hurts after twisting that way .. its not natural )...

And the second question on breaking it in ... NO .. I don't remember in the owners manual any note on grinding gears until they stop grinding and get broken in .. that is Breaking them not breaking them in ....

Sounds like you need a new wrench ... your in LA .. you have a lot of choices ....I have bought from TRE and David is good to work with .. and I they get good reviews on here all the time .... May be worth a phone call or stop by ... and there are many others in that area ... Just do your research on them first .... And stay away

if the first name is motor and the last rhymes with shister

If you need help setting your tranny's coupler or checking it send me a PM with your phone number and I will give you a call ... I can talk you thru the process while on the phone .. I have done a few others the same way ........

Steve

[80-911SC]

You have a PM ..

Steve

[Tippy]

Trying to put it into 1st gear at 15 MPH is a little high I'd imagine. I always try to put manuals in 1st right before I come to a complete stop.

The lower the 1st gears are (like 915's and G-50's), the slower I believe you need to go.

American iron, I've found you can go a little faster before putting into 1st with their tall first gears easily.

Just takes experimenting with what the tranny likes best from my experience.

[Sirius Driver]

Originally Posted by Tippy

Trying to put it into 1st gear at 15 MPH is a little high I'd imagine. I always try to put manuals in 1st right before I come to a complete stop.

The lower the 1st gears are (like 915's and G-50's), the slower I believe you need to go.

American iron, I've found you can go a little faster before putting into 1st with their tall first gears easily.

Just takes experimenting with what the tranny likes best from my experience.

Doesnt matter, even if its crawling, it doesnt like going into 1st. Ido have a new coupler so an adjustment might be needed. I didnt have that issue before. Under 15mph is what id expect to be acceptable. im under 5mph when I approach a driveway, still no go.

[ivangene]

try a release of the clutch in nuetral before heading to 1st ?

sometimes that helps

[arry911]

I have to come to a complet stop to get 1st gear, same with reverse. But i find that if the clutch cable is ajusted right it goes in well.I also just pull away in 2nd if i have not come to a stop.

[Sirius Driver]

Gonna go for a spin, ill try anything. What do yo u mean by a release of the clutch in neutral?

[Tippy]

You kind of release the clutch a little to get the input shaft spinning a different speed than it was prior with the possibilty of syncing the engagement of 1st gear.

[Tippy]

I'd like to add there is a sweet spot in every 1st gear where once you find it will engage 1st easily nearly everytime with speed and pressure applied to shifter.

At least in my experience with many manual vehicles.

[LJ851]

If you cant engage a gear without grinding then the syncro is not doing its job.

There is a way to engage any gear in any vehicle any basically any speed. The job of a syncro is to allow a driver to shift the transmission when the input shaft speed and output shaft speed for the gear being selected are not the same. If you make the input (engine speed with the clutch engaged) and output (road wheel speed) for the intended gear the same, a confident shift into the selected gear will be effortless and smooth even without a syncro .

[Porchcar guy]

My SC would not go down to first without nicking it at any speed and up from first to second was not easy. I installed Ed's coupler and had the shifter stuff rebuilt and now I can pull it into first at speed with a bit of revs as I am doing it. shifting up to second is a joy, going to third is not a puzzle move and coming down from 5th to 4th is not a guessing game...Thank you ED for your coupler as my girl now shifts like a real car )

[porwolf]

Originally Posted by ivangene

try a release of the clutch in nuetral before heading to 1st ?

sometimes that helps

Yeah, wouln't releasing the clutch in neutral, reving the engine slightly above the anticipated first gear RPM's in neutral, and then going into first work. That is what I mean with old fashioned double clutching. When done right synchronistaion would not even be necessary when down shifting.

[john walker's workshop]

there's no break-in so it eventually stops grinding. below 10mph and not forcing it too quickly into gear, it should not grind. 15 is pushing it.