914 Shifting Into 1st Gear When Completely Stopped Problem
 

I am having a problem shifting into first gear when completely stopped.
When I come up to a red light and come to a complete stop, I have the clutch depressed and put it into neutral and then release the clutch. While I am sitting there, the red light turns green and I depress the clutch and try and move the shifter into 1st gear. Sometimes it will just go right in. Other times I cannot get it to go into 1st, I can find the slot for it, I just cant get it to go down the slot far enough to actually get in gear. I then have to put the shifter back into neutral and release the clutch, then depress the clutch and try for 1st gear again. Usually it will go in on the second time.
If I try and put it into reverse or 2nd gear with the clutch depressed and then back into 1st, this does not help, I have to put it in neutral release the clutch and then depress the clutch and put it into 1st gear.
If the car is moving, shifting into 1st gear is not a problem. All the other gears, including reverse, is fine.
Another problem which I think is related is that if I depress the clutch while in 2nd gear, stop the car and turn it off and release the clutch. (Just like parking the car in 2nd gear). I then depress the clutch and try to shift it out of 2nd gear while the car is off, I am unable to get it out of 2nd gear. It gets stuck in 2nd gear. To be able to get it out I have to start the car, release the clutch slightly so that it starts to engage, and the depress it fully again. Once I do that, I am able to get it out of 2nd gear.

I have brought the car to a professional shop to get it fixed. They rebuilt the transmission (sync rings, 1st dog teeth, 2nd dog teeth, 1st slider), put in a new clutch kit, new shifter crown bushings, shfter base, and shifter was adjusted. Also I have new motor and transmission mounts.
However, even after all this the problem is still there. The shop says they cannot do anything about it and said it is fairly normal for 914s. Kind of frustrating to have a lot of work put into it and it still is not right. :mad:

Any ideas?

What year 914?

I had a '70 with a "tail shifter" that was so much harder to get into [the right] gear than my '76 side shifter could have ever been.

If it is a tailshifter, it will NEVER be as nice as whatever else you might be used to. I recall the occasional trip to 2nd in order to get into first.. I recall putting in first just as I was stopping.. lots of "tricks" but can't say I ever found the "mechanical" solution.

Oh, sorry, its a 1975 914 1.8

Probably not what you want to hear, but my experience jibes with what the shop is saying. My '73 side shifter, with brand new bushings, is still really finicky going into 1st at a stop light. When sitting in neutral at a light, if I gently push on the stick towards 2nd gear a bit, it seems to spin things up. I then push in the clutch, wait a couple-three seconds, and then it will slip cleanly into 1st. If I fall asleep and miss the light changing, when I shove in the clutch and try to bang it into first, I'll either get a bit of grind, or it won't drop in to 1st. I then have to double clutch it to get it in. For whatever reason, if I make a downshift to second when approaching the light, I don't usually have that problem.

Other than this, the transmission shifts as cleanly as I could hope, using that Rube Goldberg-ian contraption with the six foot linkage! I seem to remember similar behavior in my '74 Super Beetle back in the dark ages.

-- John

I bought my first 914 a month ago.

My father-in-law restored an old 1940's Dodge pickup. When I drove that I had to "double clutch" when down shifting because there were not any syncros. My 71 914 is not a "super smooth" shifter either and somtimes when I shift into first, it is not 100% smooth. In my uneducated opinion, I think the older cars are just finicky and we forget how the old cars operate sometimes.

After I flushed and changed the tranny/diff fluid and also lubed the gearshirt rod attachment (tranny end), shifting improved considerably.

Did you/they replace the fire wall bushing?

Same issue with mine but I think it is the clutch tunnel which is a nightmare! I would check and see if the clutch tunnel came disconnected and needs to be re welded.

I have this same syndrome with my 74. I have replaced all the bushings and switched gear lube, Wevo trans mounts, and it still does it.

I have a 70 914 that was converted to the side shift box and it seems much better.

I spoke to a guy today that says it is the shift fork being worn causing this and will eventually fail.

My wife absolutely hates this problem. I have gotten a bit used to having to double and sometimes triple clutch at the light to get it to drop into 1st. Sometimes still not fast enough though.

I agree. Had the identical behavior in my '76. Found the clutch cable tube detached in two places aft of the shifter.

Was able to locate the approximate positions by tapping on the clutch pedal and listening for the cable tube bumping against the tunnel. Removed the shifter and verified with inspection mirror/flashlight.

Isn't there a thread in the tech area that documents the repair of this problem?

Clutch must fully be disengaging to shift into 1st gear. ADJUST IT!!!!

Might want to pull the rear cover off the trans and look at 1st gear I bet it is all boogered up by now.

Even with a linkage in adjustment and all bushings good this sometimes happens.

What I do habitually is, from neutral, depress the clutch and move the shifter slightly toward 2nd gear. When you feel some resistance then smoothly move the shifter into first gear. It may work with other gears as well, I don't know.

But this works on all 901's, 914's and 915's that I've driven. Gotta love those synchros.

I recently started having the same problem in my '76. If I gently engage reverse first (must be completely stopped) it will drop into 1st easily. I guessed the first gear synchro was going out.

This is in no way "normal" or acceptable. As mentioned, it may be a clutch problem due to the tube. An easy diagnostic: If it grinds going into reverse then your clutch is not releasing completely. The cause is either cable adjustment or the clutch tube in the center tunnel has broken its welds. There are several fixes for the tunnel.

Some of the others need to adjust their shifters better as this is not an OK thing to have, should not be, and can cause expensive damage. I have a write up on this, it is in PDF.....and is hosted on WORLD so can not access at this time. Let me see if I can copy here. The graphics may be an issue.

I'm going with slider being "mushroomed". If it goes into gear fine "sometimes" then some of the slots in the slider are in better shape than others, along with the dogteeth being bad.

Who has the business now, Mike?

I still have the business. As for a mushroomed slider, he said that a shop replaced all this and the problem did not resolve. It may be mushroomed now, but I do not think it was the cause.

I cant find 4th gear on my 76' 914, any ideas?

John

Only 4th? Not 2nd and R as well? If it is only 4th then you need to open the gear box up and fix it. This is a very odd failure and likely due to maladjustment of something for an extended period of time.

I rarely drive my 914, it has 48,000 miles on it, 1,2,3 and 5th works for now

I've had this same problem and it seems to periodically pop up when I need to adjust my clutch cable. I added a spacer to get a little more adjustment. I lost forth and fifth gear last year while driving and found out my shifter bushings were crumbling and some were just worn. Replaced those and got the gears back. No expert but those are just my personal experiences.

That is exactly correct. However, no external issue will explain the loss/problem with a single gear. External problems take out multiple gears, internal can take out one. So, the box needs to be looked at.