I've had this problem for awhile although I think it's gotten worse over the past few months. The problem is that it's difficult to shift into 1st gear. It seems to be a lot more difficult if the car is moving at all, for instance if I am going 10mph (or even like 3mph sometimes) and try to shift into 1st gear I hear it start to grind and I let off. When I'm stopped it never grinds although does 'stick' as I shift. The strange thing is that at times there is no problem at all and it shifts incredibly smoothly, I have noticied that this happens for the most part when I am stopped on an incline (such as a stop sign on a hill) and have the car in neutral and shift into 1st, it is like butter.

Any thoughts? I've searched some and heard about people having trouble with 5th gear but never 1st. Once I get into 1st gear the rest of my shifting is very smooth and I don't have any problems. I did have the guys at Corksport take a look at it once time when I was over there and they said it all seemed normal, so maybe it is although it sure doesn't seem like this should be occuring.

 

yeah if your rolling forward slowly, its extremly hard to put into first. I think they are all like that. Mine does the same thing so sometimes i start in 2nd and its all good.

 

I have the same thing. If I'm rolling slowly and apply a bit of brake it will usually slip right in.

 

I believe it's suppose to be like that. It prevents overreving from a missed 2nd to 3rd shift.

 

Totally normal dude...It sucks, but it's normal. Let's allow one of the geniuses to come and explain EXACTLY why that is.

 

Mine's the same. I just don't downshift to 1st.

 

mine does that too, try bleeding the clutch

 

Ok well at least it's normal. The clutch was just bled last weekend when I put in new super blue brake fluid.

I would be interested to know why this is the case, I can downshift into 2nd when I'm going like 45mph with no problems, but can't downshift into 1st when I'm going 5mph, be interested to know why.

 

i think its so when you upshift to 3rd u dont throw the **** in 1st. same thing on my friends BMW. Like when im stepping on it, and throw from 2nd to 3rd, i just push straight up and it goes into 3rd. back when i first got the FD, it tried swerving into 3rd but would miss and hit 5th. Just the way it is.

 

Umm, yea. EVERY manual car I've driven (3 sports cars, 2 econobox's) won't let you into first until you are going super slow....why? Because first gear is the worst to "Miss-shift" into...so naturally...if you're slowing down and want first too soon...it WILL NOT let you until you come down to a very slow speed, until then there's always second gear.

I'm sure there's a system/math behind it, but I thought most guys who own manual cars simply know this? You don't ever "Downshift" into first. You use it to START moving, not to gain speed at any slower speed, thats what second is for...

 

I assume its normal as well. It can't be due to a worn part at least it does not seem to make much sense. I will attest to the second to fifth gear debacle. I did that once getting on the freeway and was lucky not to pass out from the clutch oder.

 

If you tap the gas to match the revs you can normally do it. Also ive heard you have to "train" your tranny to accept it. Mine normally slips in pretty easily. My friend with an RX8 "trained" his tranny to do the same. Weird. Maybe trained means wear something out.

 

Just as one last thought on this thread, I adjusted my TPS last night due to some bad idle problems and it solved a lot of my difficulties of getting into 1st. At least now if I'm rolling along at 3mph I am able to shove it into first without the gears grinding, I believe this is because the incorrect TPS setting was applying partial throttle at all times. My green/red wire on the TPS which is supposed to be between .75 and 1.25V was at 1.8V at closed throttle, it's not at 1.05V and everything seems a lot better.

 

It's called a double-clutch downshift. The reason the tranny wont go into first when the car is moving fwd is because the speed difference between the tranny input shaft and output shaft is too great for the syncro to match up the linear velocity of the teeth. So ya gotta give it a little help. put the tranny into neutral, take your foot off the clutch, blip the throttle to rev the engine up to about 4k rpm, then quickly step on the clutch again and the trans will slip right into first. Of course there are limits, if you ought to be in second anyway, just put it into second.

Mike Parsons

 

I'm able to shift to 1st at 20mph...

 

i have no problem shifting it into first at 5 or even 10mph

my problem is shifting it into 1st while at a standstill..