hard to put in first gear - Honda Forum / Acura Forum

boosted bb2 · 02-16-2007, 02:43 PM

whenever im sitting at a light or i coming to a stop and try to put it in first (after pushing the clutch in of course) its really hard. i practically have to slam it to put it in first. the rest of the gears are fine. anyone know why?

Dooday08 · 02-16-2007, 03:31 PM

Well im not sure if this is your problem, but when i am in the same situation, a complete stop, sometimes it only goes halfway int first. If i jam it in, it grinds, so the first time it happened I kind of freaked out, put it in second, and just gave it a little more gas. The next time it happened I noticed if you just let off the clutch normally, while "halfway" in first, as soon as i roll it pops into gear. Overall, when this happens all I do is put it in neutral, let of the clutch, get back on the clutch, and put it in gear again. It hasent failed me yet. Oh and FYI it doesnt happen often at all. Does yours happen every time?

JRamos015 · 02-16-2007, 04:08 PM

Id recommend checking the clutch.

Rick V · 02-16-2007, 04:18 PM

all manual tranny's do that. put the shifter into first easily as far as it will go and start letting out the clutch. it should suck it right into gear.

HondatechAV6 · 02-16-2007, 06:51 PM

if you are sitting at the light it should easily go right into gear.

if you are rolling, it will have some resistance if you're moving fast enough.

is there any grinding? is the fluid old? honda recently came out with an updated manual trans fluid. go and buy a few quarts and renew the fluid.

last but not least, is your clutch master cylinder fluid reservoir full? it's not uncommon for the clutch master cylinder to leak. look under the dash where it connects to the clutch peddle. is it wet or even dripping? if so, replace it. this can cause a difficult shift into first from a dead stop.

94PreludeJDM · 02-16-2007, 07:14 PM

Yeah happens to me too. You can even just quickly put it into second and then first, which usually works for me at a stop. Usually I do what everyone else has said though and just start rolling by letting the clutch out and it pulls it in.

G2IntegraGS-R · 02-16-2007, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HondatechAV6

if you are sitting at the light it should easily go right into gear.

if you are rolling, it will have some resistance if you're moving fast enough.

is there any grinding? is the fluid old? honda recently came out with an updated manual trans fluid. go and buy a few quarts and renew the fluid.

last but not least, is your clutch master cylinder fluid reservoir full? it's not uncommon for the clutch master cylinder to leak. look under the dash where it connects to the clutch peddle. is it wet or even dripping? if so, replace it. this can cause a difficult shift into first from a dead stop.

On point as always.

Vertical_Zer0 · 02-16-2007, 08:26 PM

Transmission fluid is always a good thing to check first. My old accord (pre-prelude) had a bad master cylinder and all the fluid leaked out, but I didn't know that was the problem at the time and I somehow got the car home. Checked the fluid and it was bone dry - not good!

boosted bb2 · 02-17-2007, 07:41 AM

i do the thing where you let clutch out until it goes in. but its been doing it a lot lately. almost every time i come to stops. i checked out the clutch when i had to replace the engine and it was good. i changed the trans fluid during the summer. ill check the master cylinder though.

AaronW · 02-17-2007, 05:12 PM

Mine does this as well, I simply put it in neutral, let off the clutch, then put the clutch back in and it shifts fine.

My problem I have that I can't really seem to figure out is my second gear, it does the same thing where it only goes halfway into gear, it's real hard to pull all the way unless I'm at like 1k rpm or shift at like 5mph.

G2IntegraGS-R · 02-17-2007, 10:28 PM

I just picked up the new MTF for about $18 for 3 quarts. I havent put it in yet tho.

rich045 · 02-17-2007, 11:07 PM

just dont put it in first

lol jk, if it grinds, could be the synchros (spell check?) or the clutch.

lOOkatme · 02-18-2007, 07:03 AM

Let off the brake....and let the car roll either forward or backwards...car should go into gear.

boosted bb2 · 02-18-2007, 08:23 AM

the clutch master cylinders fine. i guess its not a big deal then. i didnt know if it was normal or not. thanks guys

HondatechAV6 · 02-18-2007, 08:26 AM

well, how is the slave cylinder?

and if that's ok, and the clutch is ok, to me it's not fine, and i'd start with putting the new honda manual trans fluid and driving in stop and go traffic for 10miles to get everything nice and lubed. if it's still having the problem i'd:

depending on your mechanical skills, rebuild it

or live with it.