1st & Reverse Gear Tricky

scuderiatc · Dec 25, 2006

I have an 82 gtsi. When I come to a stop, it will often not go engage 1st gear, (although it goes into the gate) unless I try to then engage reverse gear, (which will grind a bit) and then try 1st again. Only then will it engage first gear.
Has anyone else experienced this? I understand that the 308 is very finicky regarding shift linkage adjustment. I am hoping this is all it is. Other than this anomoly, it shifts very well well, and even goes from first to second smoothly and quickly.

I appreciate any imput.

maurice70 · Dec 26, 2006

Tee not sure if this is the case for you but I had the exact problem in my gearbox which was recently overhauled with new1st and 2nd syncrhos.My car would have no problem when the car was cold but after about 1/2 hour of driving it 1st gear from stop would intermittently not want to engage.No problems with reverse though.After reading up on various people's experience with similar sort of problems I changed my gear oil over to Redline and it has fixed the problem.Although I wouldn't also discount a selector shaft alignment problem in your case

330gt · Dec 26, 2006

I think that your clutch is not dis-engaging completely. By forcing it into reverse (with associated grinding), you stop the shafts in the transmission. Then you can engage first.

To test, the next time it won't engage, make sure the clutch pedal is fully to the floor. Wait 10 seconds or so (plenty of time for the shafts to stop rotating) and then try and engage reverse. This should happen easily without grinding. Similarly try first after a delay. If the gears don't engage easily, look into a clutch adjustment. If they do, you have shift lever alignment or another transmission problem.

You could have some carpet bunched up under the clutch pedal preventing complete dis-engagement.

scuderiatc · Dec 30, 2006

Thanks for the info. I will look into the suggestion about the clutch engaging fully. Its possible that that I do in fact have the carpet bunched up, as the problem is somewhat intermittent.
Reverse is never a problem to engage, and the shifter doesnt grind when trying to engage first. Its just when I come to a stop ocassionally, I put the car into first gear position in the gate, but when I let the clutch pedal up, the car is actually in neutral and of course goes nowhere!
When this happens, if I immediately press the clutch and try to engage reverse, it grinds a bit, then goes into reverse gear. Then I declutch, and try first gear, and it engages normally.
I recently had a major service done on the car that required the shifter linkage be taken apart. My mechanic said that it was possible that when it was put back together and I drove it, we may have to adjust the linkage. When I got the car back, it did not want to go into reverse at first, but I let out the clutch, revved it a bit, and engaged the clutch and it went into reverse with a little bit of grind. After that, no problem with any gears, until a few days of driving, then this issue with first.

gatsby · Dec 30, 2006

I think it is your linkage that needs adjusting. I had to adjust mine when I had the same problem.-had to start from 2nd several times from a stop light cuz the car would not hit the 1st gear, although the shifter would go into the 1st gear gate.

It is actually very simple to adjust once you get to see the inside of the transmission and can definitely be done by "feel" without dropping the trans pan.

There is a solid round rod that connects to a turnbuckle that is locked on both ends with nuts. When you loosen the rear nut (closest to the end that goes into the oil pan) you will be able to rotate the shift rod and "feel" the link to be centered between 1st gear and 5th gear. You will need to put the shifter on 2nd gear first before you do any adjustments.

It probably sounds a little confusing without pics but I think some people have posted pics of the trasmission open and you will see what I mean about positioning the linkage in the center.

gatsby · Dec 30, 2006

I think it is your linkage that needs adjusting. I had to adjust mine when I had the same problem.-had to start from 2nd several times from a stop light cuz the car would not hit the 1st gear, although the shifter would go into the 1st gear gate.

It is actually very simple to adjust once you get to see the inside of the transmission and can definitely be done by "feel" without dropping the trans pan.

There is a solid round rod that connects to a turnbuckle that is locked on both ends with nuts. When you loosen the rear nut (closest to the end that goes into the oil pan) you will be able to rotate the shift rod and "feel" the link to be centered between 1st gear and 5th gear. You will need to put the shifter on 2nd gear first before you do any adjustments.

It probably sounds a little confusing without pics but I think some people have posted pics of the trasmission open and you will see what I mean about positioning the linkage in the center.

gatsby · Dec 30, 2006

I think it is your linkage that needs adjusting. I had to adjust mine when I had the same problem.-had to start from 2nd several times from a stop light cuz the car would not hit the 1st gear, although the shifter would go into the 1st gear gate.

It is actually very simple to adjust once you get to see the inside of the transmission and can definitely be done by "feel" without dropping the trans pan.

There is a solid round rod that connects to a turnbuckle that is locked on both ends with nuts. When you loosen the rear nut (closest to the end that goes into the oil pan) you will be able to rotate the shift rod and "feel" the link to be centered between 1st gear and 5th gear. You will need to put the shifter on 2nd gear first before you do any adjustments.

It probably sounds a little confusing without pics but I think some people have posted pics of the trasmission open and you will see what I mean about positioning the linkage in the center.

scuderiatc · Dec 30, 2006

Thanks for the info Jim! I will try that tomorrow.
I think that will probably be the problem. As I mentioned before, it shifts fine otherwise.

Thanks again,

Jbryant · Dec 30, 2006

I had the same thing on my GTSI. Would not go into reverse all the time. Turned out it was the Shift Shaft Bearing (See Pic). Replaced the bearing and new seal and everything was great.
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