I've finally found something with this new car to post about!
I'm trying to park it, and pull slowly forward in 1st. Go to put it into reverse, because I don't like the way its sitting, and nothing. I've got the clutch all the way out, giving it some gas, and the car just sits there. So I put it back into 1st and try again. Again, nothing. So I try 2nd and then reverse. Once again, no movement. So I left it where it was. Drove home, and reverse is fine now. This has happened once before. There was no grinding, no noise, no weird vibration of any kind.
From what I understand of manuals, this isn't possible. Any suggestions? I have no idea what the gear oil is or what it looks like, but I definitely think its time to look at changing it.
"That shouldn't be a problem, since I do regularly visit the realm of subatmospheric manifold pressures." -- vrg3
mikec wrote:Maybe I'll seriously think about that new clutch it needs....
I'm no experts on clutches. . . but I would think the linkage into reverse in the tranny is somewhat unique in the set of gears up in there. Might also be the tranny.
Stupid question: you're sure reverse gear was completely engaged?
I've taught a lot of people to drive stick, and I've watched a lot of them shift the lever to the right and back to get into reverse, get it kind of in there, find that it won't go any further, and assume they're in reverse. What really happened was they got the dog teeth to barely touch. Since reverse has no synchronizers, they were unable to engage reverse at all. The shifter more or less looks and feels like it's in reverse but the teeth aren't engaged.
When this happens to me I just engage neutral for a few seconds or move the car a couple inches forward in 1st to turn the transmission shaft a bit and then can usually get it in.
"Just reading vrg3's convoluted, information-packed posts made me feel better all over again." -- subyluvr2212
Nope, I can't say with 100% certainty that reverse was completely engaged. Having read that tho, it definitely makes me think you may be right. It was late last night, and I just went through the motions. But I figure after trying it a couple of times it would have gone in.
I'll keep an eye on it I guess, and try your suggestions if it happens again. And yeah, I'm still trying to figure this whole manual thing out.
"That shouldn't be a problem, since I do regularly visit the realm of subatmospheric manifold pressures." -- vrg3
Ah, if you're new to stickshifts, then I bet that's what happened...
Next time you're in the car, play with the shifter a little with the clutch depressed. If you feel carefully you should be able to notice the two steps as the shifter moves into a gear. It'll start to engage a little (the forward gears will have their synchros touch) and then it will fully engage. In the first stage the shifter lever will stay in the same place (i.e. it won't pop out).
On my car, the reverse lights don't come on until reverse is fully engaged... I don't know if that's sensitive to calibration and so might vary on other cars... but you might want to check that out. For me it's a good little bit of extra confirmation at night.
"Just reading vrg3's convoluted, information-packed posts made me feel better all over again." -- subyluvr2212
if you make a habit of turning the car on, shifting into 5th, never release the clutch, and move to reverse, that will never happen. I know why that is, but i dont wanna think about it long enough to explain it.
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On a lot of cars it's impossible to shift directly from 5th into reverse... there's a little cam on there to make sure you don't accidentally try to do it on a highway. I was pretty sure our cars had that feature too. You can go from 5th to reverse, scottzg?
I usually just shift into 1st before reverse...
The simple explanation is that reverse has no synchros, so you use the synchros on 1st or 5th or whatever forward gear you chose instead.
Just make sure the car is stationary.
"Just reading vrg3's convoluted, information-packed posts made me feel better all over again." -- subyluvr2212
Yeah, I usually go into 1st before shifting into reverse, and if that doesn't let me, then I start working up throught the gears (2nd then reverse, 3rd then reverse, etc). I've never had to get to 5th.
I know mine won't let me go from 5th to reverse.
While I can't say I'm positive I had it all the way in gear, I thought I did... Hrm....
I'll have to check out the reverse lights thing.
As always, thanks guys!
"That shouldn't be a problem, since I do regularly visit the realm of subatmospheric manifold pressures." -- vrg3
