I have a 2003 5-spd OZ and after the engine/tranny has warmed up I find it difficult shifting into first gear. If I am going down the street coming up to a stop light, I'll push in the clutch and put it in first to start up again(obviously). When I put it into first it is not smooth and I have to push pretty hard to overcome the resistance. Is this a safety feature so that you know your going into first gear? Does anyone else experience this?

 

if your going like over 6 mph or something, it will jam ur gears, its a protective device that will not allow you to put it into first while moving..dont do this!! Your grinding your gears when you do! hope this helps.

 

Exactly. You need to slow down in order to put it in first. Sometimes, you might even need to double clutch to get it to pop in without grinding.

Don't try putting the car in first if you're moving, unless you know you're going too slow to use 2nd gear. It's best to slow down in gear, pop it to neutral when you're getting towards stall speed, and then stopping. Put it back in gear after dead stop. It's easy that way.

 

do not shift into 1st until you come to a stop (remember this: brakes slow the car, not transmissions)

 

Yes, it is bad for the tranny if you shift into first before you stop, its just trying to protect your car by doing that. Once you stop it goes in very smoothly.

 

The first gear in the Lancer is not sunchronized, which means the gears won't mesh easily while in motion going into that gear. HobieKopek posted a link to www.howstuffworks.com on synchronized gears.

But like they said above, don't try to shift into first unless you're completely stopped. The only other way to do it is to push the clutch in, rev the engine up to about 3000 rpm while shifting into 1st and then letting the clutch out. It works but is very hard on your trans and clutch. I try not to do it even on hairpin autocross turns. It's not worth saving the 0.1 seconds to me.

 

yeah... its normal, i noticed the same thing on mine, if you look in the book that came with the car i believe it says something about a "safety" feature that wont let ya downshift if you are going to fast for the gear

 

Found the link. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/transmission4.htm

But whatever you do, don't force it into gear. You will end up having the car towed to a service center to have the shifter put back on or worse (I did that in a Camaro once. Not fun to coast to a stop because your car is stuck in neutral and the shifter is pulled half way out)

 

I know I'm just jinxing myself here, but I downshift into 1st fairly frequently (usually in heavy traffic) anywhere from 1-15mph (usually while braking) with no problems whatsoever. If it feels like you're forcing, stop before you grind. Try again a second later and it'll go smoothly. Never had a problem and only ground the gears twice using this method. Would I recommend it? No. I don't know how badly I'm damaging my drivetrain. Am I really worried about it? No, not at this point. I've had no shifting problems in all my time driving this car aside from the shifter being a bit jumpy in 2nd (which apparently is the case on a lot of FWD MT cars) and popping out of 1st somewhat harshly during shifts at high (5,500+) RPMs. Those have happened since day one though, and I have no reason to believe that either is related.

btw, chances are if you're doing more than 15 mph you should be in 2nd anyway. That's something like 2k RPMs in second gera if I remember correctly.

 

Yeah, my car is jumpy in 2nd as well. But if you're not forcing anything, you're probably ok. I know my car would resist going into 1st at 15, but about 1-5, maybe up to 10 it will let me.

 

ya gotta be doing sub 5mph for it to go in smoothly... i am actually having issues when down shifting to second from third at about 20 mph, it jus doesn't like to go in dunno what the deal is, so now i just leave it in third when turning....anyone have any thoughts on that?

 

you have to be in complete stop!

 

try getting a turbo guys..and blow off to the atmosphere.. ur gonna have to shift to first everytime or.... i Garuntee u will stall.. as i do so often. I even bumped up my idle.. still wont help

 

Only on the stock ECU. The ECU not knowing where its air went and dumping fuel is a lot different than downshifting to first though.

I've deeefinitely shifted into first above 5mph which is also definitely above 0mph. And I've definitely done so on several occasions. It's sort of trial and error at first until you get a feel for it. Again, would I recommend it? No. Is is possible? Absolutely. I did it all the time.

 

I do it allllll the time or i stall.. i highly doubt its bad unless u rape the shift at like 30 mph and try to shift into first.. and andrew... sell me your wilwood BBU