Searches came up empty – which has me a bit concerned.
(This is for my wife’s manual Integra.) When the car is cold, the shifter will not engage first gear (clutch fully pressed, cannot push shifter into first gear slot). Reverse gear is fine. After it does FINALLY allow first gear, going into first seems to get better as the car is driven (perhaps related to the engine warming up). It has been cold here the past few weeks, so I’m not sure if weather is the problem or if it is a coincidence. The car shifts normally through fifth all other times.
Any thoughts on this? Bad fluid? Bad synchros? What’s causing this “denial” of first gear?
hmmmmmmmmmmmmm… reverse is fine but 1st is not. interesting…
i would start with some fresh fluid from honda. i dont know about there, but here its 40$ to get the transmission drained and re-filled. it made a world of difference for my car…
determine if it’s temperature related or engine speed (high idle). cold engine, block the fitv port. use tape. start the engine and see if it will go into first with a low idle. if it does, it’s probably a synchro issue.
I would check the clutch cable as well and the lever arm for the throw out bearing. I had a problem where I thought my clutch was toast but in reality the lever arm was binding up and not letting the throw out bearing completely disengage. I ended up having to take the trans out and spend 3 hours working the lever arm back and forth and then I finally freed it from the transmission. I then sanded it down real well and applied a bunch of moly to it and it has been working great every since.
First off, have you checked the fluid level? and what fluid is in it? Next, does it go into 1st easy before you start it? If so the clutch might not be 100% disengaging. Check clutch cable adjustment and make sure there is freeplay at both ends of the clutch pedal. If that doesnt work, with the engine running put the car in neutral and let out the clutch, then try pushing the clutch back in and shift to first (sort of like double clutching). This will mechanically sync the shaft speed and if it goes in easy, would tell you the first synchro is worn out.