I've always found changing from 1st to 2nd a little dicey with my 8.

Does anyway else have probs with it or is just my bad driving or something wrong with my manual gearbox ?

Cheers

 

1st to second should not be an issue. The only times my gear box is difficult is moving from any gear down to 1st unless i'm moving at a crawl. But that's to be expected due to the syncro setup.

I'm not a professional in this arena, but I'd recommend having the dealer look at it. Even if they don't do anything, you'll have documentation of the issue before the transmission dies on you.

 

"Dicey" is a little vague IMO. Do you mean a bit of a hesitation or "bump" just before your in second gear?

 

Yes, there is a bump just when I disengage the clutch. Some times it's fine, other times it's not. I just can't seem to constantly flow from 1st to 2nd, no matter how quickly or slowly I release the clutch. I usually change into second at around 10-15mph.

The other gear changes (2nd to 3rd etc) are sweet.

 

Timing. I've found the same -- the 1-2 shift is best done a little slower than all others. From 2-3 on, it's flick-flick.

 

Try pausing momentarily in neutral as you shift from first to second. Especially when the transmission oil is cold and thick.

 

I have the same thing in my car when it is cold, once it is warm, it is the same as all of the other gears. I plan on changing to synthetic after I get 5k miles on the car, hoping that will help the shifting. The fluid in the tranny is very thick, and when cold, it is really thick. Doubt there is an issue with it, most manuals that I have driven have always had a little bit of a bump or click from 1st to 2nd when cold, but that has always gone away once everything is up to temperature. The 8 seems to behave the same way.

 

I take it one step further when the car is really cold. I double clutch. Go from 1st to neutral, let the clutch out, then back in, and then shift to 2nd. This was how you HAD to shift before syncromesh. After a little practice you can do it pretty fast!

 

Mine is a little "dicey" on the 1-2 shift when cold. But fine when warm. I took mine into the dealer at 1000miles to be looked at. They said it was fine, but at least its documented if a problem develops later. At 15,000, its still the same, no worse, maybe slightly better.

My "dicey" doesn't sound as bad as yours. Mine is stiff and makes almost a slight thump/click when going into gear. I read a review in C&D and their test vehicle did the same thing.

Mike

 

Yep, me too

 

Mine too. But when I drove the 8 at Mazda's ZoomZoomLive, the gear change was like slicing through butter with a hot knife. All the gear changes were so smooth.

 

Same here. I don't have any problems getting it into 2nd, but it's not quite the buttery-smooth feeling of other gears.

DOWNshifting into second has always annoyed me. I always get a "thump" sound as it goes into 2nd (clutch in whole time, revs matched), exactly like the sound when you rush it into first from neutral at a stoplight: in third, clutch in, match revs, slip into second... THUMP... clutch out.

 

Alnielson, bet the tranny was good and hot at ZoomZoom. Mine is smooth then too.

Mike