Shifting Into First Not Possible...
 

Today I tried to down-shift from 2nd to first gear and it just wouldn't go. My RPM on 2nd was at about 3k. Then I pushed really hard and it went into first. But I had to push really hard. I don't think that is normal.

I mean for a 40k car, shouldn't it have a smooth shift? Has anyone else have this experience? It is really frustrating me.

I am going to take it to the dealer very soon. I just hit 1k, so I need my first oil change anyway.

yeah i have to be going really slow to have a smooth shift to first its irritating so i usually leave it in second if im at rolling light

Why would you downshift from second if you're still rolling? There's no point.

How is the transmission otherwise?

nothing to take to the dealer about, you basically have to double clutch for the 1st to engage if the car's moving. The syncro just isn't able to mesh for that gear if the speeds are too different, a lot of us have noticed this characteristic.

Just slot it into 2nd for the corner...

:facepalm:

My wrx was like that too so no suprise for me driving the Z. You just have to double clutch if you want to get it in 1st while still moving. But like someone else mentioned, I'll usually just leave it in 2nd while rolling slow.

After reading a lot about MT problems, I seriously believe it is people who don't know how to drive a manual and are learning on this Zed. As a result this MT is being abused by people who do not know how to drive a manual.
Really you would only put it in first if you were crawling at say, 2 to 4 mph, for everything else just leave it in second, I am assuming traffic conditions.

why the hell would you downshift to first exactly? if you're going to do that, just pop it into neutral..

:iagree: thats what i do as soon as i see a red light

Yup. Especially after I read the trying to shift into first while at 3000 rpms.

:facepalm::facepalm:

highly recommended - don't downshift to 1st
 

You would not need to downshift to 1st gear, as 2nd gear is the most suffice for maximum downshift. You're just putting unnecessary shock to the transmission if you downshift to 1st, so don't do it.

Yes you can shift to first gear. Take a look at this video:

Start watching from 3:47 if you don't want to watch the whole video. Tiff Needell will shift from 2nd to 1st.




I personally avoid this with the Z because there no need for it. I do it if I am slowing down to like 3 -5 MPH (or if I need rapid acceleration).

Thanks for the replies.

For those of you who chose to attack me, can you explain to me why I would NOT be able to down shift into first? What is the mechanical limitation?

I have often noticed that it is hard to shift into first or second, I think it is worthwhile to understand why.

Have you guys actually tried to down-shift from 2nd to 1st? Is it very hard to do? Or impossible?

Hard to do on my G37S

Dear AK370Z,

Have you ever down-shifted into first yourself? Could you do it? Did you use a lot of force to shift?

Very hard to do. And those weren't attacks... they were love taps. :tup:

If you are going to shift into 1st you better have SRM on. Otherwise why would you want to? especially from 3k???

yes I did. Yes I can do it but I prefer NOT to do it because it's kinda harsh going into 1st. It does require quite some push to do it. Coming from 350Z, I know how sensitive Nissan Transmissions are (usually synchros ). I just don't want to visit the dealer for any transmission problem(s) .

It's probably a safety feature put on by nissan to stop you from doing it. Most auto manufacturers design their cars so that they do not go into 1st very easily unless the car is stopped or going very slowly. The actual act of downshifting into 1st isn't bad when done correctly, but can be very expensive if you get it wrong.

1st is for starting to get the car rolling, all the other gears are for while it's in motion.

Being that 1st gear is your main gear because its the one thats always being used out from a complete stop, theres no good reason to subject the transmission to this type of downshifts, But again it's yours to do what you want with, it's your transmission, but if you start Posting with I'm having Transmission problems or my 1st gear took a dump will at least know why....

yes there is "sort of" a physical limitation, to avoid from shifting into 1st gear while you have second on redline and attempting to go into 3rd.

once you slow down enough, then the limitation will go away and you can slip it into 1st, but this is so slow that there's almost no reason to do so. if your already moving but want a faster start in 2nd, hold the clutch in and feather it out while reving the RPM high.

never never never try to force the car into any gear. if it wont go smooth, then you can possibly bend/damage something by force.

Could be a lockout, similar to reverse where the transmission will lock out the gate while moving to avoid an accident in addition to blowing up your transmission. Otherwise, take it to the dealer because if there is not lockout your car should be able to be shifted into 1st. Of course, as other said, it's not something you'd want to do unless you are going very slow.

The limitation is the ability of the synchro to match the vastly different speeds of 2nd and 1st gear. 2nd gear at 3k will put you at a very high rpm in 1st, and that is a HUGE speed for a synchro to accelerate up to.

Either 1 - Double clutch (neutral, clutch out, rev to the rpm it should be at in 1st, clutch in select first), or 2 - don't shift into 1st at that speed.

You never want to force a transmission to do anything...ever. That's how you break things, whether it's a synchro, shift fork, or detent bushings. If the transmission doesn't want to do what you're asking, you're either asking it to do too much too quickly, or it's broken.

In this case, it seems like you're asking it to do too much too quickly, especially since at 1k miles it's hardly broken in.

becuase you need to rev match and if you were at 3K in 2nd, i would floor it to 5.5~6K to get into 1st.

not really mechanical limitation, more like driver limitation.

I don't see the use for 1st gear while moving.

and it being hard to push into first gear is normal as far as I know

Clio couldn't do it.
megane coupe couldn't do it
megane CC
master.

no single car I have driven shifts easily into first gear while moving.

sure I can force it. but if I DARE do that with the master it starts making noises.

the bad breaking cogs noise.

I am sure that it is on purpose.

I mean going from 2nd to first from 3000 RPM would result in near redline revs.

not good for the transmission

true, i dont see myself downshifting into 1st from 3K in 2nd in my z....but in my honda fit, different story. i need to get my vtack dosage every time. :p

Looking at the gear ratios, 3000 RPM means you're going about 28 MPH. Downshifting to first at that speed means your RMPs need to jump to just a bit under 5000 RPM. I echo what most people are saying here - that's a tall order for your syncomesh.

:iagree:

Who in the hell taught some of you to drive?


1st gear is for a "dead stop start"!

Don't-Do Not-Shift into 1st gear if you are moving.>>> "Unless" your engine coughs-sputters, leave it what ever gear your driving.

The same people who spin out when they turn VDC off. :p

I haven't gotten my Z yet, I have never owned my own MT car, only driven those of friends, and i know never to shift into first while moving at any sort of significant speed. definitely not if i'm at 3k in 2nd.

Totally bad idea to shift into 1st gear...especially at that speed. The 2nd gear is very good. I pretty much been in a dead stop in second and never had a problem. I usually dont shift into first unless im at a light. At stop signs I keep it at 2nd because ill still be rolling very lightly

Yeah I have never, ever heard of anyone shifting from 2nd to 1st at 3k RPMs.

I only go into first if i'm going about 3 mph or stopped. 2nd gear in this car has enough torque to keep the car going without stalling until you hit like 1 mph


:facepalm:

:bowrofl:

I was once going like a little bit over 5 mph and i couldn't get into 1st. I felt something pushed it out and I didn't force it since

:iagree: its probably designed like that so you wouldnt mis shift trying to go into 3rd and end up going into 1st going WOT @ 70mph and blowing your transmission

lol..its possible and the dealors gonna tell you the same thing all of us did.. dont do it.

Which a friend actually did in my 911 (I was passed out in the back seat) :mad:. The mechanic said he found pieces of the engine an inch away from where they were supposed to be (although he was prone to exaggeration so he might have been full of it).

Why are you downshifting into first? That's insane.

:drama: