Hard to engage 1st gear after transmission oil change

[yasirkhanpk]

Last Friday, I went to the workshop for servicing and got my manual transmission fluid drained and re-filled with Warco Gear Oil SAE 90 since the transmission oil was now 6 years old although very low mileage on it.

After the transmission oil change there is difficultly when I try to engage 1st gear.

Sometimes have to force it in or re-clutch and re-engage.

Surprisingly, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th gears are quite smooth.

When the car is stationary there seems to be no problem while engaging 1st gear or any other gear. Now when the car is moving I cant engage 1st gear and have to do it by force. If the car comes to a complete stop I can engage the 1st gear very smoothly as if nothing is wrong.

Do you know what is the problem ? Anything wrong with gearbox, clutch or the manual transmission fluid ?

The second question is: Is there any problem at all ? I mean is it natural that 1st and reverse are not easily engaged when the car is moving ?

There was no problem before I changed the gear oil. The car in question here is Chevrolet Exclusive.

Help please

[daniyalahmad]

I would never reccomend you to shift into 1st untill you stop the car completely.
Shifting into 1st gear at speeds greater than 20~30km/h gives a jerk to your engine and might weaken the engine mounts/foundations.
About shifting into reverse on a car while it is moving forward will damage the axles and your gearbox may also suffer wear and tear.

[MarX]

OH MY GOD:o

why are you engaging first gear when the car is moving

i think u dont need to coz normally a car can turn on 2nd gear;)

[yasirkhanpk]

I would never reccomend you to shift into 1st untill you stop the car completely.
Shifting into 1st gear at speeds greater than 20~30km/h gives a jerk to your engine and might weaken the engine mounts/foundations.
About shifting into reverse on a car while it is moving forward will damage the axles and your gearbox may also suffer wear and tear.

When approaching a traffic jam from 2nd or 3rd gear or a huge speed breaker you tend to shift to 1st gear while at speed of less than 10 km/h.

Here I am not talking about shifting to 1st gear at high speeds. I never faced this problem before. It is just that I am experiencing this after gear oil change.

Unlike many people I never engage reverse unless and until my car comes to a complete stop. But reverse again was never as smooth as other gears and sometimes I have to try for 2-3 times to engage it properly.
After oil change engaging reverse has improved slightly but my concern is for 1st gear. That's why I also asked if there is anything wrong at all or is it just that I am not driving properly suddenly :).

[yasirkhanpk]

OH MY GOD:o

why are you engaging first gear when the car is moving

i think u dont need to coz normally a car can turn on 2nd gear;)

Yes car can turn on 2nd gear but when the speed is less than 10 or 5km/h every car will knock. So whenever I have to reduce speed to less than 10 or 5 I shift to 1st gear. I have been doing this since I am driving.

So again my question is.
Am I driving incorrectly or is there really something wrong ?

[capsat]

which car of what model -

[yasirkhanpk]

which car of what model -

chevrolet exclusive 2005

[capsat]

1st gear is to make car move and bring to momentum or when you are going uphill and coming downhill high gear is needed to control the momentum via engine with less strain on breaks, - IF shifting to 1st is swift smooth from static then attempting to shift in momentum, try to change driving style. I do not see any problem in the transmission, however you can ask the mechanic to checkup on the linkage & the shifting cables.

[yasirkhanpk]

1st gear is to make car move and bring to momentum or when you are going uphill and coming downhill high gear is needed to control the momentum via engine with less strain on breaks, - IF shifting to 1st is swift smooth from static then attempting to shift in momentum, try to change driving style. I do not see any problem in the transmission, however you can ask the mechanic to checkup on the linkage & the shifting cables.

Hmmnn ! But why didnt I face this problem before the oil change ?

And when approaching a speed breaker when the car is at a speed of 1 or 2 km/h we lose all power in 2nd gear. Some cars will stall on 2nd gear.
In my opinion there should be no difficulty in engaging 1st gear when the car is moving. Or maybe I am wrong :).

I got my gear oil replaced from Chevrolet Motors. I purchased gear oil myself.

[capsat]

thats why i suggested visit to workshop for check up of linkage & shift cables

[rockerguy]

its never recommended to engage first gear as long as car is moving... even at the speed of 5km/hr if you accelerate your car with second gear engaged, it will never knock unless you depress the accelerator completely.. so i believe that the best way to avoid it is to shift to second gear (while car is in movement) and depress your pedal lightly then as your car accelerate, degree of depression of pedal can be increased...

[alee1]

u r driving wrong my friend.change the habbits before its late.1st gear is meant for power drives...or to move a still vehicle.it does this because 1st is a torquier gear and when u change to first the momentum of car shifts to engine via a torqy gear and engine has to rev to match up with torque at that specific speed which causes sudden rise at rpms causing jerks.doing this practice can cause excessive wear of clutch plate at wear n tear at joints and mountings,also loss of bushes.
hope this helps

[yasirkhanpk]

Concluding from many posts I can see that my driving style is incorrect.

How does everyone approach a speed breaker ? The huge speed breakers constructed by awaam.

And why was this problem never noticed before ? I mean I was always able to engage 1st gear at very low speeds and it engaged without any problem.

[yasirkhanpk]

its never recommended to engage first gear as long as car is moving... even at the speed of 5km/hr if you accelerate your car with second gear engaged, it will never knock unless you depress the accelerator completely.. so i believe that the best way to avoid it is to shift to second gear (while car is in movement) and depress your pedal lightly then as your car accelerate, degree of depression of pedal can be increased...

point noted

[yasirkhanpk]

u r driving wrong my friend.change the habbits before its late.1st gear is meant for power drives...or to move a still vehicle.it does this because 1st is a torquier gear and when u change to first the momentum of car shifts to engine via a torqy gear and engine has to rev to match up with torque at that specific speed which causes sudden rise at rpms causing jerks.doing this practice can cause excessive wear of clutch plate at wear n tear at joints and mountings,also loss of bushes.
hope this helps

Let me change my driving style then

[yasirkhanpk]

After driving around 150 km I feel there is slight improvement in engaging 1st gear

[bluespark]

I put my car in 2nd when I approach the speed breaker and keep only enough speed to move the front over it, By the time my car's front moves over and other side, I bring my car to almost to stationary,then I engage 1st and moves the rear half.

I drive Khyber with CNG, and owner know it has low ground clearance. So I always pull my car to extreme left of speed breaker to avoid un necessary traffic stopping at my back!

And Yes I agree, never put first to moving car, only exceptions might be v steep ascend that you may sometimes encounter in mountainous roads.

Finally, in bumper to bumper traffic scenario, I never keep clutch pressed, rather I disengaged the gear as soon as my car comes to halt.

I wrote above lines to get the experts advise, Im I doing right??

[vyrus]

Faced the same problem in my old D series. I came to the conclusion that old oil was thicker and hence gear changing was easier and since I put in new oil, feeling of 'grr' when changing gear to reverse was more noticeable. I might sound stupid though but thats just what i think.