[777Jackpot777]

Hey guys so I’ve owned my 6MT for about 6 months now with roughly 5k miles on it and out of those miles it’s popped out of gear on me from a start in first about 4 times.

How it happens is I’m sitting at a stop I confidently put the car in first, sometimes I’ll do it twice just to make sure and when light turns green I start going. As I do that it will pop back into neutral with a large CLUNK sound? Could there be an issue with my brand new trans?

[SoCal Smith]

Are you sure you are fully pressing the clutch and fully engaging into first gear?

If you can rule out driver error. Dealer time :(

[Agent K]

Originally Posted by SoCal Smith

Are you sure you are fully pressing the clutch and fully engaging into first gear?

If you can rule out driver error. Dealer time :(

This^^^. Plus is this your first manual vehicle?

[Mark R]

I had a Toyota truck that did that after about 175,000 miles. Trans needed rebuilding. If it's not driver error, the dealer needs to get on it.

[Michael2000]

Sounds like something wrong with the first gear synchro. That will have to be repaired under warranty. They will likely replace the entire transmission.

[hawk02]

Originally Posted by 777Jackpot777

Hey guys so I’ve owned my 6MT for about 6 months now with roughly 5k miles on it and out of those miles it’s popped out of gear on me from a start in first about 4 times.

How it happens is I’m sitting at a stop I confidently put the car in first, sometimes I’ll do it twice just to make sure and when light turns green I start going. As I do that it will pop back into neutral with a large CLUNK sound? Could there be an issue with my brand new trans?

I've had this happen about a half dozen times in the two years I've owned my '17 ZL1 (7500 miles currently). It also happened multiple times with my 5th gen ZL1(14,500 miles at trade-in).

I don't think it's a transmission issue since it happens so randomly. There's just some scenarios where you push it into first gear but for some reason it doesn't fully engage. It's most likely driver error.

Now if it would happened every 2nd or third shift into first, then I'd say there's a problem the dealer needs to address.

[unavailablezl1]

I think that is the ZL1 speed shift function.

[Mountain]

Originally Posted by 777Jackpot777

Hey guys so I’ve owned my 6MT for about 6 months now with roughly 5k miles on it and out of those miles it’s popped out of gear on me from a start in first about 4 times.

How it happens is I’m sitting at a stop I confidently put the car in first, sometimes I’ll do it twice just to make sure and when light turns green I start going. As I do that it will pop back into neutral with a large CLUNK sound? Could there be an issue with my brand new trans?

Does this happen at random times or is this during, say, first drive in the morning with cold fluid?

I have for sure, in various manuals, during the first few minutes of driving, put the car into gear and it didn't go fully into gear, but sure as hell felt like it did; thus, the shifter popping back into neutral on attempt to accelerate. A product of cold fluid/the syncros not lining up completely and me not paying close attention/shifting too quickly [for cold fluid] into gear.

If the fluid is well-warmed/hot, the clutch pedal is fully depressed and you are damn-sure you have shifted completely into gear, it's 1st gear syncro time... If so, on the bright side, the Tremec has a reputable history and it should be good-to-go after the fix.

[777Jackpot777]

Originally Posted by hawk02

I've had this happen about a half dozen times in the two years I've owned my '17 ZL1 (7500 miles currently). It also happened multiple times with my 5th gen ZL1(14,500 miles at trade-in).

I don't think it's a transmission issue since it happens so randomly. There's just some scenarios where you push it into first gear but for some reason it doesn't fully engage. It's most likely driver error.

Now if it would happened every 2nd or third shift into first, then I'd say there's a problem the dealer needs to address.

This is my situation exactly I can’t replicate it, it happens randomly and not very often. Also no this isn’t my first manual vehicle, I would be terrified for myself or anyone bought this as their first manual vehicle lol. Been driving manual vehicles since I was old enough to touch the pedals.

[777Jackpot777]

Also being that it pops into neutral like that do you guys think this could have caused a little damage to the trans in anyway?

[Michael2000]

Originally Posted by 777Jackpot777

Also being that it pops into neutral like that do you guys think this could have caused a little damage to the trans in anyway?

I just realized that this has only happened to you four times. I retract my statement about any transmission replacement.



With only four times, I would say no, there is no damage. My Corvette does the same thing occasionally if I don't pay attention and shove it all the way into 1st gear. Never noticed any difference in transmission performance with 70K miles. When you put it in gear, be sure it is actually ALL THE WAY forward, not half way. Sometimes it can get a little hung up going in. If it does, put back it in neutral, let the clutch out, push the clutch back in, and push the shifter into 1st gear.

[angryBits]

Do you often coast to a stop without downshifting into second before going into neutral? Like say 4th or 3rd, then Neutral and stop?

In my 20+ years of driving a manual I've had over 40 cars (some nice, most junk) and I can confidently say that most cars do this.

If the synchros are not aligned with the stars when the wind is blowing exactly NxNE at 31mph on any day other than Tuesday, except when you're uncles' brothers' son had beans three nights before -- it *can* happen.

The gear should fit solidly into place if not or if unsure try this:
0. While stopped
1. Put the car into 2nd Gear.
2. Put then put the car into 1st Gear.

This aligns the synchros and should allow 1st to fully drop in.

This is a good habit to get into to. If you do this and it still pops out, guaranteed synchro malfunction. Warranty Repair.

[TurboBeezer]

I have the exact same issue. It happens sporadically, but I've been contemplating taking it in for warranty work. I can already imagine the scenario playing out in some tedious and nonproductive way because it is not consistently reproducible.

[ZL14ME]

I rarely downshift all the way to 1st before coming to a complete stop at a light. Usually I just coast up to a stop when casually driving. No matter what gear I wind up in when stopped I always go to 1st, back to 2nd, then back to 1st while I'm sitting at the light. Might as well call it an OCD type tick. I just always watched the ole' man do it. Never really had a reason or explanation.


I wonder if he was aligning the synchros? Guess I'll never know.