can't put the trans in 1st or 2nd gear sometimes

lalojamesliz1

New member
it happened again today at a stop sign. I had to start in 3rd gear (kept rpms low to not destroy clutch)
it only happens once in a while. sometimes I can shove it in 1st not very hard and one time I wasn't having it so I forced it into 1st.
normally when that happens i would put it in 2nd then it would go in 1st but not today.
I'm looking at replacing my shifter bushings but I'm worried it's the trans. fluid is good and full. what do you guys think?
156k miles on my gen2 st185 trans.
 

lalojamesliz1

New member
Rick89GTS":uaokuqvd said:
Have you looked at the slave cylinder?

no I haven't, I usually push it in all the way down though. the fluid had about 4k miles since I flushed it. before I flushed it with my motive bleeder it had lots of sludge/silt in the reservoir and the fluid was black!
do I just look at how much it travels when I push the clutch pedal? if it was the slave cylinder wouldn't it do that to all the gears instead of just 1st and 2nd?
 

Magroo

New member
I have a very similar problem. My current guess is it's either the release bearing, the clutch is dragging, or the synchros are gone. I have no confirmation on any of those things yet. I plan on taking it to a transmission shop just to get a second opinion.

I may opt to get an st205 transmission depending on what it is.
 

lalojamesliz1

New member
Magroo":29z89apd said:
I have a very similar problem. My current guess is it's either the release bearing, the clutch is dragging, or the synchros are gone. I have no confirmation on any of those things yet. I plan on taking it to a transmission shop just to get a second opinion.

I may opt to get an st205 transmission depending on what it is.

I don't think it could be the release bearing, I installed a new aisin clutch and oem release bearing 4k miles ago but you never know right?
I had this same problem on a 87 5 speed Toyota pickup previously had for a while. that one did have about 170k miles on the original clutch though. I replaced the slave cylinder on it and that didn't help.
I'm thinking it's the trans but I'd hate it if it was just something small.
 

alltracman78

Active member
Start with the shifter bushings and sugar cube [do a search]. Then shifter cables.

Unlikely it's the clutch or related if it's only 1/2.

It's possible the linkage in the transmission is the problem. 1/2 shares a linkage.
1 and 2 have separate synchronizers. They do share a synchronizer hub.
 

lalojamesliz1

New member
alltracman78":2a5lh2h6 said:
Start with the shifter bushings and sugar cube [do a search]. Then shifter cables.

Unlikely it's the clutch or related if it's only 1/2.

It's possible the linkage in the transmission is the problem. 1/2 shares a linkage.
1 and 2 have separate synchronizers. They do share a synchronizer hub.

will do. thanks man
I just drove it to pick up my daughter from school and didn't have one issue......I hate inconsistent problems
 

underscore

Well-known member
Start with the linkages, try putting it into 1st gear manually at the transmission and go from there. That'll tell you if the problem is inside or outside of the trans.
 

lalojamesliz1

New member
underscore":1kuj9p96 said:
Start with the linkages, try putting it into 1st gear manually at the transmission and go from there. That'll tell you if the problem is inside or outside of the trans.

I'll try that. I noticed that while I put it in 1st sometimes it glides right in sometimes and other times it feels like it gets caught on a lip half way.
 

lalojamesliz1

New member
the drive home this morning was interesting, it was hard to put in 1st or 2nd gear but only those gears every time I came to a stop. once I put it in those gears when I was a a stop, if I put it back in neutral then back in that gear it was easy.

it was a chilly 34 degrees outside. I thought once I got home (7.4 mile trip) the trans would be warm enough and it would stop that but it didn't stop that issue. man I hope it doesn't continue because then I'll be worried about driving it. I'll try again later as the weather warms up today.
it's funny, now that i replaced my rear subframe bushings and welded my diff mount to eliminate the rear clunk and now that i finally got rid of the engine/alternator noise through my speakers this starts :doh:
I'll have to check it soom
 

Magroo

New member
lalojamesliz1":14z20jew said:
the drive home this morning was interesting, it was hard to put in 1st or 2nd gear but only those gears every time I came to a stop. once I put it in those gears when I was a a stop, if I put it back in neutral then back in that gear it was easy.

it was a chilly 34 degrees outside. I thought once I got home (7.4 mile trip) the trans would be warm enough and it would stop that but it didn't stop that issue. man I hope it doesn't continue because then I'll be worried about driving it. I'll try again later as the weather warms up today.
it's funny, now that i replaced my rear subframe bushings and welded my diff mount to eliminate the rear clunk and now that i finally got rid of the engine/alternator noise through my speakers this starts :doh:
I'll have to check it soom

You are describing the symptoms I have almost exactly. I went so far as to flush the transmission and use redline 75w-90ns with absolutely no change. I also changed the shifter bushings to solid brass and that didn't help. For right now I'm just living with it. Blip the gas slide it in to second and then in to first. It's become almost habit.
 

alltrac801

New member
I had very similar problems with mine where 2nd was difficult sometimes but not always. I just decided to keep driving the car and eventually 2nd was really hard to go into so I would just shift from 1st to 3rd. One day I was driving to buy some tools and I was determined to get it into 2nd. I did, and snapped my shift cables in the process :doh:
 

lalojamesliz1

New member
alltrac801":3faqn36d said:
I had very similar problems with mine where 2nd was difficult sometimes but not always. I just decided to keep driving the car and eventually 2nd was really hard to go into so I would just shift from 1st to 3rd. One day I was driving to buy some tools and I was determined to get it into 2nd. I did, and snapped my shift cables in the process :doh:

yeah that's worries me. I thought it was happening because of the colder weather but his morning was slightly colder (31*f) and it shifted fine without any extra force???? she is playing with me again!

are replacement shifter cables still available?
 

alltrac801

New member
I think the alltrac's have minds of their own and always mess with you lol

I wasn't able to source exact cables for the All-trac. but thanks to this forum I found out you can make cables from the a gt work and I believe the cables from the STX are an exact fit.

If you do some searching you'll find my older thread about shift cables and other member giving me advise. I still haven't replaced my cables but when I do I'll let you know what I find out.
 
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