is it possible to go into first gear from neutral?

hi guys. i have a question about manual stick driving. whenever i am in neutral and the light turns green, i can never put it into 1st gear. i always feel a resistance and i don't want to force it into 1st gear. i always try to get it into 1st gear when i am under 5 mph but it just never goes in. am i doing something wrong? is it possible to get it into 1st gear? since 1st never works, i put it into second and the car is like shaking. is this good for my car? what do you guys do in this situation when you are rolling in neutral and proceed under 5 mph? thank you!

 

what you can try, is try moving ahead at the red light in second, then try to put it into first..The synchros may not be lining up perfectly. Do you just throw it in neutral when you come to a light, or do you down shift? 5-4-3-2-1-N

If all else fails, take it to toyota.

Also, fill your profile out

 

I do it all the time. Coast up to the stop, drop it in first and take off. Do the same thing downshifting...no issues at all.

Not sure what you got going on with yours.

 

Mine goes into 1st just fine if I'm sitting still, it's a little more resistant if I'm rolling when trying it but can be done

Using 2nd to start off in is hard on the clutch cause you have to slip it which increases wear and decreases the life of it

 

I know exactly what you're talking about. My old Neon did the same thing. I think it's a safety feature to prevent you from accidentally putting it in 1st at high speeds. You don't really need to "force" it, just press a little firmer. On mine, it loosened up after a while.

 

if thats a safety feature then it dont work on mune
when i was first learning to drive a manual i accualdentally put t in to ffirst going like 30 and all it did was rev my motor up high and made my rear tires kinda stop for a second

 

thanks for the help. how much more hard should i do it? i've already tried pushing it pretty hard into 1st when i was rolling my car at about under 5 mph. it just feels so wrong like i am going to break it. what is the proper way anyways? do most people put it into 1st going under 5 mph or keep it in second? the car is rolling so slowly and i'm not sure what gear it should go to either 1 or 2.

 

thats how my integra was and it had no torque, so i really couldnt not stop at lights. just plan ahead and take the turns quicker at speeds u normally would use second

 

My does not like to go in to 1st when moving, except when I'm almost to a stop. It's a real pain... If I roll up to a red light, and I'm about to come to a stop, and the light turns green I'll usually just keep slowing down until the tranny lets me go in to 1st. It probably ticks off the people behind me but oh well... At that speed I don't like accelerating from 2nd because it lugs big time.

 

what do you mean by lugs? do you mean it shakes or something? is this bad for the car? since i can't get it into 1st, i always put it into 2nd and feel the shaking. is this bad?

 

Maybe try double clutching and give it a little gas to rev match a little better... I know what you're describing, but never really had that problem...

Also, I try to never be in neutral unless I'm stopped at a long light... I upshift and downshift as necessary, but am always in a gear... I feel you have more control of your vehicle and it is safer in all situations that way...

 

The rpm levels do not apply to your truck, but the concept is the same.

 

hey man, my prelude kinda had that problem every once in a while...when I was at a complete stop i would have to let the clutch out almost to the sweet spot and push my shifter into 1st gear and it would go in, then I proceed to the sweet spot and apply gas and what not.

You're car should go into 1st at 5 mph, thats a pretty low speed, your synchros may need some adjustments but try the above and see if that works for you.

 

My manual is tough to get into first quite often as well. What I find works, is either just holding some constant pressure on the shifter just as I'm almost coming to stop until it pops in, or sometimes I find it necessary to let the clutch out just a little bit while holding pressure on the shifter and it will then pop into gear.
Hope this helps a bit......

Also, you DO NOT want to put it directly into second like that and get that shudder. You're lugging it at far too low RPMs if it is doing that. If its really necessary to go into second instead of first, make sure you slip the clutch until it gets up to enough speed that it wont lug the engine. Its harder on the clutch and will wear it faster though so only slip it in 2nd if you cant hit 1st.

 

hey thanks for the help. what is the general rule when the car is rolling at about 5 mph? when do you know to put it into 1st or 2nd, what mph is your indicator?

 

I'd say that 10 MPH is typically my cutoff for deciding which gear. You'd still need to slip the clutch a little when going to second at that speed, until you reach maybe 15 mph or so.

 

For me, (your milage may vary) I use second as long as the truck is still moving. First if I am stopped. If you are sitting at a light in neutral, try putting it in second, not letting off the clutch, then right up into first. I had trouble with my 04 going into first, so I developed this method, and it is just habit now, so I can't really tell you if the 07 will go into first without first being put into second.

 

so even if your car is moving very slowly, you put it into 2nd? you only use 1st from a complete stop? do you use first for anything else? so it is totally okay to put it into 2nd as long as the car is moving(even at 2mph)?

 

It seems totally ok to me, to put my 07 v6 6-speed into second as long as the truck is still moving forward. I experience no engine lugging when doing it this way. I'm not sure what year, engine or trans you are asking about, so I can not answer that with 100% certainty, but if memory serves I did the same with my 04 4-cyl 5 speed. I'll also use first on steep grades when towing, and not even bother going for second.

 

Double clutch it. My old Tacoma was same way when trying to get it in reverse.