1st Gear!

[scarey]

im starting to have a real problem getting first gear. and reverse can be a bit annoying :angry2: . if i lift my foot up a little of the clutch it kinda goes in ok. is it just me been a bit silly or could it be a sign of a problem? does any one else have this problem. when it went in for its last service they said they didnt notice a problem with the gears

[Raistlin]

How many miles has your car done ?

Do you ride the clutch pedal ?

Answers please ona postcard :D

[scarey]

iv only done 3100 not much. i dont think i ride my clutch.

[platinumpeebo]

I know what you mean i mean the clutch is fully depressed but its had to get the gear engaged. Also some times its hard to put it into second.

[TonyAYGO]

mine can be difficult to get into 1st sometimes, reverse isnt too bad though. I think the first gear thing is normal though, im sure its been mentioned on here before now

[zakelwe]

Yes it has been mentioned before, at the time people said it was "normal" however as it keeps being mentioned I think it might be a "feature" that is more of a feature on some cars than others. This will seem worse if you have come from a car with a smooth gearbox of course.

I don't have this problem as I have an MMT, but of course my car might drive straight over a cliff due to the sticky pedal. Remember Frank Spencer next to the white cliffs of Dover when he was hanging over it? You wouldn't want to park their in an MMT Aygo ! Talking of which, they sent me a letter about this a while ago but nothing since.....

Andy

[scarey]

i went to toyota to day and asked about my 1st gear. the man just told me 'instead of going straight from 2nd gear in to 1st, i should clutch down come out of 2nd, foot of the clutch then back on again go in to 1st'. so i said you mean double my clutch? yes apparently. we'l im not much of a street racer and this isnt the natural way for me to drive but i will give it a go. because my 1st gears is awful, i nearly stalled on a mini rounderbout today cus i couldn't get 1st. :ffs:

[seonaids little aygo]

wel lam glad that its not just me lol my car is so difficult to get into reverse sometimes am sure it even jumps out back into neutral its so annoying cant say i have ever had a prob with first gear its due its first MOT this yr so i may mention it then but am sure people will think that because am afirst time driver that am just imaginig it

[platinumpeebo]

Well glad its not just me!

[AygoYugo]

I always select first gear whenever I'm down to walking pace or less. ;)

The clutch gets too much (expensive) wear if we move off in second gear. :o

I reverse out of my garage every day.

Can't say that I have had any gear selection problems.

[Cyker]

This is normal if you're moving... I think it is a safety feature to stop the engine being overreved or something. My Yaris won't let me engage first above 8mph and resists down to about 4. My old Fiesta wouldn't let me goto first above 5 mph and resisted down 'til 2.

If it's hard to engage when stopped, there may be clutch issues or maybe damaged/worn gears?

I read somewhere that Reverse is often a bit tricky because it uses different types of gear which don't mesh as readily.

[scarey]

wel i took my car in to toyota yesterday. it has to go back next week. they said that my 'clutch pads where not meeting properly, so 1st wasnt engaging properly'

so they are going to strip back all of my clutch. so i wasnt going mad after all. there was sumat wrong with it. not just me been a female driver!

[miss_d_bus]

I don't have this problem as I have an MMT, but of course my car might drive straight over a cliff due to the sticky pedal. Remember Frank Spencer next to the white cliffs of Dover when he was hanging over it? You wouldn't want to park their in an MMT Aygo ! Talking of which, they sent me a letter about this a while ago but nothing since.....

I won't hijack his thread but found this funny: I indeed do live on the White Cliffs of Dover and had a sticky pedal. Where I live, getting over the edge isn't that accessible, though it doesn't stop people trying it and ending a few foot down in the trees.

[viper262]

Ive had this problem to going from 1st to reverse and the gear stick just wont go in go I release the clutch all the way then put it back in then it goes in to reverse i've learned with this problem bit of an inconvience but i am not going to start a war over it I Love My Aygo :)

[DONFRAMAC]

Ive had this problem to going from 1st to reverse and the gear stick just wont go in go I release the clutch all the way then put it back in then it goes in to reverse i've learned with this problem bit of an inconvience but i am not going to start a war over it I Love My Aygo :)

Almost all manual gearboxes have no synchromesh cones on 1st and reverse gear, so bad crunches can be expected if you try to engage these gears whilst moving. Baulking occurs, and the usual way around this is to engage a synchro gear just before one of these, or, dip the clutch and try again, after a 5--10 second delay. My Fiesta is bad for this, especially when cold, and this is with a special gear oil (Castrol SMX-S, fully synthetic multi-grade 75/90). I complained to my dealer, and the box got worse, as it can now jump out of 1st or reverse, so I think they tried to adjust the gear linkage, which can be tried on the Aygo, but luckily my wife has had no such trouble with her '55 reg Aygo+, nor her present Aygo Platinum, '58 reg, old model. Both very reliable cars.

I much prefer her gearbox to that on my '53 reg Yaris D-4D that I owned for 5 years, but that had to cope with a lot of torque, so the clutch and 'box were heavier.

The clutch in the Aygo got upgraded at some time since '55, as they used to wear out in ~1 year, with commuting use, with a lot of owners getting 3 new clutches in 3 years warranty, so the extended warranty deals look good. (~£350/year, up to 7 year-old)

[PaulT]

If you match the revs, give it a dab of throttle, you should have no problem getting into first from 20mph+ when the gearbox is warm, no grinding

Paul.

[scarey]

my car had to go back to the dealer. regarding my 1st gear problem at first they said it was new clutch pads! then they got back to me they said it needs a whole new clutch and drive shaft! its only done 3300miles. iv got it back now,three days later! it seems no different.

[T.F.S.B.I.G.W.S.]

my car had to go back to the dealer. regarding my 1st gear problem at first they said it was new clutch pads! then they got back to me they said it needs a whole new clutch and drive shaft! its only done 3300miles. iv got it back now,three days later! it seems no different.

Try putting into second then, without raising the clutch, shifting into first

[Clip]

Mine does that all the time, REALLY annoying.

[anguswalker]

i have the same problem with engaging 1st when comming to an end of a road it re-sists untill u are doing about 2 miles an hour is this right?

also it does the same when going in to reverse gear.... and i end up with the crunching sound is that bad for the cluch???

while we are on the subject my breack pads sound odd when breaking like they have ice attached to them like a crrrrrrrrccccccccccchhhhhhhh sound is this normal?

would be good to know answers

angus

[MikeSh]

i have the same problem with engaging 1st when comming to an end of a road it re-sists untill u are doing about 2 miles an hour is this right?

It's not exactly wrong as 1st is a low gear. Double de-clutching will probably help (Google it).

also it does the same when going in to reverse gear.... and i end up with the crunching sound is that bad for the cluch???

Well, if you try to put it in reverse at 2 mph then no, the crunching isn't bad for the clutch ... it's the gear teeth being ground off. Reverse doesn't usually have synchromesh, so you need to be stationary before trying to engage it. If it baulks put the lever back to neutral, lift the clutch for a moment so the gears are moved - DON'T rev the engine, wait a moment and then gently try to engage reverse again.

(When new the teeth have sharp ends so they will slip together when needed. Graunching them rounds and flattens the ends so they are more and more likely to end up butting together and not engaging. Oh, and you get bits of gear floating around the gearbox as well )

[Unklian]

i have the same problem with engaging 1st when comming to an end of a road it re-sists untill u are doing about 2 miles an hour is this right?

also it does the same when going in to reverse gear.... and i end up with the crunching sound is that bad for the cluch???

while we are on the subject my breack pads sound odd when breaking like they have ice attached to them like a crrrrrrrrccccccccccchhhhhhhh sound is this normal?

angus

The gears......Fairly normal.

In the gearbox are some things called Synchro - rings.

What these do, is match the speed of gears as you move the lever so that the gear teeth line up properly at the same speed.

So, If you were driving at 30mph and tried to select 1st gear, They would have to spin up the 1st gear cogs to massive speed really quickly.

When the gearbox oil is cold & viscous, this is difficult. You can force it to happen, but it wears parts quickly.

To be realistic, only engage 1st gear when almost at a standstill. When the gearbox is fully warm & the oil thinner, the problem goes away.

Brakes......Fairly normal.

Aygo brakes are excellent (For a tiny car) Years ago, brake discs were very expensive and lasted for years.

Today, they are treated as consumables. They are made of very soft metal.

The metal they are made of is prone to rust. After washing your car or even leaving it in a humid place overnight,

the discs will have a coating of surface rust. Your first couple of stops will remove this.

After a dry week in the summer, the problem will go away until either Autumn or......you wash your car.

Hope this helps.

Ian.

[anguswalker]

thnaks for the advice

that information really helps me out

thank you very much

angus

[Clip]

My aygo has the same problem. Was looked at twice. I just have to dip the clutch, blip the throttle then ram it in, was told "it's not a problem they all do it" it makes a racket but it is just in reverse and first so not a massive issue to me.