Gears Changing Down

[dkirton]

Hi

Let me just start by saying this may be a stupid question.

When changing down from 3rd, 4th, 5th to second I cant engage second unless im at exactly 10mph, is this correct.

I am unable to Get first gear untill im at a complete standstill, is this correct.

The main problem im having is if im crawling under 10 mph I cant get it into 1st so I stay in 2nd then if I try to speed up the car judders like its in too high a gear.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received im not the most experienced driver but I have never found this problem in any of the other cars I have driven.

[Jan&tone]

Hi there

No it's not a stupid question at all !!!

What speed should you change down? depends on why you are doing so really....

If you are changing from 5th to 4th to get a bit of oomph or climb a hill (bearing in mind you have to do this quite often in the Aygo) then 5 to 4 is simple at 70 and if the hill is steeper then you have to listen to the engine....

If you are changing down approaching a roundabout or a junction, then you only change down just before you arrive at the hazard to enable you to accellerate away from it... ie 5 down to 2 at around 8-10mph.... others may well disagree but.....

[AYGOgummy]

Well I can change down to whatever gear at pretty much any speed really, I can often change down to second at 20mph if I need to slow down. So your car shouldn't be preventing you from changing down a gear at whatever given speed. May be an idea to get it checked out at Toyota?

[Essex Toura]

defo a check needed wint mr T as it may be a gear sync issue, had one in the past when i couldnt keep the car in 5th

[PumpkinSteve]

I don't know, none of the cars that I've owned have been able to go from 5th to 2nd unless I slow down significantly like you mentioned. You're not supposed to change down to first gear as far as I know, I just rev it in 2nd then slip the clutch out to stop it doing the 'kangaroo' thing...

[Cyker]

Short answer is maybe and yes: Pretty much all cars have a safety mechanism on 1st and R which stop you engaging them above a certain speed to avoid catastrophic engine damage.

Generally this speed is around 3-4 mph I think, although I think I broke the one on my Yaris as I can sometimes force it in at 8-9 mph if I do it quickly before the engine rev drops!

I've never hear of a similar gate on 2nd tho'. May just be an Aygo thing...? It seems odd tho'; It would seriously ***** me off if my car did that, esp if I was trying to go up a steep hill!!!

However, you should be able to idle at 10mph in 2nd and still have a fair bit of pull without kangarooing! There's deffo something odd there.

I wonder if your clutch is a bit iffy (dirt?) or something... but regardless; the standard counter for kangarooing is to dip the clutch and then smoothly and gently re-engage it while applying more power, or simply apply the power more gently and let it accelerate at its own pace instead of forcing it.

[jjj_aygo]

I can change down into second at 55/60 ... just blip the throttle to match the engine speed to whichever gear you want :)

Or you could just fork out for a nissan 370z whose gearbox does this automatically!

[viper262]

Wierd never heard of your car not changing down gears is your car MMT or Manuel sorry if you have mentioned it but i haven't noticed it ;), for gearing down i knock the gear down 1 or 2 gears blip the throttle to match Transmission speed for a smooth transition e.g. coming down a road today 60mph in 4th sharp corner at the end of the road nocked it down to 3rd then down to 2nd at 55mph ready for the corner such a brilliant car i love gearing down and putting my foot down such good torque in 2nd :)

[dkirton]

Hi

Firstly thanks for all the replies.

Well I finally took the car into the garage as there is definitely a problem. They adjusted the clutch cable which did make a slight difference but said there is a problem with 2nd gear. Its currently back in the garage for the gearbox stripping down. Ill report back with their findings.

[dkirton]

Hi

I finally got the car back after five days and its now running a dream. Can I just say a big thank-you to Perrys Citroen Barnsley they gave me an update everyday and i got a free courtesy car for the five days including petrol.

They replaced all the syncromeshes, second gear and all seals.

[GORASLAN]

Hi dkirton

I think I have a similar problem with yours having some difficulties putting in to second gear.

How much did you paid to fix the problem?

[dkirton]

Hi

Thankfully the car is still under warranty so all the work was completed for free.

Regards