Hey, guys,
I am experiencing this problem( stated in title ) recently.
I have TWM full replacement and all the bushings done. The car shifts very nicely when it is in motion. Slow or fast, warm or cool, when it is moving anything above 0 mph, I can shift into any gear very easily.
However, when I am at traffic light or stop sign, I am having trouble to engage 1st gear . It feels like something is blocking. I never remember having any success shifting into 1st gear without a fight.
My current solution is:
1. shift to 5, then 3, then 1 or shift to 4, then 3, and then 1. it will go in smoothly this way.
2. I just put it in 1st gear at rolling speed and clutch in at traffic light.
But this can be very annoying as my 1st solution doesn't work all the time, it is common for me to try it a couple times. I don't want to use my second solution either as I heard it increase the wear on throw out bearing.
Also, I think it could be related to this. I feel like sometimes, when the car is in gears, the gear lever is extremely sticky, and you really have to use some force to put it to neutral. This seems to happen quite frequently recently cuz the temperature has been around 65F lately.
Is the problem I am experiencing normal on our car? I remember I had this problem last winter as well, but I just got my car back then, so I thought it may just need more miles. I don't think shifting in this car was PITA in the past summer though. Could ambient temperature affect how the car shifts? I mean even in winter, LA is still a "warm" place in my book.
I am getting drive train fluid changed next week at RRE.
I am hoping to get insights before I go in, maybe I can let them diagnose it too.
Thanks for you guys help in advance.