Stiff Going into first

[Cardno]

Hi guys,
After leaving my 200 to sit for 2 or 3 days it,s an absolute struggle to pop her into first, or any gear for that matter, after forcing her into second and pulling away off the drive its fine, any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

 

[GrumpyTwig]

On one hand they're all like this and some have changed the oil and say that improved it as the original oil is like treacle.

On the other hand I had my box changed under warranty because of it. It's still stiff sometimes but not as bad. Still planning on changing oil over the next week or two.

 

[Cardno]

Nice, my service is due pretty soon so I'll look into that and get it done while its in. Thanks man.

 

[The Fonze]

Mine is difficult to get into 1st when cold sometimes and ive had the gearbox oil changed (made a slight difference), I usually end up going into a couple of other gears before going back into 1st again.

 

[Scotty H]

The one gripe with these, is the gearbox. It's pretty ****. Crunchy and stiff when cold and even still hard to shift fast on some occasions when warm. Also if you keep your hand on the stick when taking your foot off the accelerator it moves the stick a bit and I found today that I can actually take it out of gear without touching the clutch causing it to grind. Still a brilliant car though

 

[Willis]

Also if you keep your hand on the stick when taking your foot off the accelerator it moves the stick a bit and I found today that I can actually take it out of gear without touching the clutch causing it to grind. Still a brilliant car though

The first bit is play or movement in the engine mounts, nearly every car will do this. I've read a few things in the past that suggest that driving with your hand on the gearstick (not saying you are), can increase wear on the bushes and linkages. They're not there for resting your hand on, that's what the wheel is for!!!

The second bit, you can also change gear without using the clutch on any manual car. With a bit of practice you can do it without crunching the gears too, works a treat in the truck when you're stuck in stop-start traffic as it let's you give your left leg a bit of a rest from the megaton clutch pedal!!! I'm not suggesting you try it on the Clio, but on any manual car there is a point where if you apply a small amount of pressure to the gearstick and balance the revs correctly then you can shift without using the clutch and without any crunches. Next time you're in a hire car give it a go. :thumbup:

If you pushed any gearstick hard enough you'd get it to jump out of car, it's not perculiar to the Clio!!!

 

[Dave200]

Mine has 22,000km on the odo, and i had the oil replaced because of this problem. The oil that came out was extremely dark, not good for such little use - and no track time either.

Replaced with NEO diester based oil and it has improved a bit. Once warm it is great though

 

[GrumpyTwig]

The one gripe with these, is the gearbox. It's pretty ****. Crunchy and stiff when cold and even still hard to shift fast on some occasions when warm. Also if you keep your hand on the stick when taking your foot off the accelerator it moves the stick a bit and I found today that I can actually take it out of gear without touching the clutch causing it to grind. Still a brilliant car though

You'll find the stick moves on most manuals when coming on and off throttle, I find the boxes tend to feel crap if you change gear slowly. If you're relatively firm and positive with the changes (i don't mean smashing it from one gear to another like a dog box) it works better.

They are still pretty rough boxs though rev matching on helps too.

 

[Foxspeed]

if the gear stick didnt move with the torque reaction of the engine it would pull it out of gear....

and if its in gear and you come off the throttle and pull on the lever it will come out of gear....just like every other car!

gearbox in general is still pants

 

[GrumpyTwig]

Just don't try to put it back in gear without the clutch, it can be done but you won't be able to do it 99% of the time

 

[Scotty H]

Haha thanks for the novice tips guys, but I am fairly old and know a little bit
My fiesta mk7 and mk2 RS wouldn't let you take it out of gear without depressing the clutch and defo don't have the prominence of the torque movement that the clio does but I get what you're saying. I'm not bothered by it though cause I love the car.

 

[Cardno]

Yeah, its a bit of a draw back but after a few seconds driving its fine. I, m not hard in the gears although I do sometimes rest my hand on the gear knob. In saying that ive always had this problem since I got the car. Picked it up with 8K on the clock, 21K on it now. Maybe what is a good thing is that it has never seemed to get worse. I'll defo see about getting the oil changed though.