Now i know that i have to push down the **** to go into reverse but most of the time i just cant tell if im in 6th gear or reverse. When i do not put the car into reverse correctly and i try to back out, the car makes a really weird noise and it freaks me out. Its like some clicking sound but a lot faster. Its like KRKRKRR or GRGRGRGR....i dont know. All i know is that it makes some weird fast clicking sound when i dont put it right. Is this a problem to my car??? Im always worried that whenever i do this, im screwing up my car. I wish going into reverse was easier...

 

That means you missed your shift and its not fully into the 6th gear, the results? Grinding.

You *better* dont do that too often, cuz everytime you grind it, you probably shorten ur Tranny's life by 5 days. (same thing for to all cars's tranny, not just 8)

You need some time to get used to, but it shouldnt be long.

 

so it screws up the gear box? as long as its replacable under warranty i dont really care. lol

 

Yes its covered by Warranty.

but Warranty does NOT cover abuse or mistakes made by the owner of the car.

Dont worry, ur tranny is ok, but if you do that for another 100 times ....

 

um is there anything that i can do to make it easier for me to know that im in the right gear? I saw a different thread on short shifters and how they are much better than the stock. would changing to teh short shifter help me know if im in teh right gear?

 

read the owners manual..

duh..

beers

 

No.

 

Do you own a short shifter? It has a bit of a different feel. Occasionally I still miss reverse, but most the time I can feel that it's not in gear properly before grinding it so I just retry. So, it's still possible to miss the gear with SS, but might be a bit easier to notice. It's been a while since I've used the stock shifter, but I dont think I had issues finding reverse with the stock shifter, but the stock shifter didnt feel as nice overall.

 

This happened to me a few times at the beginning, it freaked me out because I was learning to drive stick on the car. The best thing I can tell you is that it's a "feel", I learned to tell if the car wasn't fully in the reverse gear when I tried backing out. If the gear isn't engaged, put it back into nuetral, engage and disengage the clutch, and put it in reverse again, which usually engages on the second time. That works for me.

Also it works if I simply put some pressure on the shifter when it's halfway into reverse, when I start engaging the clutch it will fall into place.

hope that helps,
michael

 

I don't see how its possible to miss R for 6th. I've never missed it since the first time I drove the RX8.

When shifting into reverse, put your palm on the top of the **** and push down. If you try shifting it into R using the "palms around shaft" method, you might miss it. I've always down it palm down for R tho, and then switch back to PAS for going forward.

 

Here's a trick that'll let you practice without hurting anything:

At night, position your car so that the rear is a few feet from your garage door or a wall.

Now, with the engine running and the clutch depressed, push the shifter downward and slip it into what you think is reverse (as if you're going to back up). If you find reverse—and not sixth—you'll see the wall light up from your backup lights coming on. Repeat a few times and you'll know whether you're in reverse or not by feel alone.

 

if you want to be a noob and waste money here you go... :-P

http://www.tmtuning.com/HOME/catalog...t_product=1937

 

I had this problem a few times when I first got the car. What I usually do now is push the shifter all the way to the right until you feel the stop. THEN push the **** down and the shifter will slip further to the right, and you can pull it down into Reverse. Doing it this way you'll never accidentally wind up in 6th. Just make sure the shifter goes down the entire way.

 

sometimes (especially when it's cold) it can be difficult to get into reverse.

Try shifting it into 1st or 3rd first, then going into reverse usally goes smoothly.

 

For those thinking he went into 6th, I think that was just him describing the issue inaccurately. The next part of his description sounds like he missed the gear (didnt quite engage) before letting off the clutch. If he hit 6th, he'd feel it bogging down and not hear grinding from the gear box.

 

i used to have this problem quite a bit. and honestly, it is not you. to fix it, when i was reversing i would go into reverse, back to neutral, then to reverse again. took a bit of time, not an optimal solution. so here's a better one:

simply keep pressure on the gear. so when you shift into reverse, dont let go of the shifter, keep the pressure on and slowly let out the clutch and give gas. sometimes you can feel it move back another 1/4", when that happens. if you hadnt of kept the pressure on it, you probably have ground your gears.

i could thrust it in reverse will all the force in the world, and hold it as far down as possible, with the stick as far back as it will go. but sometimes, unless i keept holding it, it just doesnt want to go back as far as it should.

now, i have a question: does everyone keep the clutch partially in when they go in reverse? if i let out the clutch fully, im going 15mph+ and thats not favorable when im just trying to turn around.

 

Nice tip. The conventional wisdom is to push down first, then to the right and back. I just tried your method, and it worked really well. Got great positive feel of what was happening.

Ken

 

I don't even put gas on it when in reverse. It just seems too touchy feely. I'd rather take my time reversing than run backwards into another car because I slipped up.

 

mysql101 stated a good tip that I use, as well: slip the shifter into 3rd (I use 4th) and then slide it into reverse. I think this aligns some gears or gates in the tranny and makes the shift into reverse more accurate.