Occasional issue with 1st gear.

Jamesyboyjim · 19 Apr 2016 at 14:44

I have a 2010 Seat Ibiza and occasionally its a pain to get into 1st. I can be stationary at a set of traffic lights and it'll half go in, one, or a few attempts more and it'll go in fine.

This morning I took my foot off the clutch and back on and it went in. Used to have to do this to get my old car into reverse.

Seems strange as every other gear is really nice, even reverse pops in smoothly with no issue so I'm not sure the clutch is knackered, but I'm no expert. Any ideas?

mccarf · 19 Apr 2016 at 15:18

My car does this when the cheapy car mat slides up below the clutch pedal. Could be that?

Evo8 · 19 Apr 2016 at 15:20

Ever changed the gearbox oil? How many miles has it done?

Jamesyboyjim · 19 Apr 2016 at 15:21

mccarf said:
My car does this when the cheapy car mat slides up below the clutch pedal. Could be that?

Good suggestion, but the mats are clipped into place. Had the same problem actually in my old car with the mat always sliding under the clutch!

Evo8 said:
Ever changed the gearbox oil? How many miles has it done?

Not consciously ever had it done, is it something that would be done with a full service? It also had a specific 10,000 mile and 20,000 mile service so may have been done then but other than that I'm not sure without looking through the paperwork.

its done 40,000

Cookeh · 19 Apr 2016 at 15:56

Check the frequency of oil changes according to your service plan/service plan for your car - if you're lucky your owner's manual might tell you too.

Jamesyboyjim · 19 Apr 2016 at 16:00

Cookeh said:
Check the frequency of oil changes according to your service plan/service plan for your car - if you're lucky your owner's manual might tell you too.

Do you mean for the car in general, or just for the gearbox?

wildman_33 · 19 Apr 2016 at 16:29

Gearbox oil is classed as 'lifetime' on manual VAG cars. It won't have been changed unless someone asked to it to be changed or the car had any gearbox issues. My golf had issues going in to first if it was moving at all, in the end it was fixed by adjusting the linkages.

Cookeh · 19 Apr 2016 at 17:07

Jamesyboyjim said:
Do you mean for the car in general, or just for the gearbox?

I did mean gearbox, but then this post was made - which makes my post futile

wildman_33 said:
Gearbox oil is classed as 'lifetime' on manual VAG cars. It won't have been changed unless someone asked to it to be changed or the car had any gearbox issues. My golf had issues going in to first if it was moving at all, in the end it was fixed by adjusting the linkages.

iaind · 19 Apr 2016 at 17:15

It's classed as lifetime in a lot of cars, but doesnt mean that changing it doesnt help. I know a lot of people with Octavias had similar things (when I was frequenting the Octavia part of Briskoda) and found that changing the gearbox oil helped a lot

energy · 19 Apr 2016 at 18:56

Does it also have this problem with the engine off? If it's fine with the engine off then it could be a dragging clutch

Kaeo · 19 Apr 2016 at 23:51

You'll probably find double clutching helps, or dipping the clutch twice before shifting, especially if the car is still somewhat cold. My car does this when the gearbox oil is still cold.

Jamesyboyjim · 20 Apr 2016 at 11:23

iaind said:
It's classed as lifetime in a lot of cars, but doesnt mean that changing it doesnt help. I know a lot of people with Octavias had similar things (when I was frequenting the Octavia part of Briskoda) and found that changing the gearbox oil helped a lot

Thanks iain, after your comment I had a Google and found a few people have changed the oil after struggling with 1st and 2nd. If it starts to get worse I'll try the oil change. It was perfectly fine this morning.

Dis86 · 20 Apr 2016 at 16:57

Is it purely first? No others struggling?

Brookert · 20 Apr 2016 at 21:48

my 1.2tsi ibiza does this from time to time. I don't think its anything sinister, rather you've caught the gearbox at the wrong spot (feels like it's not quite lined up right). If you give it a little blip on the throttle it should slot in. The throw of the 1.2's gearbox is quite short, so it doesn't fill you with confidence that you've got it right.

Jamesyboyjim · 21 Apr 2016 at 09:17

Dis86 said:
Is it purely first? No others struggling?

Just first. Its been ok the last two days though.

Brookert said:
my 1.2tsi ibiza does this from time to time. I don't think its anything sinister, rather you've caught the gearbox at the wrong spot (feels like it's not quite lined up right). If you give it a little blip on the throttle it should slot in. The throw of the 1.2's gearbox is quite short, so it doesn't fill you with confidence that you've got it right.

I asked on a Seat forum and many people seemed to echo this. Just said it was just the way the gearbox was.

It just had me worried it was going to be a problem that'll gradually get worse if I didn't sort it soon.