The Top DSM Community on the Web

For 1990-1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, and Galant VR-4 Owners. Log in to remove most ads.

Please Support Fuel Injector Clinic
Please Support ExtremePSI

Stuck in 1st Gear after long cruise

This site may earn a commission from merchant
affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Hortanica

10+ Year Contributor
93
0
Mar 22, 2010
Gasport, New_York
I was driving my car back from Arkansas to NY, and about 1/4 of the way in, we got off to get gas, and went to downshift from 5th, cruised to a stop, and then went to start off in first.

everything went good, except now it wont shift out of first. ive tried taking off the cables and shifting it directly from the transmission. i can shift it into other gears, but it locks the transmission because its then in 2 gears. I also drove the car onto the trailer in first, but in order to roll it in neutral w/ the car off i have to have the clutch in.

Heres what i know i can and cant to:

I can not get the car out of first, even though i can put the selector into other gears
I can not move the shifter into 5th or reverse, ever. this is at the tranny AND with the shifter.
I can not start/roll the car unless the clutch is pushed in (cant get out of first..)

I CAN shift into 2nd gear, even though its stuck in first.
i can shift the car into 2nd/3rd/4th as well, but the car will not move because its stuck in 2 gears at once.
1st gear also acts just like 1st, and the car rolls normally, so i know the position of the gears is correct.


Im just lookin for some help so i can figure out what happened. For a couple days before this happened i was having some issues getting into first. for a while i stopped trying and just used 2nd, but i figured out that if you downshifted from 2nd into 1st while the cars moving it would go into first.

Any ideas?
 
Last edited:
A guy in another forum had the same problem as you do, here is what he said it was after he opened the tranny.

*Had some stuff come up but finally got it all apart. The selector finger that is on the shifter rail broke so now I have to try and find a new one. This should be fun*

Hope that helps you. good luck
 
A guy in another forum had the same problem as you do, here is what he said it was after he opened the tranny.

*Had some stuff come up but finally got it all apart. The selector finger that is on the shifter rail broke so now I have to try and find a new one. This should be fun*

Hope that helps you. good luck

That does help. Ive got a fwd tranny here with me im going to tear apart and see if i can at least get an idea of how it works and what could have broke/bent to cause the issue. you wouldnt by any chance have a link to that forum/thread? ive tried searching but gave up because i just kept getting auto issues, and people who said it was stuck in gear, but they could get it out into neutral.
 
Here's the link not really much info other than the one provided,

Stuck in first gear

here is another one with same issue, this one seems more like yours:

Help!! tranny stuck in fisrt gear 97 cobra.. - Ford Mustang Forums : Corral.net Mustang Forum

Thanks, your right there wasnt much more info there then i got initially, but i with an issue as random and specific as this i never really looked at other car forums for the generic problem. im gonna just replace the tranny today and go about taking this apart to see what happened/why it broke.

i also edited the first post with correct info...turns out 5th and reverse are gone, so im pretty sure it isn't the fork/pin issue that seems common....
 
Likely you have shift rail or shift fork issues. If first is engaged you can't have reverse as it's driven from the 1/2 hub which would not be in position. All that really needs to happen is the sleeve and gear need to be engaged somehow. If you can still get 2nd but it stalls and feels like it's in 2 gears that tells me is isn't fork or rail because you're able to move the sleeve however something is still binding in first. Only solution is to teardown. I'm guessing you'll find the problem at the 1/2 hub/sleeve and gear on the intermediate shaft.
 
just updating this in case someone else has similar issues, but i got everything torn down, and to my surprise everything LOOKS ok. no broken forks, bent rails or anything else.

however, first gear somehow welded itself to the intermediate shaft. the fork still will go over first to engage it, and i can still engage 2nd but 1st will never let go of the shaft and spins all the time. Id take a pic, but there really isnt anything to show.....
 
The needle bearings are probalby toast. That shaft is fed oil from the bellhousing side. If the bearing is loose or worn it can chew into the oil feed under the race. Take a look.
 
The bearing actually is good. no play or anything in it and the race is in perfect shape...same as my other tranny's i have here...

however...thats still probably the issue. the plastic cover thing that sits under the bearing was all chewed up and melted to the end of the shaft sealing it up.
 
Support Vendors who Support the DSM Community
Boosted Fabrication ECM Tuning ExtremePSI Fuel Injector Clinic Innovation Products Jacks Transmissions JNZ Tuning Kiggly Racing Morrison Fabrications MyMitsubishiStore.com RixRacing RockAuto RTM Racing STM Tuned

Latest posts

Build Thread Updates

Vendor Updates

Latest Classifieds

Back
Top