First gear staying slightly engaged?

[Case6]

I recently bought a 2006 speed6 and loving it! But one thing that i noticed when starting my car in the morning (or after it's been parked for a period of time) is after starting and putting it in neutral to idle, it feels like first gear remains engaged and rolls forward slightly. I've had other manual transmission cars and never had a problem, even on extremely cold days. I took it back to my dealer and had them look at it but they couldn't replicate the problem... Does anyone have any insight into what could be the problem?

[jm211]

Welcome!

Ok, to get a bit of clarification which of the following is correct:

Clutch pedal depressed, and shifter in 1st gear. Car moves a little

Clutch pedal NOT depress, and shifter in neutral. Car moves a little

[Case6]

Thanks! Ok, I depress the clutch when I start my car with it in first, put it in neutral, release the clutch, and it moves slightly. Also noting that when I release my clutch in neutral, my rpm's drop like it would if I were starting in first gear. Hope this helps! Tomorrow I'm going to record a video on my phone to help clarification

[TiGraySpeed6]

Only do this on cold starts?
Cold where you are right now?

[Final Impact]

The trans has an abundance of parasitic drag from all the shafts with gears spinning on them. Its normal for cold thick oil. You could dump it and replace with Synthetic. That's part of the reason 100% of your Crank Shaft HP doesn't make it to the ground!

FWIW: that is just another bit of insight about the importance of SLOWLY warming up ALL of the drive train together when its cold out. i.e. not hammering on the gas 2 blocks down the road because you let the engine warm for 7 minutes while the trans and diff are stone cold still.

[Odrapnew]

My car does the same thing on cold mornings(below ~30F in the garage). As others stated, normal. I even have the Ford tranny fluid in mine and it still does it. I use my e-brake almost every time I park the car, so I don’t normally notice the “lurch” forward, but I have experienced it. The RPM does drop a little when I let out the clutch in neutral when the car is cold(with e-brake on), but same reason as the car lurching.

I also agree with Final Impact. Just because the engine is warm, doesn’t mean everything else is warm…especially drivetrain parts if the car was just idling. The crappy part for me is that the freeway is a 2 block drive from my work parking lot(and I’m too impatient to take the side roads). It was a cool -5F when I left work on Monday. I could really feel the thick oils in the diffs and tranny once I started moving, felt like the brakes were dragging. I should have taken the side road up the next block, but I didn’t(impatient).

[Case6]

Originally Posted by TiGraySpeed6

Only do this on cold starts?
Cold where you are right now?

Yes only on cold starts or if i park my car for more than an hour or so. I live in Wisconsin and it was 0F to 6F degrees yesterday and about 16F degrees today.

Originally Posted by Final Impact

The trans has an abundance of parasitic drag from all the shafts with gears spinning on them. Its normal for cold thick oil. You could dump it and replace with Synthetic. That's part of the reason 100% of your Crank Shaft HP doesn't make it to the ground!

FWIW: that is just another bit of insight about the importance of SLOWLY warming up ALL of the drive train together when its cold out. i.e. not hammering on the gas 2 blocks down the road because you let the engine warm for 7 minutes while the trans and diff are stone cold still.

So it's normal then for my tranny to do this when it's cold? Not saying it doesn't make sense, just seemed a little odd. If I went to full synthetic would it still lurch or just not as bad? Thanks for the info though!

Originally Posted by Odrapnew

My car does the same thing on cold mornings(below ~30F in the garage). As others stated, normal. I even have the Ford tranny fluid in mine and it still does it. I use my e-brake almost every time I park the car, so I don’t normally notice the “lurch” forward, but I have experienced it. The RPM does drop a little when I let out the clutch in neutral when the car is cold(with e-brake on), but same reason as the car lurching.

I also agree with Final Impact. Just because the engine is warm, doesn’t mean everything else is warm…especially drivetrain parts if the car was just idling. The crappy part for me is that the freeway is a 2 block drive from my work parking lot(and I’m too impatient to take the side roads). It was a cool -5F when I left work on Monday. I could really feel the thick oils in the diffs and tranny once I started moving, felt like the brakes were dragging. I should have taken the side road up the next block, but I didn’t(impatient).

Weird, so it's not just me this is happening too. I feel a little better about it now ha. I usually just park with my car in first gear without the E-brake applied if it's below 30F so it doesn't freeze in place ( I've had this happen before... go Wisconsin) so I notice the lurch more I guess

[jm211]

I agree.

My cars starts. I hear my VVT. my RPM starts at 2.2 k RPM.

If I pump the clutch my RPM's will drop 200rpm (per the gauge) every time I pump the clutch.

I would expect it to move a little as there are rotating masses all over the place.


Luckily I'm in florida and only have to deal with 50* weather at its coldest. BUT I'll be moving back to wisconsin so bring it on!

[Final Impact]

Not that this applies - to you guys but ATX do it even worse. Some will move the car a good distance with tight clutch packs and cold fluids. My six speed ATX does it against the park pall. I'll drop into N and see what it does. Yes, Temp effects the fluids! On the yamaha forum for the bike, the Newbies cry when they drop it into gear as the bike JUMPS! lol << IS this normal?? haha! Yep, but even with synthetic, its still has drag.

Think of this: Stopped with the trans in N, you have about 6 to 7 gears spinning at different speeds in the main and cluster gears, plus the revers gears all while the output shaft is stationary.

Picture compliments of: @CanyonRider

Here we are with the shift forks and shift rods removed:

[Case6]

Awesome thanks to everyone that responded! Helped shed some light on what was going on