[Dave79]

Hi, I have never posted here before mainly cause I have had nothing to add that wasn't already covered so here I go. I have a R/T 5 spd So this morning when backing out of my driveway I went to push it from reverse to 1st but for the life of me it would not budge from reverse, i had the clutch pushed all the way down and i even tried shutting the engine off and still it would not go out of reverse. I finally gave it a good hard shove and it went into neutral so I put it in 1st position and when i started to let the clutch out it popped out and I had to hold it into 1st to get going . Any Ideas as to what the heck is going on? I'm new to standards i've been driving my caliber for just under a year now with no major problems till this. My dad took it out after I left for work and he had no problems with it but took it to the dealers anyway. Just looking for ideas so my dealer does not just tell me to deal with it.

 

[Prop1]

Did you try pumping the clutch at all? If it does it again, I'd have the dealer check it out. It could be the beginning of a warranty covered issue.

 

[Dave79]

I didn't really pump it I shut the engine off and let the clutch out and tried again but no luck it was only after a good hard shove that it popped into neutral. Its currently at the dealers right now and they will check it out tomorrow. Was just wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what could cause this. Other then this problem I love the car, for a "compact" car its huge and does every thing I need it to.

 

[Prop1]

I didn't really pump it I shut the engine off and let the clutch out and tried again but no luck it was only after a good hard shove that it popped into neutral. Its currently at the dealers right now and they will check it out tomorrow. Was just wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what could cause this. Other then this problem I love the car, for a "compact" car its huge and does every thing I need it to.

It could be a synchro issue, low clutch fluid, bad clutch master cylinder, or a simple clutch adjustment. If pumping the clutch fixed it, I would have leaned towards the synchro or master cylinder. Maybe some one else has a better idea. The dealer should for sure.

 

[Dave79]

Thanks for such fast responses Prop1, I did try letting the clutch out a little a few times to backup more thinking something was jammed, this i guess could maybe be considered pumping the clutch. My car has just under 33 thousand KM on it and about 85% highway driving and this is the first time it ever did this to me but like I said this is my first standard car so problems with this kind of tranny are new to me. I will see what the dealer has to say and respond here with what they say hopefully someone can say if it sounds like a good answer or if they are just BSing me. I also have the whistle problem on the left driver side and a plastic vibrating noise that i get from the front right side that I will bug the deal about once warmer weather comes around but thats another story.

 

[MrDodge300]

It could be a synchro issue,

Mine does the same thing (I have an sxt) and its just a synchro problem all you have to do is dubble clutch it which i am used to cause of old farm trucks so i didn't get it fix

 

[Dave79]

Well the dealer could not find anything wrong with it and it seems to be shifting fine so I guess I just have to wait and see if it happens again.

 

[Prop1]

Since this is your first manual, you need to learn the basics of double clutching. Anytime the tranny is being difficult to get in gear, don't force it. Double clutch it and try again. All double clutching consists of is letting the clutch out while the shifter is in neutral, then pushing it in again and completing the shift. From time to time all manuals will experience this issue. It's possible the synchro didn't mesh properly when you put it into reverse.

 

[Dave79]

Hey thanks guys, I'll have to learn double clutching I guess, I just didn't think reverse would have a synchro since you wouldn't put a car into reverse unless it was stopped anyway.

 

[Prop1]

Hey thanks guys, I'll have to learn double clutching I guess, I just didn't think reverse would have a synchro since you wouldn't put a car into reverse unless it was stopped anyway.

Surprisingly, some do. I don't know for sure whether the Caliber's does. Maybe someone else can pipe in on that. Either way, if reverse is being stubborn, double clutching will in most cases get it to go in. Sometimes just shifting to a forward gear first will help. If the car was cold it can cause the shifting to be a little stubborn.

 

[Frostee]

i know from previous research years ago, reverse was just first gear spinning the opposite way.the inner workings of the tranny made it possible. ok, enough of the useless stuff by me

ive had an issue like that once or twice. i just did the double clutch, and all was fine. some people also give it a little bit of gas while in neutral to get the flywheel spinning a bit more too when double clutching (this is used more for racing and not necessary any more because of synchros that are in trannies)

 

[Keli]

So, what do you do when double clutching doesn't work and your linkage breaks for first and second?