After searching through nearly 10 pages of "transmission" "trans" "stuck gears" "shifting problems" etc., I still have not found a direct answer. Here's my problem:

Went to work just fine yesterday, no problems at all, left work and I couldn't shift into second without grinding the hell out of it, so I skipped it. 3rd was fine, 4th, and 5th. Reverse is a b!tch to get into. It seems like theres a wall stopping me from getting into (R). Since I still haven't figured everything out on these cars, I have done quite a bit of research but just still can't figure it out. I'm hoping its something as simple as a clutch that I can OEM. If it's the trans, NBD, I'll suck it up and replace it. I was just curious as to what some of you tech guys think could possibly be the problem. Even if it's a long shot guess, I'll take it and try it out. Thanks in advance for the help!

 

how many miles on the car? its probably a synchro getting old. go sit in the car with the engine off and hold the clutch down and go thru the gears. does this make it any easier with the car off? with the car on, clutch down, try going from 1st to reverse and back a few times. it should be easy to do. (reverse is a push down reverse)

if your driving and you rev match 2nd gear, can you get it in without grinding?

its not a bad idea to change the trans and rear diff fluid at this time, it helped take a little sticking out of my trans.

 

Very common problem in these cars... I have it and there's really only one thing you can try - put in like redline MT fluid or GM Synchromesh or something like that.

Last year I got really pissed about it, tried putting redline in, that didn't do anything. Then I took it to a transmission shop, who took it down and checked it just to see that nothing was wrong. Of course, your car may actually have a syncro out, but there's no way to know until you pay a transmission shop to check it out (or check it out yourself.. good luck).

My dad's a4 is the same way. Because of this, I'll never get an Audi again.


https://www.audiforums.com/forum/b5-models-69/manual-transmission-fluid-86429/

 

I have similar problems with mine, especially when its cold. I've found that rev matching (+1 to ghost) and double clutching helps, but most of the time I just try to be a little nicer to it and wiggle it into gear instead of just muscling the shifter around.

 

Ya mines got fresh Mobile 1 Synthetic and it still does it in anything below 45* I am pretty sure my 2nd gear synchro is partially to blame though. I assume the synchro's are made of metal and well metal shrinks when its cold so I think thats what causes. At least after a little driving mine shifts fine.

 

New fluid is first thing. If 2nd is still a bitch unless matching the rpm's then it's probably a bad synchro. For reverse, let up on the clutch slowy while pushing against that "wall" with the shifter until it pops in. Sometimes it helps to shift to 1st or 2nd before attempting reverse. If you guys want to a more solid and precise feel check these out. The stock shift linkage bushings are pretty soft and eat up a lot of energy when it doesn't want to go into gear. If you search their site they have a before and after video of those bushings in action. You can see the difference. I'm just saying it could make things better for a lot less than the cost of tearing appart your tranny.

 

Guys I can't thank you enough for all of the support thus far.

120k on the car, even after driving a bit, car gets warm still doesnt wanna shift into second. I'm dropping it off to a shop this week, so hopefully we'll hear back from them soon. I was hoping it would be something simple, but even synchros don't seem too bad? I have tried rev matching it, cuz well, it's just easier sometimes when we get lazy haha, but that doesnt work either, so I'll see what the shop says. I'll make sure they change all the fluids and look over it very carefully. Thank you all for the support and the help!!

 

Yeah the synchros are a bitch. You might as well find a lower mileage used tranny for the cost of disecting the old one. There's a guy selling one from a 98 with 70k on it for $500 which is pretty fair in the classifieds. It could be something as simple as a linkage adjustment, but I doubt it. Make sure they check that though.