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My 03 z06 pops out of 1st if I do not take care in engaging the gears. Typically I can feel for two clicks for positive engagement. sometimes I throw it into gear and do not feel the second click and it will pop out as I let the clutch out. Sometimes I will start to roll and it smacks out of gear. It sounds like my race bike did when the shift forks were bent. So I take it to the dealer and he tells me that I have an aftermarket shifter and that is the problem. Now I am thinking why is this just happening in first. We review the service history and sure enough 3rd and 4th had problems and the shift forks were replaced. So this keeps happening and I call the dealer again on the problem because it snapped pretty hard today and I am like WTF. How can a shifter be doing this - it has to be in the gearbox? I do not know what brand shifter this is, but I did some research and some of them are adjustable. The dealer told me that they would take it apart, but if it is due to the shifter then GM will not cover the repair.
It is NOT the Shifter....If you do a search here on the Forum, You will discover it is one of those "Issues" that plagues the M6 C5`s. Some have had good luck changing to a synthetic fluid. I have also read many different procedures for finding first gear. The one that works for me is, Always shift to 1st from secound gear as I`m rolling to a stop. Since becoming comfortable with the car, it hasn`t jumped out of gear in months...It seems the Dealer is looking for a way out of honoring the Warranty.
I think the advice of putting a stock shifter back in the car is valid, You can find them cheap in the "Parts for Sale" section...and they`re easy to replace.
Good Luck!!!
I had this same issue, and have read of the same issue many times.
After I realized what was happening, I started pushing it more firmly into 1st. I own 2 M6 cars and have not had either one pop out of 1st in over a year now. It's just user error. If you ever put it in 1st and you don't feel like you put it all the way in, put it in 2nd and then 1st again.
I believe there's 2 synchros for 1st and 2nd gear, if you don't get those 2 clicks then you didn't put it all the way in gear, which means of course it's going to pop out, just like any other car.
These cars are known to bend the 3/4 shift fork but that does not affect 1st gear at all. Common symptom to bending this shift fork is having the car go into a phantom gear (between 1st and 3rd for example) or getting it stuck in gear (can't get it out of 4th for example).
my 99 did the same thing with the stock shifter. not a lot but if i get a little lazy engaging first gear. only does it in first and the same way, if i dont feel those two little clicks it pops out sometimes when i take off. also does it with the hurst so i doubt it is the shifter
Thanks for the help. I will try the second to first trick. Funny, but after it popped out today I was moving the shifter in and out of 2nd to 1st and did not fee the two clicks. Every mechanical object I ever owned had its quarks. Might just take some time to figure them out. Thank you to all who shared.
Like many above have stated, my '99 did it a few times, but if I was careful to get it all the way forward it was OK. But if not it would pop out and scare the H3ll out of me.
However...[Knock-on-Wood]since installing my Hurst shifter, I haven't had it happen to me[/Knock-on-Wood]. I just figured the stock shifter was so sloppy that I couldn't feel the shifter/gears engaging completely.
Something you might want to check is if your shifter has stops. If it does and if they are misadjusted you might not be getting it all the way in all the time. The Tremac has internal stops so they can be taken out of the shifter. I believe the Hurst is one which has the stops. I'm not sure just which other aftermarket shifters also have stops.