Lotsokids

Hey y'all. I'm new to my Corvette 6-speed. I find myself missing second gear a lot. It's not smooth at all. Seems I need to pull the shifter to the left while pulling down into second. If I don't consciously think about this, it goes into 4th gear.
I'm sure with time, it will result in "muscle memory" and I won't notice.
Is this common?

OregonMike

That's as designed

Take a look at your dash next time. There's a little light that shows up showing 1--4. It locks you out of 2nd gear.

Drive harder, you'll never see the light. You can program it out with the programming tool too.

owc6

This could be a couple of things:

1. Most likely the 1-4 shift override. This requires learning to leave it in first longer because it's set up to put it into 4th under lower power needs (basically) to satisfy mpg requirements so that when new, it avoided the gas guzzler tax. There is also at least one after market product that eliminates this, or you could have it tuned out (at this point voiding your warranty is no longer an issue).

2. the difficult shift from 1-2 especially when cold. This gets better when the car warms up, but my Z06 always had a hard shift from 1-2 when cold.


My bet is on #1.

TorchRedFred

Haha, this thread made me laugh. To the OP, do yourself a favor and buy the CAGS 1-4 shift bypass fuse. It's about $20 and you'll never have to worry about it again.



Edit: I installed the fuse on my C6 with no issues.

Lotsokids

Very interesting. I didn't know.
I saw in the reviews one person said he had a constant Check Engine light after install.
Anyone else have this issue, or was it only this individual?

gdaddee

Second gear is the only gear I've had problems shifting into. Mostly down shifting. I think it is in gear, but it is not. Doesn't happen a lot, but it does happen.

VintageBikesUSA

I took the time to adjust my shifter and it made a huge difference , along with CAGS bypass that is. Takes 15 mins tops. My 2 Cents

weathermaker

I've had manual Corvettes for over 15 years. Never get the 1-4 light. You will learn to go a little faster in 1st gear, around 2500 RPM or more before shifting. It will become automatic after a while.

keith.walker

If it is the 1 to 4 skip shift that is engaging you can either eliminate the skip shift with the fuse as discussed in the earlier posts or you have to go faster than 19 miles per hour in 1st gear to get in to 2nd gear. I prefer to just drive a little faster from a stop.

Corvette_Ed

More than one person has reported this issue. The simple way to avoid this is to have it tuned out, then you never have to worry about it.

hdrider1

Seems like the fuse mod would be a whole lot cheaper, easier than having it tuned.

Corvette_Ed

Yes, it is, but it also fails, whereas tuning it out doesn't.

JJLAI724

+1 on the shifter alignment.

windyC6

My brothers CTS-V had this issue. We learned that if you move the stick very quickly through its motion that it would usually go into second with no problem regardless of your speed. Seemed like it somewhat "over rode" the skip shift. Maybe his Caddie was unique to this, or maybe we hit on a little "trick" that no one really knew/knows about. Guess it's quite possible that there may have been something wrong with his also....LOL.

TorchRedFred

OP, your options to are,

1: The CAGS fuse. Which should not give you any check engine lights, as long as it's not defective. It allows enough current to pass through to show the car the fuse is there but not enough current to trigger the solenoid.

2: The CAGS skip shift eliminator relay, which attaches to a harness under the car connected to the transmission. This is also a cheap fix but is a little difficult to get to and install compared to the fuse.

3: You can have the CAGS feature eliminated through a tune. This also shuts off the dash 1-4 shift light.

4: Or, my least favorite, you can learn to live with it and/or adjust your driving habits to compensate and avoid the circumstances that trigger it.

jaredtxrx

Go to your local auto supplies store. Buy a 10amp mini-blade "smart fuse" (the kind with a little LED in it). Take a knife or something and break the fuse link. Replace your Skip Shift fuse with the broken LED fuse and you're done. No CEL, not forced 1-4 shift.

The LED fuse provides just enough resistance to not throw a CEL. You will still see the 1-4 light but it does not lock you out.

Torchsport

25,000 miles and never had a problem. Of course I dont drive it like a grandma.

sevinn

You can shift to third while the 1-4 light is on. When I'm driving like a normal human I normally skip 2nd and 4th all together to be honest.

Op pay attention to your hand position when shifting. 1-2 I like to put my palm toward me and pull down/left with my arm vs shoulder, then 2-3 is a straight push with the palm and 3-4 is a straight pull with my fingers while my palm faces down.

cgladish

if all it is, is the 1-4 cags shift, then I'd vote for the fuse option.
at least that's how my car was supplied when I bought it ( almost one year ago to the day ).


I did the cags harness connector on '98 Z28, and that worked great too.


otherwise I would go with the prevailing option of winding it up a bit more!


that's why you got a 'vette, right?

Dr Bee

Can you or someone else explain this a bit further.

I have the skip-shift bypass and 2nd gear is still clunky and the only gear that's not slick. 1 in 12-15 shifts requires a 2nd attempt and it's annoying.