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I have a 2014 C7 with a 7 Speed manual with 44,000 miles. I am experiencing difficulty at times getting the transmission to engage in 1st gear. Sometimes is goes in normally, but other times it will not fully engage and kick out of gear when I release the clutch. Most of the time I now recognize that it is not fully engaged and I apply sufficient force to feel it "click" into gear. This has been an issue since I bought the car new in 2013.
I have asked the dealer to address this problem, but he says unless something is "broken" when they disassemble the transmission, any remedy that that doesn't result from a broken part, it would not be covered under warranty. He said as long as it will go into gear, even with this issue, he doesn't believe it would be wise to disassemble the transmission until it fails to stay in gear. He claims that this can be expected with manual transmissions! I have driven cars with manual transmissions and never had this issue, before.
I am taking it in on Thursday to have a technician evaluate the condition, but feel I am going to get the same response. If anyone has experienced this condition, I would like to hear from you and what was causing this problem so I can reinforce my case that this is a malfunction that needs to be corrected.
I have driven manuals for 25+ years and have never had one slip out of first as you describe (including my grand sport). Your behavior does not fit any definition of "expected" I know of except "I don't want to deal with your car".
IMO find another dealer if possible.
That said based on your numbers you are out of warranty. Do you have a GM extended warranty? Probably a good idea to read the fine print about your coverage.
I think the 2014-2015 models had a 5 year/100,000 powertrain warranty. GM shortened it to 5 year/60,000 for 2016s.
The transmission itself should be covered, but I doubt the shift linkage is. If it was documented as an issue early on, it might be covered.
If the linkage had been adjusted properly early on, you wouldn't be having this problem. Now there's a possibility that internal parts have been damaged, but probably not "broken". Slipping out of gear under power causes unusual wear and tear on the synchronizer parts, rounding off the edges, and making it more likely to come out of engagement.
My 2014, with a manual transmission, just turned 36,000 miles yesterday and will be three years old this weekend. I have had it pop out of first gear maybe three times in three years. But I don't know if that was operator error due to not fully engaging first gear or a mechanical issue.
I would say what you are experiencing is not normal.
Is the transmission popping out of gear or was it never in gear in the first place? I had this 'behavior' in my C6. Nothing yet on my C7 M7.
I almost think (I'm not near my owners manual) this may be covered in the owners manual.
Assuming you know you did not get fully into 1st gear, with the clutch still depressed shift into 2nd and then into 1st. Alternatively shift into neutral, let the clutch out, then put the clutch back in and it should go into first.
This all assumes you were never in 1st and you knew it.
Before you spend money or worse have a dealer take apart the trans try having the clutch fluid changed. (Very few dealers have folks who can rebuild a Manual trans!)
If you have not used at least the Ranger Method about every year that could well be your problem. Clutch is nor fully disengaging every time.
The Ranger Method is not as good as a full drain and bleed, but that requires removing the left exhaust pipe and CAT to access the metal cover plates. That I would trust to a C7 certified tech at a dealer, but it's a $125+ job. Like changing brake fluid, not covered under warranty.
Below is a pic of the clutch fluid in my September 2013 C7 Z51 after one year. Took 6 cycles to get the fluid clear with 30 clutch pumps after each removeable of fluid from the reservoir, filling with new brake fluid and repeating. If you haven't done that, the 2014 Owner's Manual says drain by bleeding every two years. That will remove any clutch disk particles that enter the slave cylinder past the seals.
I did the Ranger Method every year and will on my new Grand Sport.
Clutch Fluid After 1st and 6th Change Using a Simple Replace and Pump Proceedure
This is the second thread on this issue this year.
I have a 2014 with 8K on the clock. It's popped out of first or would not go into first twice. In at least one of the instances, it might have been operator error, not sure, but the other instance it was the transmission/clutch not operator error. But with just two instances I'm not concerned that there is a problem.
If it were me, I'd take the car to a different dealer. This is a warranty issue. However, IMHO, it's not a transmission problem, but a shifter/linkage issue.
I think the 2014-2015 models had a 5 year/100,000 powertrain warranty. GM shortened it to 5 year/60,000 for 2016s.
The transmission itself should be covered, but I doubt the shift linkage is. If it was documented as an issue early on, it might be covered.
If the linkage had been adjusted properly early on, you wouldn't be having this problem. Now there's a possibility that internal parts have been damaged, but probably not "broken". Slipping out of gear under power causes unusual wear and tear on the synchronizer parts, rounding off the edges, and making it more likely to come out of engagement.
Has the problem gotten worse over time?
Yes, it seems to be happening more often. I don't think it is an adjustment problem as it goes in gear with no resistance at times and other times you can "feel" resistance as you slide the shifter forward. Sometimes it is minor and you can feel the gear "click in and sometimes the resistance is very high and requires substantial pressure to feel it "click" in properly. Also, the drive train is covered by a 100,000 mile warranty, but dealer says he has to get GM approval to disassemble the transmission and he does not think he can get authorization since the transmission has not "failed"! We shall see on Thursday! Thanks for the feed back!
I have had this happen occasionally with my 280K mile C5, my (departed) '94 Z28, and my LS1/T56 Miata, and a couple of times in my new (to me) C7. It's just a design quirk of the Tremec T56-family of transmissions; I've not seen any actual failure modes that this is a harbinger of.
It happens more often when cold, and sometimes it takes several attempts to get it into gear. You'll learn the "feel" of when it goes into gear and when it's only halfway.
Just one of the aspects of having a transmission capable of handling 400+ ft.lb. of torque.
I've felt this a few times in my 2014 C7 with 12k miles on it. Usually I catch it, take it to 2nd, then back to 1st. I have been thinking about changing the transmission fluid to see if it helps.
When I first got my 2014, I had a little trouble feeling when it was fully engaged, but once I changed to aftermarket shifter, there is no uncertainty anymore.
I have a Core Shifters modified Hurst shifter (Hurst components, not billet shifter) which seems to be the perfect combination of short throw and minimal shift effort in higher gears.
It definitely feels like two detents, and clicks twice when going into gear.
If it actually pops out of gear, as pointed out already, it never hurts to make sure the shifter is aligned correctly... There is actually a service bulletin on some that were not from the factory.
I have a 14 and same problem. Only happen a few times when I bought the car after learning it only happens on initial start up, when not driving it for a while or the transmission being cold.
So for the first 2 minutes or so of driving car, when putting it in first I give a little extra push to make sure it clicks in gear. After that it's smooth sailing. Friend has a 16 and does the same thing.
Never brought it in for warranty as it only happen a couple times until I learned why it was doing it and what I had to do to prevent it.
This issue is not related to the clutch or the clutch fluid....it is a "balkey" 1st gear synchro or a shifter linkage adjustment issue.
You could be right -but lots of posts re clutch and dirty fluid causing engagement issues.
This is a video showing a car with full depressed clutch not disengaging. Could be an intermittent issue. If the clutch fluid was never changed could be the problem. Very easy to try and a lot cheaper than taking the console apart to adjust the shift linkage or finding someone who knows how to evaluate and mess with the multicone Syncros (or evaluating and/or replacing strut keys.)
This issue is not related to the clutch or the clutch fluid....it is a "balkey" 1st gear synchro or a shifter linkage adjustment issue.
exactly, it has ZERO to do with the clutch fluid. It happens to me all the time. Sometimes when I'm at a stop light and the light turns green I try to put it into first and it doesn't go, so I put it into 2nd then hard into first. If I have time at the light I try to put it into first and if it's acting up and won't go in (while the light is still red) I will ease off the clutch slowly and put pressure on the stick (while pushing it into 1st) until it slips in. I just deal with it because it's not worth the hassle of going to the dealership and watch them monkey around with it for a week.
Every other gear is fine, it's just sometimes the 1st gear engagement is a f'kn pita.
My 2015 did the same thing. There is a TSB(Dealer should be able to find it) out there that addresses the issue. I found it on this forum but it has been over a year so I don't have it anymore. I had to get GM customer service to get the repair done but it did help solve the slipping out of 1st.
My 2015 did the same thing. There is a TSB(Dealer should be able to find it) out there that addresses the issue. I found it on this forum but it has been over a year so I don't have it anymore. I had to get GM customer service to get the repair done but it did help solve the slipping out of 1st.
I took my C7 into the Dealership this morning. I showed them the TSB # PI1276D (it's been revised to include 2014 thru 2016 models). It amounts to readjusting the linkage which they state could be incorrect from the factory. My dealer would not cover it under warranty, but I finally had him do it to see if it corrected the problem. IT DID NOT! I talked to the technician who said it was not unusual for this to occur when shifting into 1st gear and suggested I first shift into 2nd gear before selecting 1st gear to avoid the problem GEEEEZ!
He said that he was confident if he disassembled the transmission , he would find nothing abnormal! He also said that Chevrolet would not approve a disassembly for such a "minor" issue.
I have scheduled an appointment with a different dealer on Monday to see if I get a different diagnosis! I have a feeling I am not going to get this resolved! I think they want to get rid of manual transmissions, entirely!
05-23-2017, 12:29 AM
7 speed manual-1st gear engagement
My both C7 M7s have shifted smooth and have never jumped out of gear.
