:type: First of all, I should explain the title. This has happened to me twice on seperate occasions.

Sitting at a stop, throw it into 1st (I think), mash gas & let out clutch, start rolling for a split second- BAM! No, I haven't run up the @$$ of the car in front of me :rolleyes: but this is loud, and you feel it through the car. At this point, the car is out of gear and I have to go through the process again.

Its the alarming "bam" I'm worried about. Is this a possible problem, or is my "not quite in 1st gear" theory sound? :blink:

It happens to me in reverse all the time. Its my gears grinding, haven't heard your sound so can't tell ya for sure.

It’s funny that you mention this. Yes it happened to me for the first time today, but I accredited it to me daydreaming at the light and not engaging it properly, and yes the torque of the engine SLAMS that sucker back into the neutral position and scared the piss out of me. But like I said, I believe I wasn’t paying attention (more like respect to 400 hp). My advice is pay attention and ensures that 1st is fully engaged (I’m not insinuating your not) and if it continues it might be you’re throughout bearings going out on you.
When you come to a complete stop and when you’re not in gear try depressing and then releasing the clutch before you put it back into first. This will help until you get it repaired. By the way, I don’t consider myself an expert on this matter and this is just a theory from my own past experiences.

Having driven the Tremec 6-speed in my LT1 TransAm for 150,000 miles, I can tell you that it isn't a characteristic of that gearbox. Couple of thoughts:
1) Have the shift linkage checked for bent or mis-adjusted linkage
2) Make your takeoffs a bit less harsh. Best drag strip times seem to come from a part throttle launch, then leaning into it.

I suspect that the torque of the engine is causing a shift on the engine mounts and/or the transmission mounts, which is causing a bind in the shift linkage (or a strain) as the powertrain torques against the frame. That may be causing enough of a shift in linkage position to partially pull it out of 1st. A smoother torque load might be all that's needed, but check the linkage anyway.

Are you holding the shifter into place, The first time I was at the track I left it in 1st and put both hands on the wheel, went to launch and the shifter popped back into neutal, you have to hold it in gear...

:unsure: OK, Now I'm concerned... I don't think I'm doing hard launches (1k - 1.2k on the tach) - certainly not the kind you would use at a track. This car scares the hell outta me - I haven't even had the balls to turn the TC off yet. I just rolled over the engine break in period a week or so ago and I'm still babying it. For now, I'm only nailing it when I'm already rolling in gear.

Nocturn- Your comment makes sense. Did it make the loud noise I mentioned when that happened, though? I'm still trying to kick the "brace for torque steer" habit from my last car. Perhaps holding it in 1st will help with that :)
mldavis - I admit you just went way over my head with that info. Is the shift linkage something I could check or should I have the dealership give it the once over when I take it in for a switch replacement next Monday?
It seems the thing to do for now is: Make **** sure I'm fully in 1st before letting out the clutch. then wait and see if it reoccurs. Thanks for your input!

Well I was in my TA (400+TQ) and trying to launch it would snap the gear back into Neutral....so if your not holding it in gear I imagine that is the problem.

Still in warranty. I'd say something to the Pontiac dealer. Might be a service bulletin about it, too.

That's a bullet proof transmission. Shouldn't be doing that. There is a slight "notch" (for lack of a better term) between neutral center position and fully engaged 1st where you can think you're in 1st but not quite be there. Once in a while, gear teeth get aligned high point to high point and the shifter won't quite slip all the way into gear. Happens on all manual gearboxes. You just gotta pay attention to the feel, don't just pump and go.

I've done a couple times in 1st & once in reverse. I've driven a stick most of my life & I'd say it's operator error. Make sure to put it all the way in gear. I also believe that a better shifter would help to reduce this issue.

Drive it like the old muscle car that it is ! :rolleyes:

It's happened to me in 1st, 2nd and reverse, afterwards always felt like I did not engage properly. Any modern transmission should not requrie you to hold it in gear, that's crazy

Originally posted by wineldr@Jun 15 2005, 12:22 PM
It's happened to me in 1st, 2nd and reverse, afterwards always felt like I did not engage properly. Any modern transmission should not requrie you to hold it in gear, that's crazy
Where did you get this info? Its not neccesary to hold the gear in when normal driving true, but when racing you should always have a hand on the shifter to get ready for the next shift....at least that what I always do...

Did it to me once in second, bout two months ago. Scared the bejeezus outta me.

happened to me about a month ago in 1st...stopped at a red, i pushed to 1st as far as it would go (or rather, wanted to go), and did your standard 'in the middle of mid-day traffic' acceleration at green and BAM!...hadn't rolled more than 30 feet or so when it just snapped out of gear. i thought i killed it...it never happened to me in 1st before.

i get it almost twice a week or so in reverse though, even after jockying the shifter around to get it to even get it in the reverse gate at all. sledgehammering it into reverse seems to work most of the time...but i shouldn't have to do that.

i'm more inclined to think that its a synchro or something preventing the linkage from properly engaging the correct gear...but who knows.

my dealer's sick and tired of me bitching about my shifter/clutch, so they're looking at it on friday morning. i'm expecting to hear the "it looks okay to us" routine, but then again i might be surprised...

Before I go into reverse, every time, I put it in 3rd, then reverse. Slides right in. If I don't, it fights me into reverse, and it doesn't feel like it went all the way in, so I take it out, go to 3rd, then reverse. Why is this?

EDIT: I have a feeling there's gonna be a recall on our trannys. Mine hasn't seemed right since I bought it with 4 miles on it. Several people have had pressure plate issues, throwout bearing issues, and I still don't believe that coffee-black clutch fluid at 1,000 miles is normal. I think the whole system is hosed.

Originally posted by st8gunner@Jun 16 2005, 09:24 AM

EDIT: I have a feeling there's gonna be a recall on our trannys. Mine hasn't seemed right since I bought it with 4 miles on it. Several people have had pressure plate issues, throwout bearing issues, and I still don't believe that coffee-black clutch fluid at 1,000 miles is normal. I think the whole system is hosed.
Please God, before I hit 36k. :flush:

Originally posted by torridredaccd+Jun 16 2005, 06:07 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (torridredaccd @ Jun 16 2005, 06:07 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-st8gunner@Jun 16 2005, 09:24 AM

EDIT: I have a feeling there's gonna be a recall on our trannys. Mine hasn't seemed right since I bought it with 4 miles on it. Several people have had pressure plate issues, throwout bearing issues, and I still don't believe that coffee-black clutch fluid at 1,000 miles is normal. I think the whole system is hosed.
Please God, before I hit 36k. :flush: [/b][/quote]
I think we're safe. I still get free recalls on my 99 SHO......

Originally posted by st8gunner@Jun 16 2005, 09:24 AM
Before I go into reverse, every time, I put it in 3rd, then reverse. Slides right in. If I don't, it fights me into reverse, and it doesn't feel like it went all the way in, so I take it out, go to 3rd, then reverse. Why is this?

EDIT: I have a feeling there's gonna be a recall on our trannys. Mine hasn't seemed right since I bought it with 4 miles on it. Several people have had pressure plate issues, throwout bearing issues, and I still don't believe that coffee-black clutch fluid at 1,000 miles is normal. I think the whole system is hosed.
2nd EDIT:

SEEEEE?????

More Tranny Issues (http://ls1gto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26983)

Well, since the first post I've done it once more. I was ready for it though, and now know that it is me missing 1st. :drevil: No probs with reverse so far, 1K miles & counting. :D
Sorry to hear about so many other issues with this transmission though. These 6 speeds have been around for quite some time haven't they? Is there something special about the GTO install?

Originally posted by MK-Scorpion@Jun 16 2005, 07:59 PM
Well, since the first post I've done it once more. I was ready for it though, and now know that it is me missing 1st. :drevil: No probs with reverse so far, 1K miles & counting. :D
Sorry to hear about so many other issues with this transmission though. These 6 speeds have been around for quite some time haven't they? Is there something special about the GTO install?
No, thus I think it must be the driver...

if you read the owners manual it will tell you that you must go into first gear before going into revese. this makes sense because you dont want the car to just be able to shift into reverse at any time (like going donw the freeway and shifting to fifth!) if you keep forcing it into reverse you could possibly mess up the syncros

Originally posted by raugur3736@Jul 18 2005, 11:21 PM
if you read the owners manual it will tell you that you must go into first gear before going into revese. this makes sense because you dont want the car to just be able to shift into reverse at any time (like going donw the freeway and shifting to fifth!) if you keep forcing it into reverse you could possibly mess up the syncros
So if I start the car in first does that count as beingin first before I gointo reverse? I dont know how many times I have put it in reverse and grabbed half of the gear whenit feels like it should engage. Its happened to almost anyone who has driven my car.

Originally posted by raugur3736@Jul 18 2005, 11:21 PM
if you read the owners manual it will tell you that you must go into first gear before going into revese. this makes sense because you dont want the car to just be able to shift into reverse at any time (like going donw the freeway and shifting to fifth!) if you keep forcing it into reverse you could possibly mess up the syncros
it still can shift into reverse at any time though...a week after getting my car i did one of those fun 4th to R shifts on a freeway onramp. i was greeted with a rather loud grind and a "why the hell did they put R here in the first place?" thought in the gap between my ears.

positioning reverse without any kind of lockout in the path of a normal shift is inexcusable...its just boneheaded design. hell, position it to the right of 6th gear or something...most people don't go from 3rd to 6th, so therefore there is little or no chance of overthrowing from 3rd to R. on the other hand, most drivers i know tend to shift from 4th to 5th quite often, so placing R in a overthrow position is just dumb.

i've since learned where to aim my 5th throws in the slushbox, so i haven't overthrown again.

That loud grind was the lockout, its not a fancy electronic gizmo, but the smashing of teeth to prevent the gear from going in. Its a simple matter of learning where the gate is, its where it is to keep the Transmission strong, yet small and light weight, moving would add more levers and moving parts etc..

well shucks...i guess i got confused then. i thought the sound i heard was from a reverse synchro violently disagreeing with what i was doing. the grinding of any gears is nearly always a bad thing in an automobile...i've got a hard time believing that its by design.

neither my civSI nor my S2000 had an electronic lockout on it...they had mechanical lockouts, but there was no way i could even get close to the R gate unless i really meant it...no griding, no noise...just no go.

function > form...its the only tranny i've seen with a top-right R gear, and there's a reason for that: its a dumb place to put it. just about everyone but tremec/BW puts it either top/bottom left, or bottom right.

tremec did get their heads out of their arses though...they finally started to put an electronic lockout on the T56 last year. i guess i've got to give 'propz' where 'propz iz due'.

maybe next year someone will figure out how to make a stock shifter that doesn't feel like a stick in a bucket of wet cement, or a stock clutch that doesn't use sourced materials from Nerf. lol

Well that probably was what it was :lol:, as long as it doesn't go in then I say its a lockout.

Tremec has had its location there for some 15 years, ever since the C4 Corvette had it, and its a small sacrafice for being to stand up to 450 LBs of TQ... ;) Same thing with the shifter. Give it time and GM/Tremec will redesign a new 6 speed tranny, but as it stands, a longer throw and weird reverse gear position I guess hasn't warrented it.

sorry about my last post,m it doesnt say that you must put the car into first before shifting into reverse. i dont know where i read that but it always works for me

it popped out of first on me a couple days ago. I say we all beat the living hell out of our cars when they're still under warranty, take them in and get fresh, clean parts. If all of us do it, they cant draw the "abuse" card. why buy a warranty when you cant even really drive your car?!?!

Mine has done it a few times, but I can tell and go back to neutral and back to first. Does it a bit in reverse. My friend with a Z28 told me to go to 4 and then R, hasn't done it since :afro:

I have the same problem with my M6 i was told that it was my B&M shifter not engaging correctly. Any thoughts?

I've had a weird linkage thing going on. Usually between 2nd and 3rd in a residential area, cruising and just changing gears like granny. It's like a klink thing...anyone heard this?

On another note...does anyone have a link to latest TSB's (Technical Service Bulletins)? I've got a paint issue that's got me worried as far a chipping easil

On another note...does anyone have a link to latest TSB's (Technical Service Bulletins)? I've got a paint issue that's got me worried as far a chipping easil

Here's a couple of places. Both mention a couple of paint issues. To use the first one, you have to register, but it's free:

http://www.mycarstats.com/auto_TSBs/PONTIAC_GTO_TSBs.asp

http://www.edmunds.com/maintenance/MaintenanceServlet?tid=edmunds.a.advicelanding.adv ice..1.*

the only prob ive had with my m6 was not wanting to start but its one of those intermitten probs. now sometimes i baby it and others i drive it like it was ment to be like a race car going through gears tepands on mood. now ive only got 1200miles on it , break in whats that, gotta break in right drive hard. now i egree with nocturns advice.

This has also happened to me in my '04. Happens in 1st, but mostly in reverse. Having been a motorhead nearly ALL my life and having so many experiences with so many different types of manual transmissions, I would have to concur that this problem is caused by piss poor shifter/shift boot design, fouling normal operation of the shift linkage. I noticed it the very first time I ever drove my car, at the dealership. I eventually plan to 'fix' this problem with my car and I will be sure to post the RX up on here.

I wonder if a GMM Rip Shifter would help mitigate the stock shifter issues. I was thinking about going this route, not for this issue, but rather to shorten the throw. I will probably wait a little while before doing this, as I have had a lot of mail order stuff showing up on my front doorstep. The wife is beginning to question how much money I am spending. :eek:

-K