Call me nuts, but try it first...

Never admitting anything, but hypothetically speaking ... if one were to take a Cooper S and rev 1st to 6,000 or so then let off the gas and depress the clutch, one would be left pondering where 2nd gear went.

Call me nuts, but it seems that you've somehow wound up to the left of 1st (like where reverse is) and that's why you can't pull down to 2nd.

Anyone else have this experience or am I just nuts?

Maybe the tranny was still spinning super fast and I let off too much on the gas causing too big of a gap for the synchronizers to work???

 

***Reminder: Dont ever buy a car from MilesMoose!

 

haha...

 

I don't follow. You did what..... hypothetically??

 

If you miss any gear and floor it, the rev limiter will save your engine. However, if you are going 75mph and somehow manage to get the trans in 1st gear and let out the clutch, all bets are off. The rev limiter wont save you here, as the forward momentum of the car ends up greatly overspeeding the engine quite possibly with disasterous results. The rev limiter in this case would have to be a very fast foot down on the clutch.

 

I'm right behind you.

 

Not too close, I hope. With those kind of shifts, it might get a tad exciting. And physics states that "when an unstoppable MINI meets an unmovable MINI...", well, it ain't pretty.

 

If what you're asking is if it is normal to have trouble shifting into second when you've gone up past 6000rpm in first -- the answer is "no."
I often go above 6000 in first and have no trouble getting it into second.

 

Many times, I have hit the rev limiter in first (> 7000 RPM in GP) and shifted into second with no problem.

 

I started at a stop and revved 1st but not to the limiter. When I went to find 2nd it wasn't there. I don't normally drive like crap, but I was on an empty country road and wanted to practice. I find it better to perfect the shifting BEFORE something goes bad and the only thing between me and death is max acceleration.

So did I let off the gas too much?

 

Nah. If the clutch is in, the rev speed of the engine shouldn't have any affect on gear engagement. I think you either pulled the shifter slightly to the left as you were pulling back and hit the horizontal gate, or you just yanked it back too fast for the syncros to work properly.

 

remind me not to draft milesmoose

 

Rev match 101 .... it does make a difference ...

 

Well... if I'm reading correctly, he was just trying to do a 1-2 upshift at 6k. If the clutch was completely disengaged and the syncros were doing their job, there shouldn't have been any problem. And with the engine disengaged from the transmission, engine speed wouldn't be an issue - the gears would just be spinning according to the speed the car was travelling at the time. No?

 

You probably just got a little excited and "missed" the shift. You might have let the clutch out a little to soon doing a quik shift or just missed the second gear gate by a little bit.
I suggest you gently accelerate to high RPMs (like 6000) in first and try a relatively slow shift into second gear to verify that there is no problem. Then try it again with faster and faster shifts. You should not hurt anything and it will be fun. Minis have a rev limiter to keep you from over-reving the car. You will feel/hear the engine cut-out if you hit the rev limiter, it is just protecting itself. No harm no foul.

 

Thanks to everyone for their input. I went back to the empty country road and played on the way home from work last night. The simple answer is that 2nd is STRAIGHT back from 1st. I was pulling left and missing the gate. I'm glad to hear others run 1st to 6 grand. All I can say is HOLY COW is that little thing fast when you actually find 2nd!

For other newbies out there, I'd like to tell them that you really can get in reverse at any speed. Other manuals I've driven, you can't get into reverse unless you're stopped. And before the jokes start, I have never shifted into reverse at speed --I merely feel the shifter passing the little hump and realize that's not the place to be at speed.

Happy motoring,
--MM

 

FYI on the reverse thing... MINI's have syncro'd reverse, most cars don't. That's why you can get into reverse while still rolling.

 

Those numbers show you where the gears are located.

and I agree, up shift 1-2 @ 6k as long as you put the clutch in ought to be a sinch Still not sure I understood the original problem though. FYI- the owners manual explains how to think of shifting to 5 and 6 to avoid hitting 3 and 4 by accident.

 

It just takes practice to be proficient at 1-2 and 5-6 shifts. Our boxes love to be in the 3rd/4th gate thanks to selctor shafts springs. There's huge spring to overcome to select reverse so don't worry about finding reverse. Here's some quick vids I made of our boxes while doing my clutch/diff job.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07uRhOnk3h8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmBJ03-OEfo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gLvJFiFRZk

Jeremy

 

As long as the clutch is depressed you should be able to select reverse even with the car rolling which could be a very bad thing. Thankfully with that giant selector shaft spring it's a job to select reverse! On non-syncroed reverse gear cars such as the Classic Mini if you're rolling and try to select reverse you're going to hear the straight cut teeth grinding away!

Here's a pic of the reverse idler shaft which moves to select straight cut 1st and straight cut teeth on 1-2 synchro hub. The Classic Mini must be stopped/diff/mainshaft not moving to select reverse gear without grinding!

Reverse idler shaft and gear top left. Shift forks and bell crank levers at bottom.
1st gear on left and 1-2 synchro hub to the right. Reverse idler shaft and gear below. Reverse will be selected when reverse idler gear is slid to the right which counter spins the mainshaft and differential!

There's the complete Classic Mini 4 speed gearbox. Laygear at top over top of reverse idler shaft and gear.


Jeremy