Does anyone else have a tough time shifting their 5-speed into reverse? Sometimes it takes a lot of jockeying to get mine to go in.

Mark of Pemburnia

 

nope

 

Never noticed a problem, try letting the clutch out then push it back in again it should pop right into R

 

Get a Whalen shift ****. It makes the throw into reverse much easier.

 

At the dealer the sale lady needed her two hands to do that.
Now I have on 400 miles and it is slightly better. I usually shift into "second", push toward the driver and return toward "first" and I am in the reverse. Hope don't need to do it too fast as in some kind of emergency.

 

It happens to me too, I let out the clutch and try again or put it in 1st and try again. I've also wonder about doing this in an emergency, seems kinda dangerous to have to worry about it in an emergency.

 

I give it a little *pop* and it goes to R great. The dealer told me to do it that way because it can be hard otherwise.

 

Happened to me a few times, most recently last night, where I was in a very bad spot to have the reverse not work exacltly when I needed it.

Yellow #5,

What do you mean by give it a "pop" ? :smile:

 

I just kind of pop it to the left. Kind of hit it with a quick *pop*. I don't slam it over but kind of use a firm yet gentle pop to get it all the way over there. I hope that makes sense. Kind of like slapping it to get it to go into reverse.

 

Also be sure to be at a complete stop, not rolling. it moves in to R nicely.

 

I get this every now and again too. but, really, it's not that bad. What does concern me are the odd noises coming from the front end while moving in reverse. I"m still searching for that.

 

I too have had this problem.
I have also found that there is a spot where is "seems" to be in reverse but actually is not.
You really have to muscle it...
I will have had my car a year in June and the the problem is still present.
If anything I think I may have just adapted to how stiff it is to throw in reverse.

 

Hmmm. I guess I'll talk to the dealer about this. It's easy to picture a situation where you have to back up now. I usually notice it, though when I'm backing up to get out of the driveway or getting out of a parking space. Both instances are from a dead stop. Hmmm.

 

I have put 600 miles on mine and have noticed the problem a few times. Putting it into first, then reverse works best for me. I wouldn't want to "pop" it to hard.

 

Also experiencing this. It's been tough from the start- took delivery in Feb. '03. I have learned to work w/ it, but it isn't any better. I most often just nudge forward a bit in first, and then return to reverse and it drops in fine. Before I tried this, I would wrestle it hard, and it still wouldn't help. Sometime it drops right in no problem, other time, the nudge forward, and then it works. It's a habit now, and I've learned to live w/ it.

 

I've experienced this issue too. I used to have the same problem in my '89 Wrangler. In both cars, I just roll the car a couple of inches forwards (or backwards if I'm on a hill) and the car shifts smoothly. I just got my Whalen shift **** about 10 minutes ago :smile:, and I'll post again if the ****'s weight makes the problem go away.

 

I installed the Whalen shift **** yesterday, and while it is a great product, its weight doesn't force the car into reverse . I got stuck between neutral and reverse at 5:30 this morning in a crowded parking lot.

 

This happens to my Mini everyday. (8100 miles/6 months) This was one of my very first "concerns" I brought to the Service Dept's attention. The manager told me that it is just one of the idosyncrisies of the Mini. To rectify it, I always have to release the cluch for a second, wait for it to stop spinning, and then place it into reverse. Works everytime. Do it too fast, and you'll grind the gear.

 

My husband & I both noticed this also. What we've found is if you just let the shifter ease into reverse instead of forcing it or "putting" it in reverse then it slides right over. Hope this makes sense.
Lois

 

I have the 6-speed with about 6600 miles on it and these past few days specifically it has been very hard to get into reverse. Getting past the sprung part of the shift gate to the left is straightforward and not a problem, but pushing the gear up into reverse sometimes feels like it needs wayyy too much force. It's only like this when it's the first time of the day the car is running (it's cold). When I can tell it needs more pressure than usual, I don't even put it in, i just take it back in Neutral and try again, and again and it becomes normal again. I don't know why it just started to do this, is this normal? I thought the transmission would keep getting smoother as the miles roll along. Other than this little thing, it has gotten extremely smoother since day 1 and the car is still giving me mischievous grins.

 

We got our mini in Long Beach one year ago.right off I notice it was a little work sometimes getting it in reverse,I thought it was me,drove cross country and back,got use to it.Got back, took it in for a little touch-up work,told Tom in the service dept. they replaced the transmission and paid for a weeks rental on a Z-3.By all means tell them.I think they know something.

 

Just for a note, there is a plastic washer on the shift mechanism, that if it breaks there is almost no way to get it in reverse, and you cannot buy just the washer, you have to buy the whole shift mechanism, so there is a potential problem, and there is the potential fix, hopefully this is not your problem for the shift mechanism is around 90 bucks....

 

I never use reverse, I just hop over things and turn hard left or right until I am pointed in the right direction again.
Isn't reverse the 7th speed on my Getrag transmission?

 

I used to have this happen about one out of twenty attempted reverse shifts. I would usually just do a quick shift into 3rd, and then go back to try for reverse again, and it usually works. Sometimes it did need a little more monkeying though. No problems in the MCS I've got now, though! (Well, except for the STUMBLE!!!)

 

I think that the "problem" is that reverse isn't syncronized. I've had other cars without R being syncro'd and a little double clutch is sometimes required. When my first service comes around, I'll see if they can adjust the linkage. That will sometimes help.