pcar964

You drove without shifting the first 5k miles?

pcar964

That's an EXCELLENT link! Thanks!

Bull

Don't know about the parking in 2nd cause/effect either, but will try it when I get my car back.

Parking in gear hurts nothing, unless someone whacks you while parked. How hard that would need to be is open to speculation...don't know of any tests ever done. I never parallel park my car, which is where the "park by feel/sound" crowd usually strikes.

HowStuffWorks is an excellent site.

gordo993

is there a difference between the turbo tranny and the NA tranny?

Bull

Yes, due to the 4WD.

Pete Lech

My car has been like that since at least 25K miles. I tried Motul Synthetic and Mobil One again, with no real change. I have to give it a "One--Mississippi" count before putting it into 2nd gear for the first few miles, even in 65 degree ambient temperatures.

I am curious to try your tip of leaving it in 2nd gear when parking. Perhaps it allows more of the cold and thicker oil to lubricate the gearset.

pcar964

As of tonight, I've driven the car cold four times. Each time I had parked in 2nd, and each time it shifted flawlessly from the get-go. I'm very happy with this development, but still unsure what's causing it

Leland Pate

I have the same balky 2nd gear shift when the gearbox is cold. It gets awefully cold here in the Winter. I don't drive the car much but when I get that really bad "fix" for a spin, I pull it out. I've had to place heat lamps under the case in a futile attempt to warm it up a bit before cranking it.

I will try the 2nd gear park and see if it makes a difference. I'll admit, I'm skeptical, but I'll try it all the same.

And FWIW, I usually leave mine in neutral. Some say that's a no-no because of the chance for the parking brake pads to freeze to the rotors. I've never actually seen or heard of that happening.
I'm also bad for starting the car w/o getting in the car in the mornings. I'm always afraid I may forget and force the car forward and smash it into my workbench.

Caveman

Hi PCAR,

What happens if you leave it in neutral overnight? Over here we were always told to leave the car in neutral with the handbrake (emergency brake) on unless we were parking on a steep hill in which case leaving it in gear was considered a safety measure on top of leaving the hand brake on. In my old car I once started when in gear and believe me the car moves fast! I never get why in films where the manual car is stalled on the railway lines they don't just use the starter motor to move the car. If you ever break down and need to move a small distance it's supposed to work quite well and beats being stuck in the outside lane!

Cheers,

David

farmerjohn

Do our cars have separate pads for parking brakes? In any event, wouldn't using the parking brake, when the rotors are hot, increase one's chance of pad residue on the rotors? "Warped" rotors, as I understand it, are often rotors with uneven pad deposits.

mborkow

i thought our parking brakes were actually drum style brakes...

cabrio993

Is a habit of mine to depress the clutch and put it in neutral before starting the car. My Audi won't start unless you have the clucth pedal depressed. Most newer manual cars wont start unless your clutch is in. They have a sensor switch at the clutch pedal that disables the starter.

I guess there have been plenty of smashed workbenches before they came up with this safety feature.

pcar964

I have left my car in neutral before, and I don't recall it benefitting the cold shifting at all.

Dudley

Yes sir, rear only.

Peter S 993tt

Hi Steve -
I'm just a paranoid New Yorker - I leave it in gear cause I don't trust the parking brake. Now that you mention it - you may have a point but - 400+ lb/ft? If someone bumps you - it isn't worse than dumping the clutch at 3000 rpm - which I DO NOT DO or recommend. I guess the best thing is to not park and drive instead