Keep Shifting into 3rd By Accident

[larryt1026]

Hey guys so here's the story, please read as I would like everyones take on this matter:

I was driving to pick up my gf from school and I was driving along like I normally do. Shift from first to second and as I try to shift into third, I accidently shifted into 1st. (I'm guessing this because when I shifted into what I thought was 3rd..the rpm jumped up and my car threw me forward). So I think that it's human error, so I shrug it off and remind myself not to do it again. So I go through the same routine and then AGAIN trying to go from 2nd to 3rd the car shifts into first. It seemed like I was UNABLE to shift into 3rd.

Of course after shifting into first (and panicking) I quickly shifted into neutral and then 3rd again. When I shift into Neutral then into 3rd it seemed to go in easier (I'd still mis-shift to 1st when I did this as well).

Right now I'm so upset that this has happened since I did the 2nd gear to 1st gear about 6-8 times on the road today and my car only has 230 miles. Downshifting is a no-no before a car is broken-in as I was told on this forum and I did it UNINTENTIONALLY 6-8 times in one trip. I'm about to cry.

Does anyone know why this is happening by any chance. I have never encountered this problem before and I've almost had this car for a month. Any help would be awesome. Thanks guys.

P.S sorry for the long post.

[Sterling]

Mine goes into third pretty easily... there is a spring that centers the shifter and if you push it forward from neutral, it goes into third every time. There's no guess work to it. Let that centering spring do the work for you.

[larryt1026]

Originally Posted by sterlingnotes

Mine goes into third pretty easily... there is a spring that centers the shifter and if you push it forward from neutral, it goes into third every time. There's no guess work to it. Let that centering spring do the work for you.

Yeah I hear ya. I don't know what's going on because I've never had trouble shifting from 2nd to 3rd in this car until today, and I can't seem to find out what the issue is. Hopefully I didn't mess up my car due to downshifting so many times before the car is broken in.

[HaZe_X]

Dont try and throw the shifter into third, go easy and use the palm of your hand until your 'trained'. On the 2-3 shift for now just let the centering spring center the shifter then shift to 3rd. Youll get used to everything.

[Sterling]

If it keeps happening after taking our advise, bring it back to the dealer to check out... I hope it's just an operator error and not something worse. Good luck!

[larryt1026]

Originally Posted by HaZe_X

Dont try and throw the shifter into third, go easy and use the palm of your hand until your 'trained'. On the 2-3 shift for now just let the centering spring center the shifter then shift to 3rd. Youll get used to everything.

The palm thing is good advice. But it has never happened to me before, that's why it's so weird..I have a feeling it might be car issues. And if it's not I might have some now considering I downshifted without rev matching into first when the car isn't broken in yet.

[Caspers2SSRS]

.........or you could put it in M like I do and use the steering wheel paddle buttons. The computer won't let you shift into the wrong gear. Of course you'll have to trade up to the A6..........lol

[snowtrill]

If you want to take it slow just release the shifter when you pull it out of of second, when it centers just push up to put it in third until you get a little more confident in shifting.

I suspect you've got your arm tense and aren't realizing you are pulling the shifter to the left.

With that being said, I'm still occasionally working out which gear I need to land in at what point and I'm just over 500 miles.

Good luck

[Mr Twisty]

Try shifting without gripping the knob... on 2 to 3 shift use your palm and push it forward and right. On your 1-2 and 3-4 shifts, try using just your fingertips.

You can feel the positions better with a light touch rather than a firm handshake grip.

[solo40oz]

Maybe you have real short arms like this and you can't reach 3rd gear?

[Mr Twisty]

Your downshifts didn't hurt anything as long as you didn't red line the tach.

Do you grip the shifter like you're shaking a mans hand? Like, firm?

[SlingShot]

Don't think about it when shifting, don't force it and just let it slide in. These cars shift a lot more easy then people think. Give your self a little time and it will be second nature ...

[RAdams]

Don't worry too much Larry, maybe you just had a brain-f@rt-day. I've had times when I've tried to start from a dead stop in 3rd. It won't happen for several months, but once it happens, I'll do it 4 or 5 times more times during the same week. Try not to dwell on making shifting mistakes because that sometimes makes things worse due to over-thinking.

Also, I think sterlingnotes was right to mention the centering spring. I had a shifter years ago that would center between 3rd & 4th as expected when it was cold. After a long drive, it would wallow between 1st & 2nd. It's easy to see if that's the issue, while keeping your foot on the clutch just run through all the gears, go back to 1st, then release in neutral while you are at a dead stop. Note if there is any difference in the shifter location between cold & warmed up.

[RAdams]

Originally Posted by solo40oz

Maybe you have real short arms like this and you can't reach 3rd gear?

Hey... NOT funny. That's probably half the reason I'm attracted to short-throw shifters. I literally had to lean over a tiny bit to hit 5th in my 99 Firebird.


(Ok... yeah, it really is funny! )