The 6 speed tranny

[02TDIred]

Is it "normal" for the 2012 TDI/MT… to be "difficult" to engage 1st gear, while slowing to a stop ?

n.b. no other concerns about shifting e.g., slack, etc.

TIA

(beyond desire for a short shifter kit from dieselgeek.)

 

[dmarsingill]

I've never owned a vehicle that would engage first until you are almost stopped.

Donald

 

[yatzee]

normal.

 

[scdevon]

The syncronizer hub and sleeve have to match the teeth on the gear or they resist meshing. 1st gear is more sensitive to this because it's the largest diameter gear by a wide margin. Pressing harder on the shifter into 1st will result in more syncronizer ring braking effort and may make it mesh sooner, but it's harder on the syncronizer ring. Honestly, 1st gear in these units is a pretty low gear ratio and I'd resist trying to engage 1st gear coming to a stop much above 5 mph or so to avoid excessive wear of the syncronizer.

 

[02TDIred]

thank you…

 

[ATR]

Yep, completely normal. I too have found 1st to be hard to shift into especially when the car isn't completely warmed up and still relatively cold from sitting overnight.

You could always double clutch to get it to go in easier... However scdevon really summed it up well

If it comes down to it I'll leave it in 2nd unless I'm completely stopped. Seems to do the trick well while slipping the clutch a bit more until ~10mph then I let the clutch out all the way.

 

[740GLE]

FYI double clutching solves the problem

I try and not go into 1st unless under 10mph more like 5. Most of the time I'll lug in second on light changes and other "rolling stops".