Grinding gears in reverse

[dxbydt]

I've recently had this happen 2 or 3 times now where I put it in reverse to back up and the gears grind. I stopped immediately and verified that the shifter was all the way engaged but still got grinding. Only after putting it back in neutral and then in reverse again did the grinding stop.

Has anyone had something similar happen?

Sponsored

 

[Zeffy94]

Did it this weekend. I forgot to put it into a forward gear before reverse and yeah unpleasant sound indeed. I always throw it into third gear before reverse and don’t have any grinding issues.

Also don’t try and get into reverse if you’re moving at all. Big thing on manual cars versus automatics where you can generally get away with it.

 

[dxbydt]

This was from a standstill and went from 1st gear to reverse. So there shouldn't have been any issue.

 

[DeVo]

try 3rd or 5th then go to reverse. i get this too if i don't.

 

[mvela]

I back mine out of my garage everyday. I always park it in neutral and use the parking brake. I crank it and go from neutral to reverse with no grinding. Sometimes it doesn’t fall right into gear smoothly and needs and little nudge. But I’ve never had grinding. So you are saying it’s grinding with the clutch pushed in and vehicle not moving?

 

[mvela]

as you can see in the video, the guy is in a Honda Civic. He makes perfect sense. Since there is no synchro mesh for reverse in our cars, this is common and putting it in a forward gear and go directly into reverse is the common fix. Just like the other guys were stating.

 

[apk]

I believe it states in the manual to go from 1st to reverse if you have issue. Mine has never been smooth, but never a grind.

 

[CanadiaegeanBlue]

My Si has started doing this in the past week. It will randomly grind Reverse gear, not all the time but occasionally. To test it, I rolled forward in 1st and then to reverse, it grinds.

Is the suggestion that I place the car in neutral when I come to a stop, then 1st, then immediately reverse?

 

[dxbydt]

I don't think it's ever a good idea to go into reverse while moving, even if it's 1st gear. You should be stopped all the way first.

 

[CanadiaegeanBlue]

I don't think it's ever a good idea to go into reverse while moving, even if it's 1st gear. You should be stopped all the way first.

Should have been clearer. Yes, I rolled forward in 1st, came to a complete stop, then while the clutch is still to the floor in 1st I shift into reverse. Essentially doing this is all in a single clutch pedal engagement. I've never switched from a forward drive gear to reverse without completely coming to a rest.

What I'm asking is would or be better to let's say roll forward in first, complete stop clutch in, neutral, release clutch, clutch in again, 1st then reverse?

Essentially engaging the clutch twice?

 

[dxbydt]

Shouldn't make a difference. What's weird in my experience is I do the exact same thing every time and occasionally get different results.

Normal Procedure:
1. Put clutch in
2. Start car
3. Shift from 1st to Reverse
4. Apply gas while releasing clutch
5. Sometimes get grinding gears

 

[Gansan]

Shouldn't make a difference. What's weird in my experience is I do the exact same thing every time and occasionally get different results.

Normal Procedure:
1. Put clutch in
2. Start car
3. Shift from 1st to Reverse
4. Apply gas while releasing clutch
5. Sometimes get grinding gears

Okay, your simplified list of the order you are doing things clarifies it for me. So if it is grinding as you are releasing the clutch and starting to move, it sounds as if it is not completely engaging in reverse gear. This can easily happen when by chance, the teeth that need to mesh don't mesh right because they are not quite in position to go together. If this happens, you should go to neutral, then let out the clutch OR shift into one of the other gears. This jostles the gears into a slightly different position. Then go back into reverse and it should mesh.

Edit: I just watched the video, and I disagree that you can't stop in neutral along the way. It's fine to pause. When you put it into gear while the car is stopped, all the gears in the transmission are stopped. They are connected to the wheels.

 

[dxbydt]

Wow that makes sense now. Didnt know that could happen.

 

[specter86]

Old thread revival.
This just started happening to me. Same routine backing out of the garage since Feb of 2019.

2 times in the last 3 weeks, never before.
First time I head it,it didn’t click what was going on- heard a faint gear grind and he stick shift was vibrating. My foot is still holding the clutch down so I was totally confused. Happened again this morning so I searched google and it brought me to this thread. I have no information I just came here to complain lol

besides this and the clutch pedal vibration between 5-5.5k rpm’s, it’s been a pretty good car

 

[ergoodfellow]

This happens to me every few weeks in my 2020 Sport Hatch. When I park the car, I always leave it in first. When I start up, I go from 1st to neutral to reverse. It feels like it goes into reverse all the way but when
I hit the gas to back up, it grinds. I go back to neutral and back to reverse then all is fine.

I’m just extra careful now when I go to reverse and make sure it’s fully engaged

Sponsored