I am concerned about this irritating grind when I shift into 2nd gear as the car is warming up. I'm afraid it will get progressively worse. How many others have had this problem and taken it to the dealer? What did they do? someone wrote that the shifting loosens up after 10,000 miles, but someone else said that if it' syncros it can only become worse. comments welcomed....

I also have this problem Paul........

I have 1500 miles on the car. I notice it is harder than I think it should be going into 2nd. One clue may be that it is EASIER if I double clutch it before going into 2nd. This tell me something might be wrong but I don't know enough about the system to be sure.

Any help or thoughts??????

Yea, I have a slight grind on shifting into second when cold. I have a 97 1.8T. I think at my next service I'm going to have them take a look at it. I noticed it some time ago and probably should have had it fixed a long time ago. It doesn't seem to matter how you shift, until it warms up it is hard to engage second gear.
Brian
brianmac66@hotmail.com

I wonder if "they all do that". I noticed when I shift into second that there is a slight resistance felt just before the lever 'snicks' fully into second gear. None of the other gears engage like this. And second feels like this if I am upshifting from first or downshifting from third. I have not tried double clutching, but the resistance is the same with the transmition cold or warm.

Robert Jordan
'97 1.8t

While the car is warming up, shift from 1st to neutral and then to 2nd. It may sound like a pain but it should eliminate the problem.

My 2nd to last GTi had a bad 1st-2nd syncro. I knew I was getting rid of the car in within 6 months after the problem started and didn't want to go through an expensive transmission repair. I switched to redline trans oil and it didn't help so I started doing the 1st to neutral routine. It's a habbit that stuck in cold weather (until the car is warmed up) and I continued to do this with my last GTi and with my Audi as well.

I figure it's a good practice and can only help to preserve the syncros.

Best,
Jeff 1999 2.8 30V QMS Wett