Oh My Goodness. I Am An Idiot.

[Maggiolone]

I bought a manual, '84 Jetta last year for fun and to learn stick on. 5-speed.

It has a relatively newer clutch, too, maybe less than 1k miles on it, and I've rarely been driving the car.

Today I found out I've been launching it in 3rd gear instead of 1st. The car would do it, it would just take awhile to get to speed.

Have I destroyed my newer LUK clutch? Now I'm having trouble doing a smoothing launch without ripping my head off.

Sorry, I have been a slow learner my entire life....also, the trans feels way more rough when I start out in 1st vs 3rd.

[theholycow]

If it's not slipping or chattering, you're fine.

Also:

[Maggiolone]

I'm now paranoid of the new shift point, and how hard it is to find first gear...a little over to the left now. Ugh. Maybe I'll never learn

[Shadow]

Actually, as a new manual transmission driver, it seems somewhat impressive that you were able to consistently launch your car in 3rd gear. That said, I'm a bit surprised that you didn't realize that something was wrong every time you launched the car. Now that you know how to find first gear, the car must seem like a rocket off the line.

[Rope-Pusher]

Join Idiots Anonymous. They have a 5-step plan that will get you under control (Idiots can't handle 12 step plans, right?). THEY say that the first step on the road to recovery is admitting that you have a problem.

So, is there something that needs to be adjusted or fixed on your car so that shifting into 1st gear is more intuitive? Worn bushings?

[Maggiolone]

Actually, as a new manual transmission driver, it seems somewhat impressive that you were able to consistently launch your car in 3rd gear. That said, I'm a bit surprised that you didn't realize that something was wrong every time you launched the car. Now that you know how to find first gear, the car must seem like a rocket off the line.

Oh, I was SO smooth in launching it in 3rd. I attributed any lugging I felt to the old trans and the fact I have 75 hp.

Now I feel like I have 275 hp. I feel rather discouraged because I am now launching it like I would before. I've just been going up and down my driveway now between reverse and 1st.

So, how long should I hold that clutch in now from neutral to first? Like pause it a bit, then release, or release in a smooth, consistent motion without a pause? I find I will be throwing it immediately back in for 2nd gear if I pause it a bit. I don't think she's slipping, I drove starting in 3rd for about roughly 150 miles.

It's just I had to learn all by myself; no one was helping, and I don't have a tach, either.

[theholycow]

So, how long should I hold that clutch in now from neutral to first? Like pause it a bit, then release, or release in a smooth, consistent motion without a pause?

Only you can say what provides smooth results.

I find I will be throwing it immediately back in for 2nd gear if I pause it a bit. I don't think she's slipping, I drove starting in 3rd for about roughly 150 miles.

Oh. When you said a year I figured it meant a lot more miles. In that case, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

[Maggiolone]

Oh. When you said a year I figured it meant a lot more miles. In that case, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Yea, I reckon it's less than 200. Thank goodness that it's something not terrible for once.

What I can't ever over was how smooth I was launching in 3rd gear, keeping up with city traffic with a 75hp car.

Plus, now that I am getting thrown back into my seat with 1st gear, is how LOUD the engine/trans is. Also how revvy the car wants to be.

I always was told clutch is bad, gas is good. I just don't wanna blow the engine now.

[RomPirate]

If you started out in 3rd, where do you think the 2 gears in 5spd went?

[Shadow]

If you started out in 3rd, where do you think the 2 gears in 5spd went?

Yeah......that's a good question. Did you think you were driving a 3-speed?

[mapman85]

One time in high school, I had a substitute school bus driver who was consistently launching in 4th out of a 5 speed transmission (as a rule, buses were normally launched in 2nd, being that 1st was a granny gear). I guess she thought the gates were way narrower than they actually were, but she had no business being approved to drive buses, given that most, if not all of the buses in the fleet were manuals at that time (there were plenty of misshifts/grinding as well). Revved it way up, rode the clutch for 5-10 seconds, then still shifted like it was a 4-speed pattern. Totally oblivious. Needless to say, the next morning we had our regular bus driver but a substitute bus.

P.S. OP, I'm not trying to ride you or anything, it's a legitimate mistake to make, especially if you're not familiar with a vehicle. Just wanted to share a similar story.

[theholycow]

then still shifted like it was a 4-speed pattern.

Did she shift 4->3->4?

I'm so used to the 5 speed pattern that when I drove a 4 speed in The Rusty Wallace Racing experience I accidentally put it in reverse (upper left) thinking it was 1st.

[Maggiolone]

I drove 3-2-3-4-5.

The way my shift pattern appears to be, 1st is in a tiny little corner slightly on the left (has to be shoved in; feels like it's gonna fall out), along the Reverse Lockout. Then I shift south and west for 2nd, than north and east for 3rd, and way up north and east for 5th. My whole torso leans when I go up into 5th.

However, I apparently started out by shifting straight up, on a car that had its timing initially off, and I was accustomed to no power. Boy, was I wrong.

[Squint]

I drove 3-2-3-4-5.

The way my shift pattern appears to be, 1st is in a tiny little corner slightly on the left (has to be shoved in; feels like it's gonna fall out), along the Reverse Lockout. Then I shift south and west for 2nd, than north and east for 3rd, and way up north and east for 5th. My whole torso leans when I go up into 5th.

However, I apparently started out by shifting straight up, on a car that had its timing initially off, and I was accustomed to no power. Boy, was I wrong.

So, your shift pattern is:

R 1 3 5
2 4
?

Or is it:

1 3 5
R 2 4
?

[mapman85]

then still shifted like it was a 4-speed pattern.

Did she shift 4->3->4?

No, I think the times she launched in 4th, she went 4>5>4>5. I'm not even sure I had my full drivers license at the time, but it was so bad, I offered to help her find a gear at one point! (she of course declined) In her defense, 2nd was much more "notchier" (harder to select/distinct "click") than 4th (from my observations of other drivers), and perhaps she was afraid of putting it in R (even though there was a "beep"), but still...

The pattern was:
R 2 4
1 3 5