Don't know if I'm in the right bit here (just new today), but hopefully someone will put me right. My 2004 Octavia has recently developed a problem with going in to first gear. It only seems to happen when the car is cold and just feels a bit difficult to push stick into 1st at first and sometimes second attempt, almost as if there is air in the system. Need to let clutch out and depress again to get gear. It then behaves perfectly for the rest of the day. There is no problem with any of the other gears. Could anyone tell me please if this is clutch drag or could it be something else?.

When its playing up does it still play up if you try with the engine off?

:confused: have never tried it with engine off, will give it a go tomorrow morning. Its definately a cold thing though, this morning was mild and there was no problem with it. Weird.

sorry Ive taken so long to come back with this but in answer to your question about if there is a problem when the engine is off the answer is no. Ive tried it a few times and the pedal is up fully and it goes into gear ok. Thinking about it I usually start up with the clutch depressed. Today it was behaving badly for about the first half hour of driving. It was not going into first easily (like pushing against something in the way) and on 2 occasions it had felt like it had gone into first, but as I accelerated it shot out of gear on me. It was a cold morning, about 2.0 degrees here. Could the hydraulic fluid be affected and is this why once it gets warm the problem seems to vanish?

please could you have a look at my belated reply if you have a moment. am I in the wrong section ? the car is an oct two not one. will not be back online till tomorrow pm. many thanks - mrs t

you might have more luck in the octy 2 section:

Octavia II Skoda Model Discussion Area - Octavia II at BRISKODA.net - BRISKODA - The Skoda Forums

What sort of mileage has the car done? Gearbox manufacturers recommend changing gear oil at 50_000 miles or so.

Oh and I loved your Hubbie in The A Team and the Snickers ad!

I had a similar problem with my Mk1 octy vrs couldnt find a reason for it it was hard to go into first and sometimes third. gradually got worse and i thought it was a cabe problem so checked cables and found they were ok. In doing so i found that on the gearbox where the cable locate into is what i can only describe as being a (pivot arm) which is held in with some clips. striped it down and found that plastic bush was dry, applied some copper slip and re-assembled and it works like new. car had only done 40 000 miles.

The car has done about 48k so you might be spot on with this. I think I must have got sense of humour failure, I didnt realize what you meant at first about the Hubby!!:

I'll move this to the Octavia 2 section but in reply to the question.

If you have gear selection problems that only occurs when the engine is running then your clutch is at fault. How high is the pedal? About the same as the brake or lower?

Do you have to take the gearbox out to get into the cables and where they connect to the clips/bush? I have been given the impression that it might be the cables which are freezing up in low temps.

Thanks Lummox, I have put myself into Oct two as I eventually realised I was in the wrong place. The problem is occuring when the engine is running but is still there with the engine off. Think the pedals are about the same but will come back on that one tomorrow. The only thing I can say with certainty is that the clutchpedal is not low/ drooping down I kept trying to see if it would lift but its in the up position all the time.

Ahh ok if its there all the time then its a gearbox issue.

I'd try a gearbox oil change to something a little thinner, this should help the oil get into the syncro rings and help the gears mesh.

if its the same problem as had with the pivot all you need to remove is the air box to allow easier access to the top of the gearbox. just unclip the retainig clips and the cables just detatch. i just pulled and pushed on the pivot and felt a resistance. so inspected it further.

might not be same problem as i had but i would check it first before you spend any money.