Reverse Gear Notchiness - Manual Box

[CapstanPlug]

Hi ... wondered if anyone has had any issues with a difficulty selecting reverse gear ?

 

Car is a 5sp Manual 1.2, 90.

 

Have had the car with dealer - and they've not found anything unusual.

 

But it is.

 

It is intermittent - which makes it difficult to demonstrate on demand. Generally, it's when shuttling quickly between 1st and reverse - like when parking. Find that I have to let clutch engage slightly before it'll allow selecting Reverse.

It's a little like that on 1st Gear sometimes too - but reverse will just not allow selection at all, until letting clutch out a smidge. Presume it spins up the synchromesh and engages then.

 

Dealer's service manager was almost hinting that I didn't know how to work gears, as I got a short lesson on how to engage a gear. Like: make sure the car is not rolling at the time, and other useful suggestions.

 

Any ideas, similar experiences ?

 

Edited 14 May, 2016 by Dithane

[jon15]

Yes, it is notchy on my 1.2 110 6-speed as well...

[pauldazzle]

Just put it back in neutral dip the clutch pedal in & out & try again, it should slip into gear nicely.

[Ootohere]

2016 now,  Skoda have been building cars for over a century, as have VW.

 

Maybe if there are issues then Dealers need to do reports to Skoda UK & Skoda CZ and not teach drivers how to drive 

and even how to double de-clutch.

 

If investigation and fault finding and part upgrades are needed then Skoda need to look at that.

Some Citigo Up! Mii had issues, and actions were required.

[CapstanPlug]

Just put it back in neutral dip the clutch pedal in & out & try again, it should slip into gear nicely.

 

Yeahhh !  A real pain though - especially if I've forgotten to turn off the damn Stop-Start - engine cuts out and restarts doing that ... grrrr !!

And even then - it doesn't 100% guarantee a smooth gear engage. I find that just letting clutch out to the clutch engage point, then I can ease it into gear.

 

I'm driving for nearly 40 years - including trucks, farm tractors and classic pre-war cars. 

This is ridiculous - as GoneOffSKi says:

 

2016 now,  Skoda have been building cars for over a century, as have VW.

 

Maybe if there are issues then Dealers need to do reports to Skoda UK & Skoda CZ and not teach drivers how to drive 

and even how to double de-clutch.

 

If investigation and fault finding and part upgrades are needed then Skoda need to look at that.

Some Citigo Up! Mii had issues, and actions were required.

 

Yep - I'll pop dealer an email to keep it on the boil. 12,000 miles on it (20k km) now - should be well "honed in" by now. Should've been OK from new anyway !

 

Thanks for response guys.

Edited 14 May, 2016 by Dithane

[CapstanPlug]

Yes, it is notchy on my 1.2 110 6-speed as well...

 

Just the reverse gear, jon ?

Edited 14 May, 2016 by Dithane

[Dvinge]

Mine does the same 90hp 5 speed

[MantaOwner]

If this helps any I got a 2016 Seat Ibiza 1.8 with a 6-speed manual gearbox and 1 out of let's say 5-10 times I have difficulties too selecting reverse gear but I park on a slight downhill (using 1st gear always and no handbrake) at work and home too so it's a bit different situation. On a flat ground I can't remember it having any issues.

 

Tõnu

Edited 15 May, 2016 by MantaOwner

[jon15]

Just the reverse gear, jon ?

 

I'd say the reverse gear is the most apparent, but I'd say other gears also tend to be a bit notchy, especially in cold weather.

[alltorque]

Maybe just a 'box that needs a fraction of a second waiting time for all the rotatey bits to settle down before changing direction. I use to have a Peugeot that was a bit that way. Hardly the end of the world...but that's just my opinion. No such problems on DSG.

[glosrich]

The VAG gearboxes aren't the best. My Octavia is notchy and the 1.0 Fabia is notchy also. It forces you to be slow and deliberate with changes.

Not really acceptable in 2016.

[vc-10]

I dunno, the 6-speed in my mum's Superb is pretty great. Although the gearbox I had on a rental 1.0 Polo last summer wasn't great. I think that the NA 1.0s all have the same box, which has reverse where 6th would be, which isn't the nicest box ever. That Polo was certainly very vocal when changing gear! Reminded me of the noises my dad's old Series 3 Land Rover makes. I know there was a lot of complaining about that box in the Up and Citigo.

[MantaOwner]

The VAG gearboxes aren't the best. My Octavia is notchy and the 1.0 Fabia is notchy also. It forces you to be slow and deliberate with changes.

Not really acceptable in 2016.

 

Have to disagree here, I've driven a 2013 Škoda Superb 2.0TDI 170ps DSG and a 2013 Škoda Yeti 1.4TSI 125ps manual as company cars and now have the Ibiza plus 1 hour test drives with two 2015 Škoda Fabias, a 1.2TSI 110ps DSG and a 1.2TSI 90ps manual - had no issues with gear changes with any of them. The manual gearbox works just like it should and the DSG works like a charm. Reading this topic it may be a problem with the weaker engines, maybe, haven't had or driven those for a longer period of time.

 

If there's anything to complain about newer VAG cars in general it's the idiotic cruise control that doesn't have its buttons on the steering wheel like normal cars do but instead it's hidden behind the steering wheel and its 'Set-/Set+' button is quite unconfortable to use needing a hard press every time, after a long drive (500+ miles) you can actually feel it in your fingertips afterwards, they are not hurting really but it's not far from that. Instead they have put buttons for your phone on the steering wheel. You might guess that VAG engineers have never taken a longer drive in any of the cars they produce.

 

Tõnu

Edited 15 May, 2016 by MantaOwner

[Ootohere]

^^^ 

This is the issue

Skoda have had decades and decades under VW ownership to get things like gearboxes right from the launch of new models.

 

The all new 3rd Generation Fabia being the 4th evolution of them,

taking tried and tested components that are already on VW, Seat & Audi models.

 

So after years of Road Testing around the world, hints and leaks and stories of how good the new models will be,

Crispy, Sporty, Youthful etc etc, they just punt the same old same old.

 

By the time they do a Face Lift the issues will still exist and they will get built into it as well.

Vorsprung Durch Technik. 

Edited 15 May, 2016 by GoneOffSKi

[skodaTDI]

It's normal.. happens on all fabias.. mk1, mk2, mk3.. it doesn't bother me too much.. if you could never get reverse then there's an issue.. but its just the way the gearbox is designed..

[vc-10]

The VWs have cruise on the wheel now, if they have an MFSW. And if you have ACC on other cars then you get a separate stalk. Audis also have that separate stalk. Can't say I'm a fan of it, I've found the traditional indicator stalk cruise buttons to be fine.

[Mcburns88]

Notchy on mine too, not overly bothered though as it's only once every so often and the other gears are fine!

[Aredeth90]

Not smooth going into reverse here as well, but as i'm not driving backwards usually, i can live with it. It was worse when it was brand new. I hope it will get better with time (miles)....

[WheelyBean]

This happens to me on occasion although I am driving an X reg Mk1 Fabia with 97k on it. Expecting a Mk3 to arrive for me any day though and it would be disappointing to have the same problem with that. It is very rare for me though so not too much of a pain. 

[BikerBob]

Notchy here as well; seems to come and go a bit. I might mention it when it goes in for a service for what that'll be worth.

It doesn't bother me greatly unless we get a breakout of mass gearbox failures :0

Regards bob

[TheFlash]

Reverse is the same here on my TSI 90. Find I have to go into neutral and try again sometimes which is a bit frustrating. All other gears are fine.

 

It was also the same on the Polo TSI 90 I had before the Fabia so probably a common problem across the range of cars with these gearboxes.

[pauldazzle]

Had this happen to varying degrees on all 10 VAG cars that I've owned & a few Ford's & Honda's too. Happened a couple of times to our Fabia over the last 8 months, but it's no big deal.

[fuelpump]

This is not unusual, reverse gear  does not synchronize  and I believe the cog is straight cut as opposed to helical so does not always line up, needs a flip from the clutch to engage like most cars. The oil in a cold box will create drag that will hamper gear changing  

[Ootohere]

Millions of vehicles and Hundreds of Manufacturers, 

and in 2016 the VW Group still turn out what should be easy to drive small vehicles with basically crap gearboxes.

 

Loads of model choices, bling, new technology, a fortune spent on advertising and lawyers and fines and Seniors Bonuses,

but just rubbish engineering,.

 

VORSPRUNG DURCH TECHNIK.

They buy and pay for what ever rubbish we produce, it is just the way things are accepted.  German Manufacturing is superior.  NOT!

[alltorque]

The 6-speed 'box in my old Mk1 vRS was an absolute joy from about 1000 miles. The first 1000 it was a little bit 'slow' but then it became a real finger-tip control job. Reverse was perfectly fine, in line with a little mechanical sympathy and I don't recall a single failure to engage at the first time of asking.

Crap gearboxes? Bit of an overstatement, I think. My current DSG is a lovely bit of kit. On a par with the Geartronic in my previous Volvo, but with an additional ratio to play with.