Reverse gear gets stuck in Skoda Fabia Combi 1.2 TSI Manual, 90hp, 2017

[Hassan_skoda]

 I am experiencing problems with its gearbox. The gear stick gets stuck sometimes in the reverse gear. I have to push the stick down and release and press the clutch a few times to get the stick out of reverse gear. It starts to happen frequently now. The car is only driven 14 K Kms. Any idea what is wrong with the car?

[FabiaGonzales]

16 hours ago, Hassan_skoda said:

 I am experiencing problems with its gearbox. The gear stick gets stuck sometimes in the reverse gear. I have to push the stick down and release and press the clutch a few times to get the stick out of reverse gear. It starts to happen frequently now. The car is only driven 14 K Kms. Any idea what is wrong with the car?

 

My cars original gearbox had that, 1st and reverse sometimes tough to get out of if sat stationary.

 

New gearbox however haven't had such an issue. So it seems a per-gearbox problem.

 

(My gearbox was replaced due to the synchromesh gears on 5th gear disintegrating because of a manufacturing fault and destroying the bearings, slowly destroying the gearbox from inside, damn thing sounded like a helicopter when you were cruising round in 5th gear!)

[Hassan_skoda]

What was the mileage on your car when you first start having this problem ? How frequent was this problem? It happens randomly with my car and I cannot regenerate the problem on demand. 

[FabiaGonzales]

1 hour ago, Hassan_skoda said:

What was the mileage on your car when you first start having this problem ? How frequent was this problem? It happens randomly with my car and I cannot regenerate the problem on demand. 

it always just occasionally did it, i don't think it means the gearbox has an issue, some are slightly sticky some aren't.

 

my original gearbox failed at 50k miles, ive now done 13k miles on my current gearbox and havent had a single instance of the gears sticking 

[Confused_Cheese]

I've had this with reverse maybe 3 times in the last 12 months. Rest of the time, no problems at all drops out smoothly. Think the 90hp has the 5 spd box, where mines the 6 spd? But yeah no way I've found to recreate and is months in-between occurancies. I don't drive every day though

[BarryG]

I had that on my 2016 Fabia 1.2 tsi. Dealer replaced loads of parts in the box, and it still did it. Started playing up around 15000 miles. It's a known issue.

[Phoenixd]

I have a 19 plate and I’ve done just under 7000 miles in it, never had any problems with my gear (or anything else other than apple CarPlay) but I read this post on Sunday, an hour later the car got stuck in reverse 🤣. Turned the ignition off and it came out of gear fine, no issues since thankfully. 

[Hassan_skoda]

My mechanic had a look at it and he said he can't see anything wrong visibly and advised me to take it to the dealer.

[krtko1992]

I have the same issue with my 1.0 6speed. If the car is stationary its hard to get reverse back. I have also issues with engaging 4th from 5th. From 3 to 4 its ok. Skoda service did set the bowdencables in the gear stik system but they said it was all OK. It had 20k km. Doeas anyone has simiral issue also with the 4th gear?

[krdza_vRS]

Same problem here, I have 2 identical Fabias 2016, 90hp, 5 spd and 50% of the time they get stuck stationary while trying to go in reverse.. 😞 did anyone manage to fix that problem and is it something to worry about in a long run?

[krtko1992]

In April / May I will go to the Skoda service for warranty check and ask about this issue. After this (hopefully) I will get back with some info

[Phoenixd]

I had mine booked in to be looked at in April as it was getting more frequent and harder to release when it did get stuck. Obviously the booking was cancelled as the dealerships closed but I’m now finding that I’m having occasional problems going from 2nd to 3rd and I’ve still done less than 9000 miles so hopefully it’ll be an easy fix when the dealership opens again 🤞 

[krtko1992]

So i had my first service check and I also mentioned this issue. After that they told me that they lubricated the whole system but there was no issue at all. I also took a test drive of a brand new Fabia and the feeling of the gear shifting was very similar. He told me that unfortunately this is how that gearbox works. So please if you will get another opinion from the Service center let me know.

[Hassan_skoda]

I also had trouble pulling out of the gearbox and that turns out to be a problem. The dealer replaced the gearbox and after replacement I have difficulty engaging the reverse gear. It feels as if something is blocking the gear shift to go all the way down in reverse. I wonder if this is normal?

[FabiaGonzales]

On 18/05/2020 at 08:16, Hassan_skoda said:

I also had trouble pulling out of the gearbox and that turns out to be a problem. The dealer replaced the gearbox and after replacement I have difficulty engaging the reverse gear. It feels as if something is blocking the gear shift to go all the way down in reverse. I wonder if this is normal?

 

Being difficult to take it out of gear isn't normal. But being unable to put it in gear is normal - it's an inherent thing with dog engaged gears. It can even happen in the forward gears, though much less likely as they are synchromesh engaged.

 

It's not so much a problem it's just a non-beneficial "feature", it's not doing something it isn't supposed to be. Other manufacturers, with reverse where 6th would be, may have synchromesh enganged reverse gear as it's much easier to accidentally try put it in (if you're not used to the car - i did it a couple times in a Ford Fiesta). They won't have the same "problem" that the dog engaged reverse in VWAG gearboxes.

 

In synchromesh gears, when you attempt to engage, there is fluid drag between the brass ring (the golden-ish coloured ring), and the other darker ring, this brings them to equal rpms before they engage.

You can see how small the teeth are, and how they are rounded to allow it to slip into gear smoothly. Even when completely stationary, they will often slip in just fine. It is possible that they end up point-point and won't go in though. Again, just blip the throttle, or quickly putting the shifter into the oposite gear then back again, will move the contents of the gearbox enough that the synchromesh teeth will now mesh.

 

In dog enaged gears, there is no rev-matching brass ring, you simply have large teeth which interlock. If they are not aligned (they just happened to come to rest like such), they simply will not go in, no matter how hard you try, it feels as though "theres something blocking it" as it's literally the teeth pushing against each other rather than sliding between each other.

Move your lower jaw forward so your lower teeth go in front of your upper teeth, then try and close your jaws together - they won't because your teeth are jamming against each other - it's the exact same scenario here.

In the picture below, the teeth are aligned in such a way they would go in to gear. If the big teeth were not aligned (like jutting your jaw), it simply won't go in, not without spinning the shaft so the alignment of the teeth changes, so they can engage.

 

Honestly, i think you're being overly tentative having had a previous issue and are noticing things and thinking they're an issue. It's fine to think such things, but please, read the thread, i've explained numerous times the mechanical reasons why it happens.

A new gearbox will do exactly the same thing, it's just pure chance if the shafts come to rest in a way where the engagement teeth don't align in a way where they'll go in.

Of course, being unable to get out of gear is a problem. But being unable to get in gear, while everything is stationary (about to reverse out of your drive, or whatever), is perfectly normal, can be annoying, but it's normal.

 

Edited 23 May, 2020 by FabiaGonzales

[Phoenixd]

So my car is in for it’s first service and they’re going to check the gear box while they have it, so far as expected they have been unable to recreate the problem. The workshop controller is going to take my car home and bring it back tomorrow (about 17 miles each way) to see if he can experience it. I’ll update if there’s any progress  

[Hassan_skoda]

12 minutes ago, Phoenixd said:

So my car is in for it’s first service and they’re going to check the gear box while they have it, so far as expected they have been unable to recreate the problem. The workshop controller is going to take my car home and bring it back tomorrow (about 17 miles each way) to see if he can experience it. I’ll update if there’s any progress  

Do you have problem engaging or pulling out of reverse gear?

Edited 16 June, 2020 by Hassan_skoda

[Phoenixd]

57 minutes ago, Hassan_skoda said:

Do you have problem engaging or pulling out of reverse gear?

Yes, it gets stuck in reverse gear, I also have occasional problems shifting 2<3 and 3<4 now 

[Phoenixd]

On 18/05/2020 at 07:18, krtko1992 said:

So i had my first service check and I also mentioned this issue. After that they told me that they lubricated the whole system but there was no issue at all. I also took a test drive of a brand new Fabia and the feeling of the gear shifting was very similar. He told me that unfortunately this is how that gearbox works. So please if you will get another opinion from the Service center let me know.

They were unable to recreate the problem despite the workshop controller taking the car home to play with. They have told me that the the clutch must be fully down (obviously) and that I have to wait at least 5 seconds while stationary before engaging or disengaging reverse gear, this does not apply to other gears. They said that it’s unfortunate but it’s just the way the gear box is built and that there is nothing wrong with it and nothing they can do about it. 🙄 

Having had the car back for one day it’s got stuck in reverse twice and waiting 5 seconds make no difference so I’m not sure what to do next really.

[pikpilot]

When stuck in first/reverse or failing to get into gear, have you tried what we used to have to do with non/poor sychromesh cars?

Raise the clutch to put a little load on the gear and then push the clutch pedal fully down again and then move the gear lever. It usually works.

[krtko1992]

On 20/06/2020 at 17:58, pikpilot said:

When stuck in first/reverse or failing to get into gear, have you tried what we used to have to do with non/poor sychromesh cars?

Raise the clutch to put a little load on the gear and then push the clutch pedal fully down again and then move the gear lever. It usually works.

Yes, I tried and it usually works. But I was hoping that I dont have to do these "tricks" with new car. 

[pikpilot]

1 hour ago, krtko1992 said:

Yes, I tried and it usually works. But I was hoping that I don't have to do these "tricks" with new car. 

 

I sympathise with you but the basic problem is that there is no synchromesh on reverse. i sometimes have to use this procedure with my Octavia to get reverse. What is unusual is it being unable to release from a gear. This hints that there is still load on the gear. Does the procedure work for you when stuck in a gear?

 

 

[krtko1992]

33 minutes ago, pikpilot said:

 

I sympathise with you but the basic problem is that there is no synchromesh on reverse. i sometimes have to use this procedure with my Octavia to get reverse. What is unusual is it being unable to release from a gear. This hints that there is still load on the gear. Does the procedure work for you when stuck in a gear?

 

 

Basically I dont have an issue to get into gear (sometimes I hear that I "checked teeths" but it gets there.) Problem is to release it. When it is in, the car is stationary, when I release the reverse the car moves a little bit so it looks like that it is still loaded even the clutch pedal is fully down. So there might be a problem with the clutch as it was mentioned somewhere above. So the clutch is still holding a load even I fully press the pedal.

[pikpilot]

Try pumping the pedal to see if air in the hydraulic fluid is the cause.

Or have the clutch and brakes re-bled.
 

 

 

Edited 22 June, 2020 by pikpilot

[krtko1992]

21 minutes ago, pikpilot said:

Try pumping the pedal to see if air in the hydraulic fluid is the cause.

Or have the clutch and brakes re-bled.
 

 

 

Brakes bleed is planned for next year in May. The car is 2yo so hope there is no need to change clutch. Engine is 1.0 tsi 6 gear