02 ls sport. hard to find first, I know where its at don't get me wrong lol.... just seems a lot more work than it should be to get 1st. is it something like a synchronizer or do I need a driver mod lol

Cables could be stretched, that's pretty common. How sloppy does the shifter feel in gear? Typically the ball and socket wears out and makes the stick feel really sloppy. If that's the case then it's probably not pulling the cables as much as it should. Therefore, it could be tough to get in certain gears.



"In Oldskool we trust"

there's tons of play, I literally have to slam it over and up for 1st, other wise I'm starting in third... look like a retard lmfao

I have the same issue with my 02 LSS S/C'd. I have to go to the right, then back left then into 1st. Seems a bit much. And it just happened after I did the clutch install. I have heard of the cables stretching so its possible. I have another set of cables off a parts car I took off, so I might swap them out and see what happens.

Go to second gear first. Does it make it easier?

If so normal. I always go to second first.



FU Tuning

A 2 Meth, that's how I sift. Bounce off the 2nd gear syncros then into 1st. Its an old habit I guess.

For this issue here. I'm assuming its a F23 trans. I just read another thread about replacing the O ring in the shifter. Almost the exact description.

Another thing it could be is the little adjusters where the cable goes into the shifter. I didn't mark the position when I took my shifter out & had to adjust it by trial & error.

The ball and socket on my new cav sedan is severely wore out, to the point where if you remove the boot and trim ring, you can see the ball and socket just flop around in the shifter base, theres also TONS of play in the shifter, when sitting in gear, like 1/2 and inch of movement in a 360 degree arc around the knob.... I plan to swap in a newer shifter assembly with my B&M short throw to fix it.

I also had the same problem with my 03 coupe, and after I swapped to a newer ( significantly less miles) shifter housing with less play in the ball and socket it reduced the issue back to the stock feel, which sometimes still requires you to go into 2nd.

When it was stock, if you did a full down shift to 2nd while slowing down, it would slide into 1st easy enough. But if you coast down to a stop with the clutch in and then try to go into 1st it would bind a bit.
So, There seems to be a correlation between whether your car is in 2nd before hand, and with a load on the engine or not, while slowing down.

If your constantly seeing this issue, try downshifting to 2nd fully first, to get into 1st easier. If it still has issues, then check the ball and socket under the shift boot, and/ or the cables.

I do the 2nd then 1st shift most of the time too, if I'm completely stopped, I usually go right into first but slowing down, if you don't downshift into 2nd, just coasting, then I go 2nd then 1st everytime, I don't think I need to do this to my cavalier but its a habit from my old 95 neon, the clutch dragged a bit so if you go into 2nd first, its just a little "pop" then it slows tranny down a bit then going in to 1st is easier... If you just try to grab 1st all it does is grind... before I sold the car, it got so bad that you had to start the car in 1st gear, the 2nd to 1st didn't work anymore.... and you had to make sure to shift to 1st quickly well coming to a stop at a light, if you held clutch in too long, you couldn't grab any gear... need reverse, turn car off then start it again in reverse... lol I only paid $200 and I sold it for $360 a year later so can't complain too much....


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires - **SOLD**
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2015 Kia Sorento EX V6 AWD - Wifes Car

Mike Z A.K.A SNEEZY wrote:I have the same issue with my 02 LSS S/C'd. I have to go to the right, then back left then into 1st. Seems a bit much. And it just happened after I did the clutch install. I have heard of the cables stretching so its possible. I have another set of cables off a parts car I took off, so I might swap them out and see what happens.

I noticed it after I did the clutch too