1st gear crunch twisting sound
 

TLDR: First gear crunching, stalled. Rolling backwards in first. Heard twisty metal noises. Car ran fine and I got it home. But still felt off.

Hi guys,

Today I was driving up a steep hill into a driveway that increased the steepness even further. As I was attempting to pull into the driveway, I heard horrendous crunching sound from the transmission and the car immediately stalled.

I started up the car again. Put in first, then slowly left off the clutch, more crunch and immediate stall.

Then I reversed out of the driveway (as little as I even got up) and stopped in the street facing upward towards on the hill.

I then let the car chill for a minute or two. I started it up, put it into first, slowly let off the clutch but the car wouldn't go into first I just kept rolling back. Tried several times but no dice. Car kept rolling backwards.

So I reverse all the way down hill to a flat spot. Put it in first no issues drove around another way and pulled into the driveway from the top of the hill.

On my way out of the driveway and down the hill first gear didn't seem to be selecting. Got to a flat road and accelerated first and heard more crunching sound. Stopped the car.

Tried again first then second. Got into second but it made some twisty metal sounds so i stopped again.

Then I started in first and drove extremely slowly. I got out of a parking lot that was slightly inclined in first, but as I tried to engage first the car rolled backwards and so I had to put way more gas than usual to get going.

Made it home. First gear seemed to be okay. But the car felt a bit different and noises didn't sound bad but a little atypical. Still going to take it in to be looked at.

Anyone have any thoughts about this? What it could be or what could have happened?

Thanks!
D

Oh, I sense a warranty claim. Don't know exactly what failed but you're getting a shiny new transmission.

Sorry to here of your troubles. This is a very unusual problem.
How many manual transmission cars have you owned? How do you shift into first while moving?

How are you supposed to shift into first while moving? o.O

This is the second manual car I've driven. I was in first with clutch in then released clutch with gas. After that crunching sound, first gear caused me to roll back, like as if first didn't exist. But I never downshifted into first, I was in first on startup.

I sense it too :cry: car only has like 500 miles on it. But I've had problems with first gear before this too. We'll see what they say.

@BboyRuda I downshift to 1st no problem if I'm going slow enough, especially on slow hills. It's an uphill road to enter my driveway. Turn in uphill driving in 2nd about 10 mph, clutch in and the car slows from momentum to 5 mph, blip (or double clutch if you want), and enter 1st and continue on throttle entering my uphill driveway.

Out of 14 manual transmission cars that I have owned, the BRZ is the most difficult car for me to downshift into 1st while moving. I usually don't unless going very slow and I never force it into any gear.

If the gear shift lever doesn't effortlessly slide into any gear, I am doing something wrong by not matching rpm and will not apply any more force.

The above doesn't apply to you, it's just my experience.

I've also had the same downshift into first issue you have.

Are you aware that your car has 'hill start assist' ?

Others have stated the default setting, when car is new, it is set to OFF.

There is a big variation in each build. I don't know why but I've driven enough friends' cars to notice a dramatic difference. Some, like yours and mine, lock out hard. Others are easy to shift on a roll. I think ours work as intended. I double clutch all my rolling first gear shifts and most of my second gear downshifts.

I'm also like you. I have a pretty solid (IMHO) understanding of what's going on in there and I use my fingertips on the gearshift.

Meh, it happens. Don't let it sour your experience. It's a great little machine.

You shift to neutral, let the clutch out, rev the engine appropriately, clutch in, shift to first, clutch out. You can do it at any speed up to the top end speed limit of first gear, just like you can with all the other gears.

Hey guys so I've been driving the car more and haven't had any issues with the gears stall or strange sounds. Do you think I should still take it to the dealership to be diagnosed?