[anilisanil]

Yesterday night while driving back home, I thought I was in fifth gear (i am not too sure now) and thought I should downshift to third gear. So when I downshifted, I accidentally engaged first gear

There was a huge jerk and a high pitch screetch, I immediately realized my error disengaged the clutch slotted back to second and drove off. Now please don't ask me how did I manage to be so foolish :(

Please help me is there anyway I could check if I damaged any mechanicals?

[mgh]

Is there a driver who hasn't done it inadvertently?
Relax!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by mgh

Relax!

+1.

I dont think there would be any long-term impact on the mechanicals. The jerk is due to engine braking.

My father often makes the mistake of shifting from 4 -> 3 instead of 4 -> 5. The rubbery shifter in the WagonR doesnt help matters either.

[anujmishra]

Originally Posted by anilisanil

So when I downshifted, I accidentally engaged first gear

Relax man, nothing to bother. Such machines are tested for these mistakes made by drivers and damages will not be too much to open a engine/gearbox and inspect all parts into it.

Just chill and continue to enjoy your drive.

[mjothi]

same as the above posts. Dont worry for such things. The engines are manufactured to handle all these in such situations.

So, did you like the sudden Vrrrrooom !!!

[anky]

Originally Posted by anilisanil

Yesterday night while driving back home, I thought I was in fifth gear (i am not too sure now) and thought I should downshift to third gear. So when I downshifted, I accidentally engaged first gear

There was a huge jerk and a high pitch screetch, I immediately realized my error disengaged the clutch slotted back to second and drove off. Now please don't ask me how did I manage to be so foolish :(

Please help me is there anyway I could check if I damaged any mechanicals?

To my best knowledge it is impossible to shift from 3 to 1st in a syncromesh gearbox the screeching sound was prob the gear not engaging fully. In syncromesh to my best little knowledge the downshift or upshift has to be in order . ie 12345 and 54321 . My 2 bits.

[anilisanil]

Originally Posted by anky

To my best knowledge it is impossible to shift from 3 to 1st in a syncromesh gearbox the screeching sound was prob the gear not engaging fully. In syncromesh to my best little knowledge the downshift or upshift has to be in order . ie 12345 and 54321 . My 2 bits.

Many times I did 5-2 or 4-2 directly!

So I doubt!

Anyway, thanks everyone for the comforting words!

[Deeps]

Originally Posted by anky

To my best knowledge it is impossible to shift from 3 to 1st in a syncromesh gearbox the screeching sound was prob the gear not engaging fully. In syncromesh to my best little knowledge the downshift or upshift has to be in order . ie 12345 and 54321 . My 2 bits.

You've got your knowledge reversed

Syncromesh gearbox allows you to shift in a non-sequential manner. However, most cars don't have 1st and reverse as syncromesh gears. That's why shifting into first (unless at crawling speed) is very difficult and you get grinding noise.

[karty_83]

Originally Posted by anky

To my best knowledge it is impossible to shift from 3 to 1st in a syncromesh gearbox the screeching sound was prob the gear not engaging fully. In syncromesh to my best little knowledge the downshift or upshift has to be in order . ie 12345 and 54321 . My 2 bits.

It is possible to shift from 3 to 1 if slowing down, not while accelerating though.
I beg to differ on the latter part. We don't have to downshift in 54321 order. We can easily jump from 5/4 to 3/2 based on speeds.

[DevilsCry]

I am confused. I have shifted down from 5th to 2nd or 1st gear many times due to traffic. The car never complains about it.

Are some guys suggesting here that I should shift from 5th to 3rd then to 2nd/1st if I came down from 90kph to 15kph?

[ssh1979]

Anil, you have just learnt a lesson and had a practical session in emergency braking Take that as a positive and just relax. You haven't mentioned the speed at which you did this; I'm just assuming here that it's not some insane speed.

[BheemBoy]

Don't worry guys. Eveyone must have done such mistakes sometime or the other. It's perfect to downshift from 4th to 2nd or 5th to 2nd as far as I know.


When the gear doesn't engage properly, it's so difficult to hold the gear knob as there is a severe reverse force that hits you. I am unable to put this or express this clearly.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by anilisanil

Yesterday night while driving back home, I thought I was in fifth gear (i am not too sure now) and thought I should downshift to third gear. So when I downshifted, I accidentally engaged first gear
...

Anil do you remember what your speed was while downshifting. I guess it would not have been too high since you wanted to downshift to 3rd anyway.

Only if you were outside of the max speed limit of the 1st gear, some damage might have happened. But even then since these things are designed with a good measure of factor of safety thrown in, it should be quite ok.

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

No damage if everything is working normally after that. In fact while developing transmissions, manufacturers have dedicated tests to simulate such behavior. Your GB too must have passed it during the design / development stage.

Spike

[_raVan_]

Originally Posted by anilisanil

Yesterday night while driving back home, I thought I was in fifth gear (i am not too sure now) and thought I should downshift to third gear. So when I downshifted, I accidentally engaged first gear

There was a huge jerk and a high pitch screetch, I immediately realized my error disengaged the clutch slotted back to second and drove off. Now please don't ask me how did I manage to be so foolish :(

Please help me is there anyway I could check if I damaged any mechanicals?

Do you remember the RPM at which you were in 3rd gear or when you downshifted to 1st? If it was less than the red mark, you need not worry. Over-revving the engine can have a disastrous effect, but since you were on 3rd, the chances are very less of overrevving when you jump to 1st.

Originally Posted by mjothi

same as the above posts. Dont worry for such things. The engines are manufactured to handle all these in such situations.

So, did you like the sudden Vrrrrooom !!!

I really chuckled at the Vrrooom statement