Hard to shift into first gear

[Amuthini]

What does it mean when its hard to shift into first and second gear? Just this morning when i tried to put shift my car into first it was really tough to do so, what could the problem be?

[maniacshopper]

You didn't describe the clutch. Was it hard to press than normal.
What is the condition of your shifter boot? If bad, it will tend to come out of gear.

[JAGpilot]

If you feel resistance try putting it into neutral and shake it left to right a few times. Try it again.

[ynot]

How old is the car? What's the make and model?

[Supershyguy]

Ya what year make model?

[Amuthini]

the car is a 1996 Acura Integra, the clutch felt fine when i was pressing it down same clutch engagement point as usual. Just it was really hard to get it into first, I really had to push on the shifter which is not normal.....

[cipher]

Could be lots of things.

Worn pressure plate - when sitting at a red light, do you normally have your foot on the clutch ready to go?

Stretched shifter cable - there might be some adjustment that can be done to the cable.

[squireglig]

Do you make a habit of rev matching when u drive?

Were you rolling when you tried to put it into first? if so, you may have to blip the throttle to get it in.

As it is getting colder, you may want to consider changing the trany fluid over to synthetic. Manufacturer's claim it's lifetime fluid, but 50k is a good interval to change it.

[D-3vil]

That could also be a sign of synchro wear.

As the above poster mentioned, tranny fluid makes all the difference. Make sure you replace with suitable type (GL-4 / GL-5) and viscosity. Different brands will yield different results.
Try researching which tranny fluid is best for you, and go from there.

[sshe11]

It will be harder than usual to pop it into first gear when you are moving ....

[beppy]

i get that sometimes to, dont know what the reason is. but what i do is

put it into neutral, release the clutch all the way, and step on the cluth on the way hard. then shift it back in gear one, usually works

[D.NGUYEN]

it could be a number of factors...like already mentioned above. Synchros (they get messed up if you just downshift without rev match), perhaps it's just the lock gate not releasing (in this case just go into neutral, shake it a bit if you like to, and just clutch again) And personally, when it's cold outside it happens to my car more often.

[oldsnail]

this is actually normal for alot of cars IF your car is being started

1) start the car in neutral
2) shift into reverse gear
3) shift into a forward gear (first gear)

this is to sychronize the gears.

if this is not the case and the car is already moving, and you are down shifting into first.

well, you are not suppose to shift down to first for any matter. 1st gear's intent is to start the car from a stop. 1st gear is harder to shift down because it has shorter gear, and may cause unecesary damage if attemped.

[Amuthini]

ok the problem seems to have gotten worse.

when i press on the clutch it feels like it goes down more. when i try to put the shifter into reverse it makes a kinda bad noise, and its virtually impossible to put it into first without forcing it which i don't wanna do in case i mess it up even more. i'm gonna have it towed to my mechanic, but would like to get an idea as to what the problem could be before i take it, so he can't take advantage of me.

anybody got an idea what is wrong with my car with these symptoms? and approximate cost of fixing it?

[squireglig]

might be badly worn synchros, or bad shift linkages. No idea how much this would cost... sorry i cant be of much more help, but I hope it's a start.