# Temporarily stuck in 5th/6th!!!



## Nathan of Aus. (May 16, 2013)

So I'm driving home with my new 2013 SRi with 330km (205 miles) on the clock in 5th gear and approach a red light. As I am almost to a stop I disengage the clutch and sit at the lights. I then go to place the car into 1st however it will not budge over. It would let me switch from 5th to 6th no worries but simply would not go over into the neutral position. I pumped the clutch several times whilst holding the stick between 5th and 6th and this made no difference. I could not get it out of the 5th/6th slot. So then the light goes green and after a few more seconds of trying I chuck it into 5th and limp across the intersection onto the median strip to the delightful smell of burnt clutch >_<. I then sit there trying fruitlessly before turning off the car. The instant after I did this it let me move it over into neutral. I then re-start the car and it happily goes into 1st and I make it the rest of the way home no worries.

I can find plenty of articles on the net about cars stuck in a single gear but nothing on cars stuck in a slot. It's a manual 6-speed (for the 1.6T) obviously with a mechanical clutch. 

WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON?!


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

How hard were you pulling on the shifter? 

I've noticed it's slightly difficult to move the Cruze into neutral from a gear without pushing down the clutch first. There's got to be some kind of interlock between the clutch pedal and shifter, and it sounds like yours is acting up.

I hope the dealer can find something for you and fix it without having to replicate the scenario. That's not only dangerous; it's also bad for your clutch.


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## Nathan of Aus. (May 16, 2013)

Yea I had the clutch fully engaged and at first I was pulling on it normally but after a few attempts and clutch pumps I was giving it some serious force and it would still not yield.

If it happens again I'll take it to the dealer but I'm hoping that it was a one off. The car has been flawless otherwise during the past week.


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## AimHigh (Jul 17, 2013)

Hey Nathan. Same thing happened to me today. Driving in 5th and come to a red light. Try to get into neutral but the lever only will shift between 5th and 6th. It wasn't in gear in that position (i.e. it didn't stall when I took my foot off the clutch) but I couldn't get it into 1st. Didn't want to push too hard, so I shut it down, restarted it, and it still wouldn't go. I ended up having to lift the "reverse ring" and wiggling the lever to get it back into the neutral position. Thought I was going to have to get towed.

My car has less than 300 miles on it. Did you solve your problem or did it never happen again? I'm bringing it to the dealer on Saturday but I'm sure they won't be able to repeat the problem. I had it in last weekend because sometimes it doesn't want to go into 3rd (just bumps up against the middle of the H and needs to really be moved up and right), but they said No Problem Found on that one!

I'd love to be able to tell them something when I bring it in.


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## Nathan of Aus. (May 16, 2013)

AimHigh said:


> Hey Nathan. Same thing happened to me today. Driving in 5th and come to a red light. Try to get into neutral but the lever only will shift between 5th and 6th. It wasn't in gear in that position (i.e. it didn't stall when I took my foot off the clutch) but I couldn't get it into 1st. Didn't want to push too hard, so I shut it down, restarted it, and it still wouldn't go. I ended up having to lift the "reverse ring" and wiggling the lever to get it back into the neutral position. Thought I was going to have to get towed.
> 
> My car has less than 300 miles on it. Did you solve your problem or did it never happen again? I'm bringing it to the dealer on Saturday but I'm sure they won't be able to repeat the problem. I had it in last weekend because sometimes it doesn't want to go into 3rd (just bumps up against the middle of the H and needs to really be moved up and right), but they said No Problem Found on that one!
> 
> I'd love to be able to tell them something when I bring it in.


Hey,

Sorry to hear about that.

When I had the issue lifting the ring didn't make any difference for me. It was only after I turned the car off that it went over.

I'm now sitting on about 1650km's (~1000 miles) and have not experienced the issue since so I'm hoping that it was a freakish one off that will never happen again.

The only ongoing transmission related issue that I experience is an occasional brief grind when power-shifting from 1-2 and sometimes 2-3 at high rpm (drag type scenario) but that's a common thing with the Cruze and nothing to be concerned about so long as it doesn't get worse or refuse to slot into gear.

Hope that helps!


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

AimHigh said:


> Hey Nathan. Same thing happened to me today. Driving in 5th and come to a red light. Try to get into neutral but the lever only will shift between 5th and 6th. It wasn't in gear in that position (i.e. it didn't stall when I took my foot off the clutch) but I couldn't get it into 1st. Didn't want to push too hard, so I shut it down, restarted it, and it still wouldn't go. I ended up having to lift the "reverse ring" and wiggling the lever to get it back into the neutral position. Thought I was going to have to get towed.
> 
> My car has less than 300 miles on it. Did you solve your problem or did it never happen again? I'm bringing it to the dealer on Saturday but I'm sure they won't be able to repeat the problem. I had it in last weekend because sometimes it doesn't want to go into 3rd (just bumps up against the middle of the H and needs to really be moved up and right), but they said No Problem Found on that one!
> 
> I'd love to be able to tell them something when I bring it in.


AimHigh, 

I am sorry you had this experience. Please keep us posted while you are at the dealership. If there is something we can assist you with, let us know. You can private message us your name, VIN, address, mileage, and the name of your GM dealership. 

Erica Tiffany
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## AimHigh (Jul 17, 2013)

Thanks for the update Nathan! I have to bring the car in anyway for some spot cleaning on the interior, so I'll have them look at this issue while it's there. But I'm sure at this point they will drive it and say they can't duplicate the problem. Unless, of course, this is something they have seen before. I'll keep this thread updated if I have any news in case anyone else searches for the same problem.


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## AimHigh (Jul 17, 2013)

Chevy Customer Service said:


> AimHigh,
> 
> I am sorry you had this experience. Please keep us posted while you are at the dealership. If there is something we can assist you with, let us know. You can private message us your name, VIN, address, mileage, and the name of your GM dealership.
> 
> ...


Thanks Erica. I'll let you know if I can use some assistance. With any luck the dealership will be able to take care of it, or maybe it will never happen again!


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