Accidental shift into reverse without clutch
 

I woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning. When I went to back
the car out of the parking spot, I didn't clutch and tried shifting it,
accidentally. It shifted by making a grinding noise and stalled the
engine.

Once I tried reversing with the clutch, it moved and everything seems
to be working. I am curious to assess the damage I did.
Hope to hear some expert opinions. Thanks

you've probably just worn the teeth a bit. worst case scenario you'll have
chipped a toth or two, but that would give you a loud knowcking noise when
you reversed
"ukhan" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> I woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning. When I went to back
> the car out of the parking spot, I didn't clutch and tried shifting it,
> accidentally. It shifted by making a grinding noise and stalled the
> engine.
>
> Once I tried reversing with the clutch, it moved and everything seems
> to be working. I am curious to assess the damage I did.
> Hope to hear some expert opinions. Thanks
>

There was a loud knocking noise, but when I reversed with clutch it
backed out without any jerking.
Since the car is running fine, should I not be worried?

> I woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning. When I went
> to back the car out of the parking spot, I didn't clutch and tried
> shifting it, accidentally. It shifted by making a grinding noise and
> stalled the engine.

You don't say what year or model VW you've got, but as far as I know there's no
interlock on those things. There certainly isn't on the older ones. One of the
tricks a number of us have used to get us home when the clutch cable has broken
is to just shift without clutching. Works better if the synchros are healthy,
but if you're in good practice, you can do it even if they're worn. The trick,
of course, is the start from stopped.

> Once I tried reversing with the clutch, it moved and everything
> seems to be working. I am curious to assess the damage I did.
> Hope to hear some expert opinions. Thanks

I'm no expert. Sounds like you may have chipped or maybe rounded the tips of
some gears. You may have also done nothing detectable. A mechanic told me some
years back that you can "feel" a missing or badly chipped gear by putting the
car in that gear and driving slowly over smooth pavement and feeling for a
"click" or "bump" in the shifter and/or clutch pedal as it comes around. I've
found that it works, but it can be awfully subtle. You might try that.

- Bill

I have a 2005 Jetta TDI. I will try your recommendation

"ukhan" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> I have a 2005 Jetta TDI. I will try your recommendation

Well... more of a "suggestion." I'm not sure what you'd do if you DO detect
something. Probably try it again from time to time to see if it gets worse?

And IF you do you have to isolate if it's the trans, tires, axles, etc., etc.,
whatever. There's a difference, and I'd been told about the trick BEFORE my
friend whacked the trans in the beetle (it was that long ago) so I'd already
taken the car out to know how it would feel without the damage. Once I knew
what it felt like, I could tell that "tick" on most any car. I found a set of
chipped gears on a Subaru many years later using the same technique, for
example. Still, give it a go and see what you find.

- Bill

chances are you didn't do any damage at all.

if you do have a problem, just go to the dealer, you have a warranty
after all... (just don't tell them why there's something wrong)

Bill Leary wrote:
>
> You don't say what year or model VW you've got, but as far as I know there's no
> interlock on those things. There certainly isn't on the older ones. One of the
> tricks a number of us have used to get us home when the clutch cable has broken
> is to just shift without clutching. Works better if the synchros are healthy,
> but if you're in good practice, you can do it even if they're worn. The trick,
> of course, is the start from stopped.

Solution: Turn the engine off. Put the car in 1st gear. When you are
ready to go, start the car. Not to be used as a regular practice, but
it'll get you home.

Chris

>
>
>>Once I tried reversing with the clutch, it moved and everything
>>seems to be working. I am curious to assess the damage I did.
>>Hope to hear some expert opinions. Thanks
>
>
> I'm no expert. Sounds like you may have chipped or maybe rounded the tips of
> some gears. You may have also done nothing detectable. A mechanic told me some
> years back that you can "feel" a missing or badly chipped gear by putting the
> car in that gear and driving slowly over smooth pavement and feeling for a
> "click" or "bump" in the shifter and/or clutch pedal as it comes around. I've
> found that it works, but it can be awfully subtle. You might try that.
>
> - Bill
>
>

"Chris" > wrote in message
news:3afJd.12441$ef6.2439@trnddc07...
> > but if you're in good practice, you can do it even if they're worn. The
trick,
> > of course, is the start from stopped.
>
> Solution: Turn the engine off. Put the car in 1st gear. When you are
> ready to go, start the car. Not to be used as a regular practice, but
> it'll get you home.

Yes, I know. One of two ways to get going without a clutch.

The other is to already have the engine running, then roll the car and slip it
into gear at the right speed.

- Bill

> One of the
> tricks a number of us have used to get us home when the clutch cable has
broken
> is to just shift without clutching. Works better if the synchros are
healthy,
> but if you're in good practice, you can do it even if they're worn. The
trick,
> of course, is the start from stopped.

Actually, the trick is to get home without stopping at all :-) -- you've got
to roll all the stop signs and avoid uphill traffic lights at all costs.

The shifting part is not that hard, you accelerate, let off the gas
simultaneously with pulling the transmission into neutral, then hold the
shifter semi-firmly against the next gear's gate, and then blip the
throttle. At the precise point where the gears match each other in speed,
it will almost snatch the shifter out of your hand and "suck" it into the
next gear. Same technique downshifting. Just don't stop rolling!