Hey guys, I just signed on to camaroz28 today. I just got a v6 manual '00 camaro about two months ago and Im enjoying it more than any other car Ive had before.

My question is about the gear shifter. If my car is at a complete stop, and I put the clutch down, the shifter will not slide right into first. It fights back as if the lockout(s) are still on. This is similar with all of the gears at a complete stop, but 4th gear is the easiest to get into. I think there is an aftermarket shifter in there (not sure, but everyone who knows camaros says it isnt the normal shifter) My guess is that the person who put in a later shifter, tightened the bearings a little more than he should have. Im wanting to know if anyone else has had this problem, or knows what it is.

 

my 00 M5 does the same thing sometimes, also is hard to get in reverse sometimes. i think thats usual with most M5's as i've heard of quite a few people havin issues with it. Is your shifter pretty short or relatively long? cause i'm pretty sure you'd know if it was in fact an aftermarket shifter.

 

Its extremely tall, unlike my dads Trans am shifter, but his is also a hurst and thats why I couldnt compare with his. My shifter also just has one big ball on top instead of the typical 'handle' shape most cars have.

Is there any way to fix the problem or is it just one of those quirks that the car has?

 

yea you just have the stock shifter in there. just a quirk i guess. although if it is extremely bad you may want to take it to the dealership or a transmission shop and have it looked at. mine is a pain in the *** to put into reverse sometimes. i think its just one of the cars "flaws". every car has em, good thing ours are "minimal"

 

The only real problem I have with that I have with reverse is it blocking me out, but that can be solved by letting up on the clutch just the tiniest bit.

I did fail to mention that I get a noise, something like paper against paper, when I depress the clutch all the way. My guess is something not quite 100% right in the clutch area.

 

mine will do that in reverse, so i always put it in 5th first tehn down to reverse. Its a habbit now. I even do it on accident in my other car. See if that helps with the reverse prob. im not sure but do the V6 have the skip shift thing as the v8s do. I know if thats the case it wont let u in the gear.

 

every v6 fbody i've driven has a problem goin into reverse. i guess its just a problem our cars have and was never taken care of. i always put the car into 5th gear first then into reverse. that way i never have to worry bout grinding the gears. first gear is also a pain to get into gear sometimes. i also have a problem w/ my clutch now. is starting to slip when i am on the gas heavily trying to shift guickly. like i would be if i'm drag racing, etc. course i think that might have todo w/ the 176,000 miles my car has. anybody no how much a replacement clutch will cost me for my car. i'd be doin the work, just need the part. thanx, AJ

 

The reverse thing has something to do with more than just the camaros/firebirds. My 91 celica would do the same exact thing when putting it in reverse. If you slide through all of the gears, it tends to open up reverse.

My dad hates the skip shift on his bird. It supposed to only be on the V8's.

A clutch for my last car was around 350$ for a stage one. Im not sure if the prices vary according to engine size or anything like that. Its good that you can do the work on your own, save yourself a lot of money.