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> What I meant was not that I'm shifting from 4th to 3rd while driving. > Since I'm having a lot of trouble finding 1st, I was starting to try to > find it _with the clutch pedal fully depressed_ as soon as I began to brake > to slow down for a stoplight or turn signal so that (hopefully) I could > find first in time to start the car in a reasonable amount of time. (Twice > I had to sit there struggling with it while the cars behind me became more > and more impatient. Not fun.) My understanding of clutches is that with > the pedal pushed to the floor, I should be able to shift anywhere as long > as I'm in the right gear when I release the clutch pedal to start > accelerating again. When you depress the clutch, you are decoupling the engine from the transmission, but the guts of the tranny are still being spun by the wheels as long as the car is in motion. While a little bit of motion is helpful to getting the ttansmission into any gear, the first gear synchros never seem to like going in at more than 5-10 mph. If you are having any trouble with the tranny in a newly purchased car, I would check the gear oil level first, then drain it, inspect the old fluid as it comes out, clean the drain plug magnet, and refill with a good quality gear lube. Once again, the MT takes GL-4 gear oil meeting spec MIL L-2105b or later, the final drive on the AT takes the same, but GL-5. There is no reason not to just put the clutch pedal to the floor, but you should check to make sure that there is a bit (0.5-1") of free play when you first depress the clutch. Jim - ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA *******************************