First off I am 100% prepared for the masses to tell me just to take the car to a garage to diagnose the problem but thought would ask on here first to see if anyone else has had similar problems.

I’ve got an octavia scout (the 4×4 one) and all is good with the exception that now it’s hard to engage first gear on a pretty regular basis.

It’s very odd, it’s like 1st gear just isn’t there sometimes… can generally get it in by going into 2nd then first and it probably only happens 1 time out of 10 but it’s pretty annoying, especially when at traffic lights etc. with a queue of traffic behind…

When it’s not happening the gearbox it really smooth and it never struggles to go into any other gears and reverse is always fine.

I’ve checked a few forums and it seems to be a relatively common fault with VW gearboxes / clutches however I am struggling to find what the actual fix is?

I really hope it’s not new gearbox / clutch to fix the problem…

Any ideas anyone?

No help but my experience tells me that anything involving the gearbox is £££ (£600 just to remove and replace an XC90 gearbox) – hope you get fixed easily.

Edit: selector forks? Whatever it is the box has to come off and be opened up, unless it’s a gear linkage thing.

I don’t know about any common Octavia faults, but whenever I’ve had that happen to me I’ve found that lifting the clutch and pressing it back down before trying again always works. I guess that spins half of the gearbox so that the teeth aren’t aligned tooth-against-tooth, or something? Maybe.

My first port would be to check the snub mount at the front of the engine. They degrade and cause just this. Easy fox too

The Octavia gearstick is linked to the gearbox by cables. They may just need some adjustment as cables stretch over time.

Adjust gear linkage

Sounds like it might be a release bearing issue.

Thanks all – both cable adjustment and bearings came up on a few forums which I am hoping will be a quicker / cheaper fix than new gearbox / clutch.

As it’s a second hand car if the fix is big bucks will just live with it until it becomes totally unbearable.

It’s the wife’s car so it’s not me that has to put up with it though – oddly however it seems to happen to me more than her and she drives it most days – she must have a more dainty clutch technique than me…?!

it’s a second hand car if the fix is big bucks will just live with it until it becomes totally unbearable.

Up to you to judge but if the release bearing completely fails it could damage the flywheel, bell housing or engine. Take it to a garage and ask them to check the cable, maybe bleed the clutch. Could be a cheap fix or money wasted if it turns out to something else. If it’s the release bearing it’ll cost the same as a clutch as the labour involved is the same so it’s pointless not to fit a new clutch.

Thanks Jimjam – will look to take it in, main problem is that we are in France so tend to play Russian roulette a little with the garages here.

Have this occasionally in the wife’s corolla. Only affects first gear. All I do it pull the footmat back a bit. Seems the clutch pedal needs to dip more to select first. Worth a try. If it works, I’ll take £600 ppg.

Might be the clutch needs adjusting rather than the ‘box. If it’s not fully disengaging then gears can get hard to select…..

Once had a colleague who had a car with a gearbox problem. His dad knew EVERYTHING about cars apparently and it definitely needed a new gearbox.
I popped the bonnet, tightened up the loose clutch cable by hand and it was perfect. 🙂

I hd i on my first car too, hydraulic clutch, added a bit more fluid, quick bleed, and it was as good as new.

Clutch hydraulic slave cylinder – common VAG fault PITA to change. If you pump the clutch 3 or 4 times and it goes into gear easily then it’s most likely that

Great – thanks all!

Hope you got it sorted. I presume it’s a diesel. I had the same a few years back with out diesel zafira. Only affecting 1 St gear at first, when moving off, but gradually getting worse over a few weeks. After a few weeks it was affecting other gears, where it would not go into gear when driving.

Anyway, it was the DMF (flywheel), new DMF, clutch and service was about £600 in just parts (we get free labour from my brother in laws garage).

Most expensive repair to date at 11 years old and 157000 miles (owned from 67000).

Good luck!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! This can’t be happening to the STW favourite. Must be a troll.

How old is the car? I had this in my mk3 VRS.

Called the Lease company who sent the AA. The chap took the car for a test drive and confirmed the problem. Bonnet up, airbox off and there, sitting on the gearbox, was a forked clip. The clip was a retention clip from the gear selection cable (apparently they are made of cheese). Re-tensioned and replaced and all is well in the world.

Thanks both andy8442 and freddyg – I am obviously hoping my experience will be more like latter…

It’s a 2008 but done about 120k miles.

Not even got close to sorting it yet – sife just about to give birth is somewhat of a distraction. However oddly I drove the car yesterday and it didn’t do it to me once..?!

colwyn58 – Member

Not even got close to sorting it yet – sife just about to give birth is somewhat of a distraction. However oddly I drove the car yesterday and it didn’t do it to me once..?!

Could it be that you sub-consciously aren’t pushing the clutch all the way down all the time, but are now thinking about it as you’ve mentioned it on here?

I used to get this in my old Fiesta & thought the clutch release bearing was on the way out, but it turned out to be (as someone mentioned above I think) that 1st required the clutch to be pushed a tiny bit further than the rest of the gears and I wasn’t always doing that.
Someone also mentioned a mat slipping forward & getting in the way, which also used to happen in the Fiesta as the mats didn’t grip the carpet very well….

Had clutch issues on a diesel Fabia. Clutch down, into neutral and car was still in gear, horrible slipping clutch smell and an AA call out.

By the time the AA got there it worked but they could smell there’d been a problem. Diagnosed as probably the slave cyclinder, get it to the garage. Skoda dealer chain in West Yorkshire were less than impressive and failed to find an issue. Had it back a few times, no fault found, next morning fault would be there.

Eventually traded the car in for a Peugeot and will never buy a Skoda again… or at least while I live near the shite West Yorkshire chain.