Manual shift not going into 1st, 2nd, reverse

[Racer X]

Heading to pick my Emira back up today. The mechanic was able to get the car into all six gears just by pumping the clutch and working the lever (harder than I would have, I’m sure). He has no idea why it wouldn’t go into 1, 2 and reverse, but did witness it when it arrived. They looked through everything short of pulling the transmission to see what the issue was- per Lotus instructions. Sigh- hopefully it doesn’t repeat for me.

It’s been at the dealership for three weeks awaiting the water diverter for the AC resistor; now that’s finally installed. Can’t wait to finally be in it again.

 

[anothersportscar]

Heading to pick my Emira back up today. The mechanic was able to get the car into all six gears just by pumping the clutch and working the lever (harder than I would have, I’m sure). He has no idea why it wouldn’t go into 1, 2 and reverse, but did witness it when it arrived. They looked through everything short of pulling the transmission to see what the issue was- per Lotus instructions. Sigh- hopefully it doesn’t repeat for me.

It’s been at the dealership for three weeks awaiting the water diverter for the AC resistor; now that’s finally installed. Can’t wait to finally be in it again.

Mine lost 4th gear completely after 2500 miles, complete engine / gearbox out job and extensive dismantling of rear bodywork, took 8 weeks then another 4 weeks for recall items.

 

[scc.131.fe]

Mine lost 4th gear completely after 2500 miles, complete engine / gearbox out job and extensive dismantling of rear bodywork, took 8 weeks then another 4 weeks for recall items.

what was the root cause and fix?

 

[anothersportscar]

what was the root cause and fix?

The dealer opened the gearbox and checked the selectors which were ok, that's as far as they could reasonably go. A new gearbox from Lotus was required under warranty, I was told the factory strip the gearboxes and fit Lotus parts before they go in the cars. Its a huge job to replace and my car was basically disassembled from the doors back. The gearbox in my car was the worst manual in a sportscar that I've ever owned and the replacement wasn't really that great either even after the cables were adjusted. The demo car I drove was noticeably better so it appears there is quite some variation in these manual boxes.

 

[4N MISSL]

Any updates on if issue reappeared?
I’m curious.
@Racer X

 

[Racer X]

Any updates on if issue reappeared?
I’m curious.
@Racer X

I accidentally found out the root cause after the dealer found no issues. My reverse gate pull-lever would stick into the up position. If I didn’t notice that it was up, second gear became a phantom gear that could get the lever stuck, resulting in the issue originally described. Now that I’m aware, I check to make sure that the pull drops back down after reversing and no issues since!

 

[kitkat]

I accidentally found out the root cause after the dealer found no issues. My reverse gate pull-lever would stick into the up position. If I didn’t notice that it was up, second gear became a phantom gear that could get the lever stuck, resulting in the issue originally described. Now that I’m aware, I check to make sure that the pull drops back down after reversing and no issues since!

Make sure the o-ring under the shift knob isn’t jammed in place that makes the reverse lockout tube stick. Should be as simple as a small hex to remove the grub screw holding the shift knob in place, turn the shift knob off and inspect the o-ring and position.

This is _super_ common.