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the stick goes into reverse fine, small crunch, but goes all the way in gear. When I release the clutch though I get a lot of shuddering and jerking; I basically can't use reverse in a normal fashion. I know how to drive stick. To back out of a spot, I just pump the clutch and tap the gas.
2 week old ex coupe 5 speed, don't use reverse that much so I just noticed. If I have to take it back to the dealer, I am gonna be pissed. Any ideas? Maybe it needs to break in or something?

 
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same thing here..i thought it was normal cuz i just learned how to drive stick..

 
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Put the car in 4th, leave it for a sec and then toss it into reverse. It should drop right in. I don't know why, but it works.

 
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I know, I can get it in gear fine; the problem is when i let the clutch out, I get all kinds of shuddering no matter if i apply gas light or hard.

 
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keep me updated if u go to dealer and get something

 
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I bought my manual Civic recently and did my first serious stick driving ever. Reverse was tricky. Probably my least favourite thing about stick is backing up. You really have to float the clutch and give it just itsy bitsy puffs of grab to keep you rolling. Having it jerk and chatter is normal. Mine does that too if my gas/clutch/speed ratio isnt in harmony. It will improve with practice. And reverse usualy crunches when you shift. There is no syncro. Just make sure you are stopped and wait a second or two then shift into reverse. Sometimes it will just slide in, other times it might make a slight crunch.

As far as I know this is normal for this car.

 
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I also had problems with reverse on my 5-speed. It can be really hard to get it to shift into reverse, but that trick Boilermaker mentioned about putting it in 4th first seems to work as a decent solution. Any ideas if this is normal or if I should try to go and get it fixed?

 
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Again, my problem was not "getting it into gear", it was actually using reverse. And I have driven sticks for 2-3 years.

But, the problem is going away now that the car is getting broken in, 600 miles now, odd, but that was what I was hoping for. I would be pissed if i had to take back a brand new car.

My tranny got noticeably smoother around 560 miles.

 
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oh really?
mine is about 515 now..so i have wait..to see if mine does that too
hehe
actually..this car was my first manual driving..
so i stalled about 20 times at first week of drving..
and im still not really good at it so i wonder if im doing bad to my car..
but ive never driven over 3.5k rpm actually once or twice..
hm..point was i should wait a lil more time..right?

 
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The "jerkiness" is really the result of the extreme low gearing Honda uses for the current Civic. When you engage the clutch, you either have to keep accelerating backward to keep it from jerking or you engage the clutch to get it moving and then disengage the clutch to let it coast. If you are like most people, you probably engage the clutch, get to the speed you wanted and then let off the gas with the clutch still engage. This cause immediate engine braking which results in the jerkiness.