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1999 Manual Transmission Shifting Difficulty

The manual transmission may become difficult to shift, this is commonly caused by binding between the synchronizer and the gear surface. Adding a special friction modifier to the manual transmission fluid will often correct this condition. If the problem persists revised synchronizer kits may be available.

Affected Model Years

This issue affects model years 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, .

61 people reported this problem

  • 1999 160,000 Miles
    Car started kicking out of 1st and and eventually wouldnt go into 1st and very hard to put in 2nd but all other gears work fine
  • 1999 0 Miles
    Put new clutch on and having trouble with the shifting linkage and getting it to go into gear it's unlike anything I've worked on and I can't figure it out
  • 1999 70,000 Miles
    I have a 2003 Eclipse GTS. Very low miles. It's having an issue going into gear (manual trans.),but it seems to be only when it is a cold start. No trouble once it's been running throughout the day. It won't go into Reverse or 1st gear. After it has warmed up a while, it will go into gear with some finesse. Runs fine the rest of the day.
  • 1999 159,000 Miles
    wont shift into gear at all, heard it could be the wave spring which is a manufactors problem, but I also heard that they will not recall it
  • 1999 0 Miles
    Had to have the original clutch replaced at 45,000 miles; at 100,000, had been progressively getting difficult to put into reverse; now, stuck in reverse and cannot get it out
  • 1999 138,000 Miles
    Car shifts slow. Engine revs up
  • 1999 125,000 Miles
    catches sometimes, making it harder to get out or into 2nd. other gears fine, getting weird noise in first and second intermitently now to(130,000). thinking i might need new motor mounts
  • 1999 96,000 Miles
    I purchased my eclipse when it had 70,000 miles on it, now at 96000 miles I am having difficulty with my gear shift not wanting to go into 1st gear. I take very good care of my care, it has plenty of clutch fluid, and ive never had a problem until now. but its really only when I first start it up, after a few minutes of running it comes right out of it and the gear shift will slide into place like butter.
  • 1999 200,000 Miles
    Stuck in first gear
  • 1999 200,000 Miles
    Will not go into first gear
  • 1999 57,000 Miles
    Hard to change gears
  • 1999 152,748 Miles
    I cannot shift into 3rd gear at all, 1-2 gear ok, 4-5 I can shift in but it just freewheels. The syncro is about $ 185.00 and labor is hard to say, if it's been grinding and damaged hard parts tthere will be more money for parts and may mean the transmisson has to come out, and thats more money so it could get as high as $ 500.00 or more depending on what it needs. It's hard to say without tearing it down and looking at the parts.
  • 1999 169,983 Miles
    Doesn't want to shift from 1st to 2nd gear mainly when the engine is cold. Once it warms up it shifts fine.
  • 1999 188,000 Miles
    My automatic transmission started to have problem on first gear toward second gear once the speed goes over 25 mph its fine.

1999 Common Problems