Mystery P5 problems...am i alone????

[Pro5Racer]

SO far i've been happily owning my Pro5 for 4 months now. And kicking arse at SCCA.

But anyhoo i have a few quirks on my car that im wondering if they're normal or not. Here are the main two.

1. My dash gauges at night look too damn dark, even with the brightness knob turned all the way up!!! Even in PITCH BLACK its really hard to see the speedometer and all, its rediculous! I find this kind of a safety issue.

2. Shifting in (5-spd manual) reverse is a pain in the arse on many occasions. I'd say 3 out of 5 times when i want to shift into reverse, doing nothing fancy, it doesn't want to engage. Clutch IS depressed all the way. I sometimes have to clutch more than a few times to get reverse engaged. Wierd....


Are these just a few normal "quirks" about the Progete 5 that everyone else has??? Or should I take it to the dealer to have it checked out.

Im trying to get confirmation because you know how those a**hole dealers get into your car to be checked and then say, "we cannot find/duplicate your problem, $30 please..."

Any help would be grateful, thanks.

 

[G_MAN75]

reverse issue

I know that in most standard cars reverse is always an issue.
An easyfix to this headache is to put it 1st gear, move the car forward just a notch and then it should be easy to engage the reverse gear.

 

[drumsbeloud]

1. my gauges are very bright. i keep them at about half-brightness. go to the dealership.

2. i get the same thing as you. all other cars i've driven have had the same issue though, so i don't think too much about it. it only happens occasionally to me, and it usually engages after two tries though.

 

[Natey]

Sometimes I have to fiddle with the shifter to get the car in reverse, but only once in a WHILE.


...My dash/gauge lights work great, I'd guess that there's a problem with your dimmer knob if all the lights work, just not brightly enough.

 

[Autox MSP]

mine goes in to reverse all the time smoothly. but mine doen't like going in to first. wish we can trade our problems.

 

[Pro5Racer]

Thanks for the replies so far guys they've been very helpful.

I figured the reverse gear thing is a common quirky thing. I apologize for being "newb" about it. I mean comon, i owned a Ford Focus previously that had a "Reverse Lockout" so it went in everytime...hehe.

As for the gauges plz gimmie more replies on how bright yours are...im pretty much going to set an appointment for that very soon. I knew THAT one was weird.....sheesh, all the other cars i ride in are have hella bright gauges...seen FROM the backseat even!

 

[cbcbd]

Yeah, reverse is about the same, no big deal.


Check you guages, that's definitively not right. I also do not turn them up all the way bright because I think it's waaay too bright with it all the way up.

And people CAN see them from my back seat at that setting because they've mentioned before that my lights are very cool and stylish

 

[L8R]

hmm no idea, im auto haha and my gauges are bright enough? check dealership, gl - chris

 

[+ friction]

I keep my guages up all the way, but they are plenty bright to read at the halfway mark on the dimmer. I just like mine very bright.

 

[charles]

Could it be the component that regulates the voltage of the bulbs? (In the switch itself, I suppose).

As for the reverse thingy, even when I drive a WRX, it does the same thing.

 

[MadBiker]

Um as for the difficulty in putting the gear in reverse, RTM!! so said SirNuke in a very nice way in another thread. yeah it seems the manual does mention that it would take 1 or 2 tries to engage the reverse gear, but I haven't RTM yet

As for my gauges they are very bright, unless you're wearing Sunglasses At Night.

 

[doclaw64]

my gauges are dim as well. guess I should go to the dealer.

 

[gothmobile]

My guages are really bright

 

[barfly]

Have you ever noticed people shifting in to 1st gear before they shift in to reverse? That's why, because sometimes reverse doesn't want to engage. So, next time that happens.. shift to 1st, then try reverse.

 

[PeaB0dy]

You can also try slowly lifting the clutch as you pull into reverse, this also works..

 

[loccusst]

The reason why shifting into first and the into reverse works is supposed to be because they are the same size gears almost or they are close together, something like that. My honda does this too. most cars have this problem.

 

[Pro5Racer]

OK appointment set at dealer for wednesday afternoon.

Ill let you guys know of the before and after brightness when the dealer (hopefully) fixes the problem. Just to let others know if they're in the same boat.

 

[Protege52003]

You can also try slowly lifting the clutch as you pull into reverse, this also works..

I usually so this.......then it slips into reverse.

My dash lights are kind of dim, but are easily read. I get glare on the clear panel in front of the dash when they are all the way up so I keep them a little down.

-R

 

[RAAZ227]

Gauges you really should check

about reverse....If you can't get it into reverse, line up the syncro's by throwing it into third gear, then shift into reverse always works for me!

 

[garu]

I've noticed that when I turn on my driving lights/headlights, the gauges dim down a bit. However, they are still readable at night. Only at dusk are they hard to see when I have my headlights on. Is this normal?

garu