When I have trouble engaging first/reverse, I push the lever into a higher gear (say, 4th) and, if that doesn't work, I double-clutch. Then it goes into gear fine, if not 100% smoothly. I just accept that as a feature of the MTX-75, and I would expect it would happen
sometime on most any gearbox. After all, it is a "box of gears" as the name implies. There is only a finite number of ways the dog teeth can engage the gear.
Personally, I think a lot of people have unrealistic expectations about how a manual tranny should work. In many cases, this probably stems from driving slushboxes first.
Oh, and I do have the tranny cocktail. Doesn't make a huge difference, but I do get a warm, fuzzy feeling knowing Mobil 1 fluid is circulating in there.
Just my $0.02,
