Cold Weather Shifting Questions
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
From: Ft Worth, Tx
Cold Weather Shifting Questions
Is it normal for the MN6 Transmission to become harder to shift when the temperature is closer to freezing? If so, would changing the oil to Redline or another synthetic make things easier? Isn't the extra effort also harder on the shift forks and synchro's?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,117
Likes: 1
From: El Paso TX
Re: Cold Weather Shifting Questions (robiferretti)
I have Redline fluids in my tranny and diff and still notice some difficulty shifting early in the morining. And yes, it does get cold in Texas. It was 20 degrees last night. Of course I am sure that isn't cold to some of you...but it still makes the tranny stiff before everything works up to operating temps. I'd get the Redline fluids anyway. Compared to stock fluids it makes the tranny much smoother with less noise. :cheers: :chevy
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 26,714
Likes: 344
From: Houston, TX
Re: Cold Weather Shifting Questions (pdm)
I notice the difference even here in Houston with the temps in the 40's until the car warms up. I have been thinking about changing fluids as well. I appreciate the feedback on this thread.
Racer
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 444
Likes: 0
From: bc
Re: Cold Weather Shifting Questions (Viprklr)
shifting does get a bit hard on near 0c days,changing fluid is one thing but it
does not solve the problem completely.Nothing we can do about it,just dont
jam it in too hard.What I do is,warm up the car roughtly 1 minute, start shifting through all gears (while holding your clutch pedal down) and this will
loosen up the tranny.
hope this help
:cool:
does not solve the problem completely.Nothing we can do about it,just dont
jam it in too hard.What I do is,warm up the car roughtly 1 minute, start shifting through all gears (while holding your clutch pedal down) and this will
loosen up the tranny.
hope this help
:cool:
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
Likes: 192
From: At the beach in little Rhody
Re: Cold Weather Shifting Questions (maninblack)
I found it especially noticable on the 2-3 shift. I switched to Amsoil and it did improve the situation somewhat, but the 2-3 shift is still a little tough the first few times.
Racer
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 298
Likes: 1
From: San Antonio Texas
Re: Cold Weather Shifting Questions (maninblack)
In Montana at this time of the year, shifting can be more difficult as you describe in all manual transmission cars (think 80W-90 oil at -20 in my pickup tranny- you can barely move the stick:smash: ). Synthetics will help some, but the tranny will still feel stiff. What I've found that works pretty well (it will also work on Auto cars) is to shift into neutral and let the car idle until it warms up. I always like to let things warm up a bit before I start driving anyway. Putting the transmission in neutral moves the oil around some. This causes some heat build up and, thus allows things to work like they should.
An added bonus is that the car will warm up slightly faster; the extra effort in moving the oil around in the tranny loads up the engine slightly :)
BTW, we came up with this "method" after losing a few auto trannies in our fleet vehicles at work (the engines were warm when they hit the road, but the trannies were still very cold). One of the "old timer" mechanics at the shop suggested we do this on very cold days. We haven't lost any more trannies since and I've noticed a difference in my personal rigs as well.
[Modified by John Nowak PE, 1:53 PM 12/26/2001]
An added bonus is that the car will warm up slightly faster; the extra effort in moving the oil around in the tranny loads up the engine slightly :)
BTW, we came up with this "method" after losing a few auto trannies in our fleet vehicles at work (the engines were warm when they hit the road, but the trannies were still very cold). One of the "old timer" mechanics at the shop suggested we do this on very cold days. We haven't lost any more trannies since and I've noticed a difference in my personal rigs as well.
[Modified by John Nowak PE, 1:53 PM 12/26/2001]
