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Old Jan 18, 2022 | 01:55 PM
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Default Hard shifting

2016 Z51 M7
When I first drive in the morning in the cold weather the trans is hard to shift , 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. It gets better after driving about five miles. Is this normal? The car only has 9,000 miles on it, I already installed the skip shift eliminator ,it made a little difference. This is my first Corvette but not my first manual trans.















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Old Jan 18, 2022 | 02:34 PM
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Sounds normal to me. Just like the rest of the car, the transmission needs to warm up too.
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Old Jan 18, 2022 | 02:37 PM
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The C7 manual has always been a bit of a notchy shifter especially between first and second (until about 10 minutes and the tranny fluid warms). Possible solutions? None I've tried are perfect but they do help; firstly, a transmission fluid replacement and secondly, though far more expensive I had an MGW shifter installed (many here have done it themselves, I'm just auto repair savvy enough to really mess it up). Again, for the first ten minutes or so I still get alittle notchiness between first and second but it is far less. I would have done the MGW shifter in any case as I am sold on them. Good luck and enjoy in any case......
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Old Jan 18, 2022 | 02:47 PM
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Sounds like my car, also 9000 miles.

when cold 2nd gear has a less than awesome notch feeling to it.
Drive it 5 minutes and it's gone.
It's just 2nd gear in my car, 3rd is always fine.

I'm told this is normal. I'll be changing all the fluids in the car as it is almost 5 years old. I'll see if the new fluid makes any difference.
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Old Jan 18, 2022 | 03:03 PM
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sounds like a manual transmission to me
2nd is a bitch in this car, sometimes I feel like it won't ever go in
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Old Jan 18, 2022 | 03:29 PM
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Normal for a Tremec TR-6070, even after fluid change and an MGW install. 10 minutes warm up and it's gone. I've often wondered what an external pan oil heater or conventional block heater might do to solve this.



Jacob

Last edited by Jacob; Jan 18, 2022 at 03:52 PM.
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Old Jan 18, 2022 | 03:39 PM
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Even with today's manufacturing and lubes there is a lot of "normal" variance in the shifting. Plus, everyone's expectations and tolerance for variance differs. The fact it is better after warm-up tells the story, as for as I'm concerned... it soon gets better. Be patient, and ENJOY!
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Old Jan 18, 2022 | 04:00 PM
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Normal. When cold I also row between second and first at a stop which helps keep it from popping out of first gear.
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Old Jan 18, 2022 | 04:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Jacob
Normal for a Tremec TR-6070, even after fluid change and an MGW install. 10 minutes warm up and it's gone. I've often wondered what an external pan oil heater or conventional block heater might do to solve this.


Jacob
a pan heater like that would probably work great. If plugging it in was as convenient as the trickle charger I'd use it. I wouldn't put a traditional block heater in oil. Those are meant to be submerged in water, they'd probably burn oil.
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Old Jan 18, 2022 | 06:35 PM
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Originally Posted by rtv900
a pan heater like that would probably work great. If plugging it in was as convenient as the trickle charger I'd use it. I wouldn't put a traditional block heater in oil. Those are meant to be submerged in water, they'd probably burn oil.
If you could get a block heater with the right thread so as to replace the oil drain plug, then it might be worth trying a heat test with some transmission oil in a metal pail with the block heater running. The pan heater pad might be difficult to fasten to the transmission casing.
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Old Jan 18, 2022 | 08:17 PM
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Originally Posted by jet85
2016 Z51 M7
When I first drive in the morning in the cold weather the trans is hard to shift , 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. It gets better after driving about five miles. Is this normal? The car only has 9,000 miles on it, I already installed the skip shift eliminator ,it made a little difference. This is my first Corvette but not my first manual trans.
It seems to happen to some M7 owners...personally I haven't had this issue at all on my 2019, and I've driven it in below freezing temperatures here.
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Old Jan 18, 2022 | 09:41 PM
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Once my fluid warms up i definitely have smoother shifting
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Old Jan 19, 2022 | 02:24 AM
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Exact same symptoms on my 2012 M6. No problem after warm up.
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Old Jan 19, 2022 | 07:51 AM
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Originally Posted by Jacob
If you could get a block heater with the right thread so as to replace the oil drain plug, then it might be worth trying a heat test with some transmission oil in a metal pail with the block heater running. The pan heater pad might be difficult to fasten to the transmission casing.
yeah I don't remember now if the trans casing is smooth or has cooling fins on it, but I guess even if it's smooth it is probably a cast finish, which would be a problem.
I've used those pads on diesel pans before, but they were regular smooth steel pans and those pads stick like a ****.
I could see a cast surface being a problem though.

Honestly, I wish this car had a block heater because I feel like when I take it out in winter it takes FOREVER to get the engine and oil up to temp. I would absolutely use a block heater if there was a simple install for one.
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Old Jan 19, 2022 | 08:23 AM
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Yup. My 19 M7 is a bit "notchy" from 1st to 2nd when cold. Corrects itself , once warmed. No problem.
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Old Jan 19, 2022 | 04:14 PM
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This fluid definitely helped mine.
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/152454123@N04/, on Flickr
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Old Jan 19, 2022 | 04:41 PM
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Normal.
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Old Jan 20, 2022 | 11:51 AM
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Redline and MGW shifter. No problems after that. As a matter of fact, the MGW really changed the dynamics of driving a M7. Took about 2 hours to install-easy.
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Old Jan 22, 2022 | 04:02 PM
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Double clutch the 1-2 shift when cold.
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Old Jan 22, 2022 | 10:24 PM
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I've been struggling with the same thing you describe. 16 Z51 M7... What I've done so far:
  • MGW Shifter - Biggest noticeable difference. The slop in OEM shifter and/or the new alignment helped.
  • Red Line ATF Fluid swap
  • Skip Shift Eliminator
The MGW installed tightened up the shifting and it felt much better. But I was still having cold 1/2 shift issues and 1st and 2nd popping out at random.

Did both the fluid and Skip Shift at the same time and happy to report no issues with 1/2 shifts when cold anymore. The theory on the skip shift is the gate doesn't move back all the way and you catch on it when it should be open.

People will swear fluid doesn't change anything -- I'm not sure what happened but my problem went away after doing the Red Line ATF and Skip shifter.

Good luck!
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