Anyone who lives in colder climates, have you noticed that when the car sits overnight the transmission fluid is very thick? It is thick to the point where it bogs down the motor and hard to shift until it warm up.

 

I have heard people mention that the car is more difficult to shift when the trans is still cool, and smoother shifts are experienced when it warms up more. (in any climate)

When i first start my car each morning, the first couple of miles i drive I feel like the shifting is much more touchy than after driving for a while. The way i can describe it is it's more jerky for the first few shifts I do each day. Maybe that's just me being terrible though, or just cold feet haha.

 

My biggest complaint is that when releasing the clutch in neutral on idle, the fluid is so thick in the trans that it bogs the idle down. Today I switched to Redline MTL, they advertise that the viscosity is low even down to 0F which is when I notice this the most.

 

It is even a bit difficult to get in to gear on the coldest days sometimes. I especially notice it now with the quick shifter installed. I dont think its really problem though, just a bit annoying.

 

this happens to me to and I'm in California, mornings here are usually around 55 and even at those temps, it still doesn't want to shift into first very well. What I am noticing is that the car needs to come to a complete stop before I drop down to first. I only notice this for the first 5 minutes of my drive or so.

I tried letting the car warm up for 5 minutes, and it still does it, so I guess the car needs to actually be moving for this warm-up to occur.

 

Round my area of the country... even the springs in the clutch are slow to come back... granted its the stock clutch... but the string of negative zero temps have given virtually every inch of my car a beating.

Once she is warm everything works just fine... but shifting is definitely a task in these cold temps!!

 

I got it on video with the old fluid in the trans. Listen for the howl, too. At 1:08 or so the clutch is completely released and you can see the motor bog down, then around 1:30 I release it again and the howl appears.


With the Redline MTL, no more howl, no more issues with shifting.

 

whoa your car is making noises i have not heard from mine. mainly the howl.

 

Definitely not normal, and this is the second trans in this car. Either way with the Redline fluid it doesn't make any weird noises.

 

Well, glad that the new fluid helped. That is one sketchy azz sound. I would still like to know what it is though.

 

My guess is a oil starving bearing. The factory fluid is so thick in the colder weather so it doesn't circulate thus starving things. This fluid has a low viscosity so it circulates well.