3 min fix for 2nd gear hard shifting

[cjsporl1996]

I noticed if you start the car in second and shift it back and forth a few times it helps a lot in cold weather conditions. Although, I have a short shifter and aftermarket gear oil.

[Lasse]

Originally Posted by Black Tire

I have had cars that have better shifting transmissions that do not have this problem, so why the compromise?

This transmission is a very good unit, very smooth and very strong. One of the best in market. You can go to track and drive it like you stole it and so on. But when it's cold, second gear is hard to shift. You should warm it little bit. This is the tradeoff.

There is one interview in this forum, where designer talk about this "issue". It was designed that way and it is actually quite old information.

[mike the snake]

My trans has a "nick" going into 2nd gear, not a grind, and it's inconsistent. It happens hot or cold.

I switched to Motul oil, and it might be a tad better, but it still does it. It does seem as the miles add up, that the issue is lessening.

[raytrix]

Originally Posted by mike the snake

My trans has a "nick" going into 2nd gear, not a grind, and it's inconsistent. It happens hot or cold.

I switched to Motul oil, and it might be a tad better, but it still does it. It does seem as the miles add up, that the issue is lessening.

That sir is called notchy transmission. Just like my Evo X it took almost 10k miles before the 2nd and 3rd gear "notchiness" lessened and smoothed out. At 20k miles it was smooth like butter. Consider the "notchy" 2nd gear shift to smooth out overtime as you shift more often. I only have 2500 miles on my car and it's still tight and notchy for 2nd gear both cold and hot. I have Motul 300 gear oil in there now.

[slicktop]

The engineers of the twins specifically made the transmission to be more finicky below operating temperature so when it finally did get up to temp the metals would be expanded enough to allow better shifting.

Not all transmissions are the same, obviously.

[J-W]

I've never really had a problem with this, but on the other hand, I always let my car warm up a few minutes before I drive anywhere. Just a habit I got myself into. I'm a firm believer that running a car cold is a lot more costly than letting it idle in my drive a few minutes.

-Jay

[reardrv]

I'm starting to believe that everyone who complains about cold weather notchiness has never owned a performance car. This isn't a corolla, the gearbox is going to be a bit stiff when its cold. Try driving an Evo X with a cold gearbox, then tell me if you still think the BRZ has a stiff gearbox. Literally every performance car I've ever owned has been a bit tough to shift in the cold, that's what gets you that wonderful feel when it warms up. If you don't like it then this might not be the car for you.

[Toyarzee]

Ok, so if I live in southern Cali and it's 85 degrees outside and I let it idle for ten mins and hop in, make first shift to second at about 2k and run in second gear for almost half a mile, then go back to regular driving and I still get the clunk into second, what next?

[kiichiro]

Pentosin