Cold-weather morning shifts
 

Some advice for those with the 6-speed manual on your morning commute when the car is C-O-L-D: Double-clutch

That "hard to slip in" 1-2 shift becomes silky smooth, even when the gearbox is ice cold.

Give it a try :)

-Rich H.

I don't have the 1-2 problem people seem to have. What I do have is reverse, it's hard to throw into reverse when cold.

I already found that double clutching works, but it still takes some effort if you left 1st gear at a higher RPM....

I'm beginning to dread what shifting may be like when it's mid February and i'm leaving the house at 5 a.m after being parked outside all night...

I live in residential area and have to go through several stop signs on cold engine and trans.

First gear is notoriously hard to shift into from stop signs. Double clutch helps but doesnt eliminate it. Annoying but not a big deal. Funny I let someone drive my car and they were like I can't get into first, lol

it seems hokey, but .... http://cozywinters.com/shop/kh-1000-1020.html

I've found reverse behaves slightly better in the morning if you let the car warm up slightly, then go 1st --> 2nd --> reverse. It seems to sync up a lot more frequently when I do that, as opposed to preventing me from shifting in at all.

I generally let my car warm up for 5mins or so, regardless if there is ice on the windows or not now. I like to let the RPMs dip below 1,000 and have the temp gauge read at C (cold is past c) before setting off. Very rare that the first shift to second is a problem.

I've been noticing my 1-2 shift getting difficult as temps have been dropping. In the first 2 minutes of driving when temps are below 40 F, 2nd gear feels locked out completely. Can be annoying until the transmission warms up.

I raise the rev's a little and it slips into 2nd easier.

That's because double-clutching takes the synchronizers out of the equation. But it's still a good idea if you don't mind the extra "work":D

Another option is to just swap the gearbox oil to something that flows better in cold temps. Personally, I've been a big fan of using Redline MTL in several of my past stick shift cars. It makes winter driving such much nicer.

Change to a proper manual trans fluid and shifts are no longer an issue in cold or hot.