Smoothing out 1st and 2nd gears

[tech4pdx]

Originally Posted by GerryL

I've had very good results with Redline's gear oil. Removed about 80 to 90% of the issue and many days its perfect from the first cold shift. Its not cheap but definately worth the effort. When my son first drove it after I changed the gear oil, his first words on getting out of the car were "that stuff is magic in a bottle"....

I took redline out of my gearbox since in cold temps I couldn't even get it out of first gear. Forget about 2nd. Pentosin fixed most all of it. I guess YMMV.

[GerryL]

Originally Posted by tech4pdx

I took redline out of my gearbox since in cold temps I couldn't even get it out of first gear. Forget about 2nd. Pentosin fixed most all of it. I guess YMMV.

Really, was that MT-90?

[reeves]

Originally Posted by mad_sb

double clutching with rev matching goes a VERY long way at eliminating the cold 1 - 2 shift notchiness FWIW. FLuid will help, i don't see how trans bushing will do anything for cold shift notch as that has more to do with fluid operating temperature than trans flex / location etc.

Double clutching didn't really solve my cold shifting issues.. It was basically impossible to shift into 2nd gear 8/10ths of the time no matter what i did, double-clutch, rev high, shift fast/slow, etc.. (this was using the factory fluid & Amsoil tranny fluid).

The only thing that solved the cold shifting problem for me was Pentosin.. at least 90% of it. I still get random grinds/notchiness, and that's where I'm looking to bushings as a possible help.. even if it doesn't solve it completely, any reflief will be good. Doesn't matter if its the temps are freezing or scorching, the tranny will just grind whenever it feels like every now & then. Sometimes its not a grind, it sounds like metal contacting metal, but more muted. Don't know if I'm explaining the sound correctly, but I'm pretty sure it's not the fluid or syncros causing that.

[tech4pdx]

Originally Posted by GerryL

Really, was that MT-90?

Yes

[Turdinator]

Originally Posted by tech4pdx

Yes

How cold are you talking?

[tech4pdx]

Originally Posted by Turdinator

How cold are you talking?

Anything less than 40 F and it was a bitch to deal with.

[cruzinbill]

maybe hit the gym.... shifts fine even in 30 deg weather, at least for me. But I dont have precious chicken arms.

[tech4pdx]

Originally Posted by cruzinbill

maybe hit the gym.... shifts fine even in 30 deg weather, at least for me. But I dont have precious chicken arms.

I workout regularly.. but thanks for thinking about my well-being. Look, a problem is a problem whether it happens to you or not. Under 40 F and this transmission would barely come out of 1st gear. Trying to go into 2nd, even double clutching and it was like the gate was blocked. Forced to go to 3rd and lug the motor until it got warm enough to start shifting normally again. This happened regularly with the OEM fill and Redline MT-90. It wasn't until I switched to Pentosin that the problems almost completely disappeared.

What is up with the negative comments?

[GerryL]

Originally Posted by tech4pdx

I workout regularly.. but thanks for thinking about my well-being. Look, a problem is a problem whether it happens to you or not. Under 40 F and this transmission would barely come out of 1st gear. Trying to go into 2nd, even double clutching and it was like the gate was blocked. Forced to go to 3rd and lug the motor until it got warm enough to start shifting normally again. This happened regularly with the OEM fill and Redline MT-90. It wasn't until I switched to Pentosin that the problems almost completely disappeared.

What is up with the negative comments?

So which Pentosin fluid is that?

[norsamerican]

I believe its Pentosin 75w-80. Can be found on ebay and probably some vendors here carry it.

[BRZerk]

yeah, most of the issue I have is dropping to second or going from 1st to 2nd. It feels like its RIGHT there but just wont go that extra hair and I have to back off my shift and give it a lil TLC / wiggles then it goes in clean. Annoying when you are accelerating or heel toeing

[boead]

At about 1000 miles shifting got stiff. Its only gotten worse and im just under 2000.
From a dead stop, pushing into 1st makes the rear "clunk" 2nd is hard and 3-6 are not silky as they were on day 1.

Im heading to the dealership today, am going to be a big stick up their asses (im very good at it) till its resolved. Ive already been told, "it needs to break in more" which is bullshit. I mentioned that MANY are changing out the fluid with great success; As you can imagine I was told (in a nice way) that I was an idiot.

BTW: TWO different Toyota dealership service centers are under the impression that the motor is the same exact one used by Subaru for years now. Exactly the same!
And so are the transmissions.
The oil doesnt need to be changed for at least 7000 miles! My car has a 5000 miles sticker on it, they said that was a mistake and was meant for Toyota cars. Teh FR-S gets it first oil change at 7000, next one at 14000 and so on!
Gear box oil? NEVER needs to be changed, changing it is just a waste of money and again, im an idiot!

[tech4pdx]

Originally Posted by GerryL

So which Pentosin fluid is that?

I bought mine on Amazon from here:

http://amzn.com/B000P9EM7I

[tech4pdx]

Originally Posted by boead

At about 1000 miles shifting got stiff. Its only gotten worse and im just under 2000.
From a dead stop, pushing into 1st makes the rear "clunk" 2nd is hard and 3-6 are not silky as they were on day 1.

Im heading to the dealership today, am going to be a big stick up their asses (im very good at it) till its resolved. Ive already been told, "it needs to break in more" which is bullshit. I mentioned that MANY are changing out the fluid with great success; As you can imagine I was told (in a nice way) that I was an idiot.

BTW: TWO different Toyota dealership service centers are under the impression that the motor is the same exact one used by Subaru for years now. Exactly the same!
And so are the transmissions.
The oil doesnt need to be changed for at least 7000 miles! My car has a 5000 miles sticker on it, they said that was a mistake and was meant for Toyota cars. Teh FR-S gets it first oil change at 7000, next one at 14000 and so on!
Gear box oil? NEVER needs to be changed, changing it is just a waste of money and again, im an idiot!

I've had that rear "clunk" when engaging 1st from a dead stop since day 1 (9 miles on the odo). The only way I've found to avoid it is to depress the clutch pedal for a few seconds before moving into 1st gear, from a dead stop. If I engage 1st gear immediately after depressing the clutch pedal I get the rear "clunk". I just ignore it these days.

Btw, when I called my dealership and spoke to my service advisor about the problems, he proceeds to tell me that they have not had a single transmission complaint in several years. Lol. I just hung up after that.