Transmission shifting when cold?

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Aluma007

1st and 2nd wouldnt work, hard to get into gear or downshift. I couldnt figure out what was wrong with the car,

The MTs take about 10 Kmi to break in. At about 8 K, I began noticing the syncros improve as they gradually lapped together.

It may have taken mine much longer to break in because I fell back into double-clutching my downshifts out of habit. Old dogs and all that...

[Zentec]

[QUOTE=Ultramaroon;3042622]The MTs take about 10 Kmi to break in. At about 8 K, I began noticing the syncros improve as they gradually lapped together.

It may have taken mine much longer to break in because I fell back into double-clutching my downshifts out of habit. Old dogs and all that...[/QUO

If it wasn’t for old dogs the pups wouldn’t learn anything. Knowledge, experience, wisdom, mentors,and teachers. We would all be lost with out them.

I think you should have used creature of habit

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Zentec

I think you should have used creature of habit

Aw, shucks.

There are plenty of people here, young and old, from whom I would gladly take notes.

[woodchip]

tranny sucks. almost wish I had bought something else. Hoping if I give it time it will improve or I will get used to it. trouble here is its always could. good thing I drive my truck in winter.

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

Originally Posted by woodchip

tranny sucks. almost wish I had bought something else. Hoping if I give it time it will improve or I will get used to it. trouble here is its always could. good thing I drive my truck in winter.

I feel you. What I noticed is when your engine is properly warmed up and you go on the highway and take it to redline, shifting becomes much smoother. Whatever you do, don't ever switch to motul, it'll become even worse. I'm gonna switch back to OEM or maybe check out Pentosin, as I hear good things about it.

[Zentec]

Originally Posted by StraightOuttaCanadaEh

I feel you. What I noticed is when your engine is properly warmed up and you go on the highway and take it to redline, shifting becomes much smoother. Whatever you do, don't ever switch to motul, it'll become even worse. I'm gonna switch back to OEM or maybe check out Pentosin, as I hear good things about it.

Question you have a 2017. Why did you change your trans oil and what did you change it to?

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

Originally Posted by Zentec

Question you have a 2017. Why did you change your trans oil and what did you change it to?

Cause it was notchy and grindy and just crappy feeling coming from how buttery smooth and perfect it was in my last car (Mini Cooper S) no matter the outside temp. I asked my mechanic and he said he's seen some FRSs BRZs come out of the factory with improperly filled tranny fluid. I asked him to switch it out and he used motul, which is what he had in stock. He said mine was properly filled. But because Motul works best in warmer weather, it made it even worse.

[Harey]

Some great feedback from redline oil in this transmission in another thread on here.

[Zentec]

Originally Posted by StraightOuttaCanadaEh

Cause it was notchy and grindy and just crappy feeling coming from how buttery smooth and perfect it was in my last car (Mini Cooper S) no matter the outside temp. I asked my mechanic and he said he's seen some FRSs BRZs come out of the factory with improperly filled tranny fluid. I asked him to switch it out and he used motul, which is what he had in stock. He said mine was properly filled. But because Motul works best in warmer weather, it made it even worse.

I just find it odd that on a brand new car it would not be filled properly. I would have had the dealer check it out. If any info came back then I would have had a trusted mechanic check it out to verify.

Sorry I don’t know how many miles was on your mini compared to your 86. Remember it’s a totally different car. Yes they take time to brake in just like engines ect. I would not have jumped to change out mtf with a car under warranty sure if it’s out then yea but it’s still covered. Please don’t compare apples to oranges. I could say both my s2ks,wrx,bmw, merc’s we’re all different and this or that one felt a certain way. Because they all felt different before they were broken in and compleatly different from one another.

From my experance with the 86s even the og hachi roku compared to the frs the 17s are much nicer and shift smoother now mine only has almost 9k miles and I had it since nov of 16 (I got the first white one in town) I find it has gotten smoother since day one. But take a few things in to consederation. 1 I let my car warm up and both stationary and driving before I start pushing it. 2 unlike you I live in the desert. So yes I don’t see the low temps you do but do notice it is a not as smooth to shift when colder out side and it is not warmed up. 3 I use to live in the snow belt of Ohio and make trips to Windsor and Toronto when I was growing up. One of the biggest things I don’t regret is getting up 2 hours early to go some where.

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

Originally Posted by Zentec

I just find it odd that on a brand new car it would not be filled properly. I would have had the dealer check it out. If any info came back then I would have had a trusted mechanic check it out to verify.

Sorry I don’t know how many miles was on your mini compared to your 86. Remember it’s a totally different car. Yes they take time to brake in just like engines ect. I would not have jumped to change out mtf with a car under warranty sure if it’s out then yea but it’s still covered. Please don’t compare apples to oranges. I could say both my s2ks,wrx,bmw, merc’s we’re all different and this or that one felt a certain way. Because they all felt different before they were broken in and compleatly different from one another.

From my experance with the 86s even the og hachi roku compared to the frs the 17s are much nicer and shift smoother now mine only has almost 9k miles and I had it since nov of 16 (I got the first white one in town) I find it has gotten smoother since day one. But take a few things in to consederation. 1 I let my car warm up and both stationary and driving before I start pushing it. 2 unlike you I live in the desert. So yes I don’t see the low temps you do but do notice it is a not as smooth to shift when colder out side and it is not warmed up. 3 I use to live in the snow belt of Ohio and make trips to Windsor and Toronto when I was growing up. One of the biggest things I don’t regret is getting up 2 hours early to go some where.

I agree. Some things you can only do so much about, but I will try to do as much as I can to find improvement. It does feel much much better above zero, but you can imagine when it's -25 outside, it's like pushing a twig through honey. Warmer times are coming and it'll get better. The car has 25K km now, so I think this is as good as it'll get on its own. I don't know what to try next. MTEC shift springs? Aftermarket shifter assembly...

[churchx]

All MTEC shift springs do - they center lever in neutral mid with a bit more force. Yes, it adds up to shifting feel, it seems subjectively tighter/less play .. but those will do nothing to how easy or not it is to get into gear when cold.
If that cold shifting issue matters that much to one, imho very best bet would be upgraded synchros, eg. like ones Velox/Verus posted about. I have suspicion that aftermarket shifters may also improve other things/overall feel, but not fix this issue itself.

[Zentec]

Well maybe try a different trans oil that’s a little better in the cold maybe royal purple or amsoil. Let the trans warm up with the rest of the car a bit. I can say that more miles makes it better espically if you can rev match and shift smoothly. Don’t waist time and cash with mtec springs. Just practice driving and shifting smooth. Learning how to do this properly with this car is better than any mod or wasting money. Once you get more miles on it and can shift properly you will see how smooth it really is. It is by far the best MT car I have ever driven!

[churchx]

Well .. actually i liked feel change after mtec spring install. They are cheap and not that hard to install, so imho it wouldn't be exactly waste. Just that they most probably won't change hard to engage 2 in cold issue. Different oil, better synchros probably may, as they may affect how synchros work and how easy or not it is to get into gear.
From other threads IIRC some had good results with Redline MTL GL4 70W80 + Cusco or Perrin trans braces. I recall also reading that one should be careful (follow procedure including performing it with car being level) with oil level, if changing, as both overfilling and underfilling may worsen gear engage too.

[Zentec]

Originally Posted by churchx

Well .. actually i liked feel change after mtec spring install. They are cheap and not that hard to install, so imho it wouldn't be exactly waste. Just that they most probably won't change hard to engage 2 in cold issue. Different oil, better synchros probably may, as they may affect how synchros work and how easy or not it is to get into gear.
From other threads IIRC some had good results with Redline MTL GL4 70W80 + Cusco or Perrin trans braces. I recall also reading that one should be careful (follow procedure including performing it with car being level) with oil level, if changing, as both overfilling and underfilling may worsen gear engage too.

True I agree it won’t change the feel of the transmission and it’s not meant to. It just makes the clutch peddle feel less soft. But the best change is the slave fix that is posted by one of the members forgot who but it is a really good post. My point is that it’s a wast to make the transmission feel change. It’s like 25$ if you get it. I never changed mine. If I ever do a clutch I will upgrade it along with a lighter trd fly wheel and may do that slave up grade then. But since op and I have 17s that’s a ways off unless something has a big failure.