The trick doesn't always work. I have already put different oil in trans and it helps a little but not close to a cure. I 'm not a big fan of forcing things, especially expensive transmissions, and don't believe I would do anything to get more leverage. When you know your car well, you can move it out of gear with out forcing it in an easy relaxed way, (if you time it poorly it will not be good for the speed gears or linkage) and will be in neutral, (or you can double clutch which is safer but more cumbersome), then depress the clutch and engage upshift slowly with minimal force. I have found with the right pressure it shifts like the car has been run for hours, i.e. very easily. Other times if I miss that magic point, I can try again with just a little less pressure immediately and it will shift easy. Other times I can not get it to shift easy regardless, but I have used this technique successfully at 15F degrees. Just guessing, I would approximate it works nearly half the time first attempt and about a third of the time if I have retry. To me this hard shift seems to be more than just thick oil, however the cold oil plays a role in why it does it. What I find inexplicable is how easy it shifts stone cold when the "trick" works. To me it almost feels blocked by something. I would love for irish07 to try on several different cars when he has the opportunity to see his success rates and determine if there is much variance from car to car.

 

The 1-2 gate does not line up correctly and the thick oil aids at this by not allowing the synchro to line up correctly neither..the thinner oil solves the synchro concern and the mod to the shifter surround and longer arm gives enough leverage to get the engaging fork to the correct gate...btw I'm not saying leverage as in to force into gear harder, the new arm gives longer stroke range horizontally and the surround mod gives more range vertically

 

rep points for that!!

Also, just go 1st to 3rd until the tranny is warm.

 

irish07, That makes sense. I think that when it does shift correctly in the cold, it somehow achieves proper alignment. Is the mod to the shifter surround difficult? Anpics of before and after?

 

Irish 07, What has to be done to modify the shifter surround? Sounds like "more range vertically" (from your earlier post) is accomplished by removing material.

Is this something that could be addressed with a Dremel tool or a file? Is the interference point obvious, maybe a witness mark or removed paint?

 

The mod is SB0236, which includes updated transmission oil and the gearshift lever. Gearshift Lever part # is 6G33-7C270-AA.

Here's a poor shot of old and new levers

 

Awesome, thanks!

 

I had this service bulletin done to my car under warranty when new and it definitely made a difference.

 

[QUOTE=cret;4034106]The mod is SB0236, which includes updated transmission oil and the gearshift lever. Gearshift Lever part # is 6G33-7C270-AA.

Thanks !

 

guys, credits to Irish07 please!

I had this done a few months ago too except it's out of pocket. It never occurred during past winter seasons. The hard shifting started right after clutch/flywheel replacement. Though my symptoms includes reserve gear in addition to the first and second while operating in the temp between 40-50. The service bulletin definitely helped!

 

The forum only allows me to give him so many rep points. It keeps saying to spread them around