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Old 09-28-2007, 02:27 AM   #1
Hank3
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Unhappy Hard to shift into gears (after car has warmed up)...

Switched out my tranny fluid about 3000 miles ago. I've been using Valvoline 75W90 for the last 50K miles or so and it has worked really well for me - car is at ~95K miles now. Anyways, for the past month or so now I've had a really hard time shifting into gears (especially 1st-3rd). Car shifts fine and smoothly when the car is cold, but after it's been running a while, it's incredibly hard to shift into 1st at traffic lights and even going into 2nd and 3rd it feels quite notchy. It takes a good amount of effort to shift and I'm finding myself shifting into 2nd and then 1st after sitting at a light more often than not.

What should I troubleshoot? I'm inclined to think it isn't the tranny fluid since I've used the Valvoline for the last few tranny fluid swaps and it's worked perfectly fine for me - we all know how Subie trannies are so persnickety with which fluid works best. Could it be the clutch fluid maybe? Maybe a little air and water in the system? I last bleeded the clutch when I switched out the master and slave cylinders - maybe 50K ago, too. Any suggestions or info on what I should try to remedy this? TIA
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Last edited by Hank3; 09-28-2007 at 08:33 AM.
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Old 10-04-2007, 11:44 PM   #2
itjustWoRX
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bump for Mr. Prodrive...I'm having notchy 1-3 shifts as well. Brand new 05' WRX tranny (<100 miles) and fluids, and recently installed factory shifter.

help us!
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Old 10-05-2007, 09:56 AM   #3
Tim Sanderson
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Sounds like you guys need different fluid. Try "uncle scotty's cocktail" or redline lightweight shockproof.
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Old 10-05-2007, 10:10 AM   #4
leecea
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I don't know the symptoms for synchros wearing out... could it be that? Maybe the thickness of the cold oil helps them.
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Old 10-05-2007, 11:40 AM   #5
Tim Sanderson
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Quote:
Originally Posted by leecea View Post
I don't know the symptoms for synchros wearing out... could it be that? Maybe the thickness of the cold oil helps them.
It could very well be that the cold oil helps this out. The symptoms he described do sound like synchro wear.

It may also be that he had "gunk" build up in the baulk rings/synchro cones and this was actually helping them do their job. He changed fluid and now the "gunk" has rinsed off.

It's hard to say why some fluids help and some make it worse. Stock stuff is usually fine for upwards of the life of the car. Others post that it does'nt cut it for them.

Then there's the solutions. Uncle scotty tried different combinations until he found a set that fixed his problem. I ran amsoil series 2000 motor oil in my transmission for over 100,000 miles(car currently has 192,000) And it worked great. Now I've tried another amsoil product. straight 5w30 synchromesh.

right? Well, it works for me. I guess the point is, I don't think thicker or thinner is the correct answer for why a fluid works. I think it's just what's in that particular fluid or combination of fluids that for some reason or other just works.

Ah well, That's my two pennies.
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Old 10-10-2007, 08:56 AM   #6
Hank3
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Forgot to update this thread

I went ahead and bleeded my clutch and that made a 100% improvement. I had forgotten how old my fluid was until I checked my maintenance log - it was about 40K miles old. Anyways, the gears are no longer hard to get into and the clutch pedal feels a lot smoother.

Last edited by Hank3; 02-12-2008 at 10:14 AM.
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Old 12-06-2007, 02:34 PM   #7
djerickd
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I should probably swap out my fluid also...
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Old 12-08-2007, 08:21 AM   #8
adamsaiyad
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Default Sounds like Pressure plate mine did the same

Hi there mate, sorry to hear about your problems and before you start blaming oil i went through the same problems and eventually found my pressure plate was faulty and had collapsed, ended up being impossible to get first and reverse and also when i used to change fast from second to third gears were notchy as wel id say get them to test your pressure plate and see if she is pulling away when she is hot ?
Hope this helps
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Old 12-08-2007, 08:41 AM   #9
flstffxe
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Sanderson View Post
Sounds like you guys need different fluid. Try "uncle scotty's cocktail" or redline lightweight shockproof.

I hate this statement, fluid does NOT fix/solve a mechanical problem. things to look at first before fluid would be the clutch set up.
IE:
1. master and slave are bleed and are getting full travel
2. clutch components pivot arm, disc, pressure plate, pilot shaft splines, throw out bearing.

Then after those are ruled out, with 95K on the car depending on you shifting habits synchros are a possibility.

Start with #1 (doesn't require pulling the tranny) then move on to #2, inspect them if all looks good finish pulling the tranny to bring it in for the synchros to be replaced.
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Old 01-11-2012, 07:43 AM   #10
Gilberator
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What if this problem happens sometimes? My 04 just got clutch replaced 10k miles ago and Im finding it hard to shift in 1st and second and 3rd -5th is notchy. When the cars off it will go in gear without any issues. Also I was driving to the tranny shop when i came to a light. I went from neutral to 1st at a DEAD STOP and it almost went in by itself it felt so easy. Then when i was actually going to take off, I went from neutral to first again and it was like hitting a wall. I had to go from second to first to go. Sometimes it shifts fine while other times ill have to pull over because i cant go into second going 18 mph...
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Old 01-18-2012, 04:21 PM   #11
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I had a similar problem with my old Mustang. The pilot bearing was bad and it spun the transmission in Neutral. At red lights, I had to put it into 3rd gear before it would go into 1st. When I jacked the wheels off the ground; started the car, the wheels spun slowly in Neutral. Hopefully this is not your problem.
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Old 08-24-2020, 07:34 PM   #12
edubsya
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Default Redline MT90 75W90

I had the same problem- cold I had great shifting but as soon as the transmission fluid heated up after 15 minutes or so, the first to second and second to third would grind pretty badly. I was losing man points every time I shifted. It made sense to go with a thicker transmission fluid as it was apparently temperature dependent. My mechanic thought it made sense too to try this yet was still skeptical. He used Redline MT90 75W90 gear oil. From the Redline website, "The most popular, the most viscosity, the most applications." Driving away from the mechanic there was still some residual grinding but as the oil worked into the gears it finally ended up shifting perfectly even after getting fully warmed up. Thanks for the tip.
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