winter driving and gear grinding

[michaljerzy86]

hey guys,

it's my first winter with a standard car and i'm having some issues.

whenever it's cold, i'll warm the car up for a bit then as i'm driving and i shift from 1st to 2nd, i get a ton of resistance from the stick and i hear gears grinding. 2nd to 3rd a little bit and after 3rd, nothing. i'm pressing the clutch all the way down when i shift so i'm a little worried

any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.

thanks!

[WeatherB]

I have the same problem... You need to shift from first to neutral, and then neutral to second until the transmission has warmed up a bit.

The transmission oil you use make a bit of a difference too. Most people run the Redline MT-90 to help with cold weather shifting.

[blanche]

Be really careful with your 1st-2nd shift when cold. Do not let it grind. There are a couple tricks, WeatherB is dead on for both suggestions, but you can also do the old 1st to 3rd shift.

[cereal83]

Wow I didn't know u would need to double clutch with a new car. Seems like a crappy transmission to me as it's not even really cold yet!

Let the car warm up for like 2 min and with the clutch pushed in, go through 1st to 2nd to 3rd to 4th and then to 5th as the gear oil might need some movement to loosen up before driving.

[blanche]

I would not say that at all. Mazda's manual transmissions for years have been based on two basic units. Both very strong. I have a 1st gen Miata with 260 000 KM on it, every km driven like I stole it, track, solo, everything. The 2nd gear syncro has always taken a few extra minutes to warm up in the cold. I bought a spare tranny for the Miata 8 years ago...just in case...it's just gathering dust in my garage...

[WeatherB]

Wow I didn't know u would need to double clutch with a new car. Seems like a crappy transmission to me as it's not even really cold yet!

Let the car warm up for like 2 min and with the clutch pushed in, go through 1st to 2nd to 3rd to 4th and then to 5th as the gear oil might need some movement to loosen up before driving.

Keep in mind that the transmission takes a bit longer than the engine to warm up. I need to wait an additional 5 or so minutes after the engine has reached operating temperatures before the transmission becomes completely smooth.

[condor888000]

Indeed. Perfectly normal, if you want to reduce this issue replace the transmission fluid with a synthetic. Redline MT-90 is(as mentioned) a great choice.

[koorick]

Is Redline MT-90 good for 2010 3 with 6 speed?

[Frenchmanremy]

this might sound stupid, but it`s happened in the past, check your winter mats. They can sometimes inhibit the clutch from pressing all the way down.