5 Speed Difficult to Shift in Cold Weather

[true_north]

So with winter weather around now, the temperature started hovering around the -10C (14 F) mark during the day, and -20C (-4F) at night, and unfortunately, my truck sleeps outside.

The problem I've been having is that at these temperatures, shifting into first or reverse can become a problem. Starting it up in the morning, it's most difficult, but after running warm for a while, it goes away. I brought the truck in for a free oil change at my dealer, and the tech said the clutch was low and I may need to replace it. I don't know if that means anything, since all he did was drive the truck out of the garage. My truck is a 2008 with 56k KM (34k miles).

Anyways, I was hoping to roughly determine the problem. What I know is: that it only happens when cold, it goes away the longer I drive, I don't lose power and don't feel the clutch slipping.

Could this be fixed with a simple transmission fluid change?

 

[RavoHimself]

its possible a fluid change could fix it. personally im running gear oil in my tranny. one of those "my dad has been doing it for years, so i guess i will too" deals. its a lot thicker than ATF. in my mind it protects everything better cuz its thicker. downside is when its cold out shifting is a little sluggish or sometimes i miss a gear untill everything warms up. tips to avoid that is to remember that driving isnt a race. you dont need to slam gears as quick as you can. take time with the shifts. for first try rocking it into second then first. or try putting it back into first while you are rolling to the stop sign or what ever. and reverse try putting it into third and then reverse. it helps align the gears better. these are tricks that all work for me. might give them a try

 

[Explorin94]

A fluid change won't hurt. I would put some mercon 5 in it and try it from there. I am not a big believer on putting gear oil in a transmission that requires ATF but each of us have our owns ways of doing things and it works. Just remember that the oil is cold at start up and sometimes it does take it warming up to loosen up and get to the places that it needs to be. Go out and start your truck a few minutes early each morning before you go for the day. Granted the only thing in that transmission that will be turning will be the input shaft which 2nd gear is but that may be all it takes to get ya going in the morning. Like Ravo said it's not a race, take your time and don't try and force the transmission in gear as you may break a fork. I would also ask what the oil change guy was talking about with your clutch being low. Was the clutch master low on fluid or was he looking at the actual clutch disc through the inspection plug? If he told thatthe clutch was low due to the disc the you need to tell your dealer oil change guy to stick to the oil changes. A clutch will normally slip before it goes out unless it has been abaused.

 

[wahlstrom1]

Fluid gets thicker when it's cold, which in turn makes it harder to shift.... When I had a manual Tcase I'd throw the truck in gear and the case in neutral and warm things up faster as the truck warmed up.

Gear oil doesn't have the right additives in it to work with the synchro's in our 5 speeds, and will wear them out quicker... speaking from experience here! Doing a fluid change won't hurt, but make sure to put the right oil back in it.

 

[modelageek]

So with winter weather around now, the temperature started hovering around the -10C (14 F) mark during the day, and -20C (-4F) at night, and unfortunately, my truck sleeps outside.

The problem I've been having is that at these temperatures, shifting into first or reverse can become a problem. Starting it up in the morning, it's most difficult, but after running warm for a while, it goes away. I brought the truck in for a free oil change at my dealer, and the tech said the clutch was low and I may need to replace it. I don't know if that means anything, since all he did was drive the truck out of the garage. My truck is a 2008 with 56k KM (34k miles).

Anyways, I was hoping to roughly determine the problem. What I know is: that it only happens when cold, it goes away the longer I drive, I don't lose power and don't feel the clutch slipping.

Could this be fixed with a simple transmission fluid change?

with 34k you should not be having this problem.......when he said clutch was low did he mean the fluid or the Disc?..................your ranger has a 3/36 bumper to bumper warranty and a 5/60 powertrain warranty. When did you get the Truck?.....I would call the dealer?

 

[982WDRanger]

I suggest run a synthetic ATF maybe. I have a 98 with an M5OD and I live up north so it gets cold up here as well. I noticed when I take off it seems to hesitate when its cold. I switched to Royal Purple Max ATF, and made a world of difference. Also 98+ clutches are a pain to bleed and tend to hold air, just might need to bleed it, like 200 pumps per crack and do it like 10-15 times.