a transmission question
 

Hey, guys, do you guys find that in the morning it's much harder to shift when the tranny is somewhat cold? Today, I feel it's much hard, it's like shifting gears without any lubricant or fluid. Mine is only 800miles, wonder if it's normal. Thanks!

what temperature are we talking about. what is the temp variation from when you first got the car until now?

Sorry, I am in southern california. The temp in the morning right now is about 44F, but it's still much warmer than most of northern states....anyone from the northern states has to warm up the tranny!?

Yea, every morning I'm like "one of the best gearboxes in the world, my ass." But I got home just now, and shifting was amazingly easy. So I suppose it's normal.

change the tranny juice

my RX-8 is stiff in the morning when I wake it. Just like me when my wife wakes me ... :)

I'm using MTL and it is still a bit "notchy" when the ambient is at or below freezing.

Thanks for the rplies. But my baby is only 800 miles...what tranny oil should I really change to? a sythetic? I thought we should only change the oil at about 15k miles... Thanks.

:mdrmed: :cwm27: :D: :crazy:

I changed mine at 9k and wished I had changed it much sooner.

Did you just go to your local Mazda dealer to change it?

Yeah- definitely go synthetic (I went with Redline Synth for both the tranny and diff). Mine is still notchy in 2nd when it's near or below zero for the first couple minutes, but much better than before I switched. Might as well do the diff while you're at it, and get all the break-in shavings and crap out of both... the sooner the better.

i have the same issue, when the car is cold, also when is too cold like 20-35 degrees when i first turn on the car and let the clutch go the rpms drop so fast that it seems like its goin to shut off. i usually dont move my car until the temperature reaches the middle.

Entirely normal, its similar to human body needs a bit of warm up

Best thing I ever did.....
 

....for my '8 was the switch to Redline. The manual says 75W-90 (Redline MT90) for the gearbox, I used mostly MT90, and about one-third Redline MTL (70W-80). Sounds close, but there is no comparison in performance, the 90 weight is stiff/notchy until the box is very warm, and even then a little sluggish.

Shifting is now on a par with the old Miata! I considered that gearbox the best ever, but this oil/gearbox combo is right up there!

S :)

It's easier on the motor to drive it gently to warm it up rather than let it idle for that long... especially considering those aren't very cold temps, you should be able to get in and go. If it feels like it's going to die, you should take it in for service... that's not normal- if anything it should be opposite since at cold temps the idle is higher than normal.

the temperatures here with the wind chill was below 0 overnite. when i got in the car it was 18 but it felt like 2 so i dont know how low those temps are, but my tire presure went nuts too, i even heard the beeps warnin the pressure was too low and i checked and they were at 30 psi. normal is 32. i usually dont drive my Rx8 on this weather, i use the subaru or company truck. i just found it weird that happen.

Yeah that's happened to me before in really cold (below 0) weather. The tires just needed a couple miles to warm up. PSI increases quickly as tires warm...

Cars don't care about "wind chill" - that is a factor of the effect on exposed human skin. If the thermo says 18, your car's engine will not get colder than 18. Wind Chill is especially loved by TV meteorologists because they get to use a more sensational number.

So when do you guys switch to the synthetic tranny oil? And how much is it to have it done by bodyshop?

I did mine at 9k... although I wanted to do it closer to 5k. It's a simple job to do yourself with a pair of jackstands... put if you want a mechanic to do it, it shouldn't be more than 1 hour labor max. I think I did both the tranny and diff in an hour.

I use Royal Purple 75W90
 

I switched to Royal Purple Max Gear 75W90 in both, transmission and differential. I switched at 17k miles and I too wished I had done it much sooner.
The change was dramatically to the better, right from the very first second. The transmission is much quieter, and my notchy second gear gave up its
rebellion. Also, shift forces are much lower, even in our currently cold (~10F) weather.

Q-chan

Thanks for all the replies. Will there be any damage if I change the oil for tranny and differential at just 1000 miles?

There wouldn't be any harm in doing it sooner rather than later, and I would guess that the majority of the break-in shavings and particles are done coming off the gears at that point... (that's the only reason not to do it immediately).