cold car 2nd gear clunks, warm and its fine
 

when the car is still cold and the engine is farly warm, second gear clucks or grinds as it goes in. after the car is been driving and everything is nice and warm 2nd gear works just fine

is the tranny fluid too low, or does it need changed, or is this a sign of a more serious problem?

Change your oil. It should help to go to a good synthetic. Transmission oil loses its cold viscosity first when it starts to go.

hmm.... i have the same problem. 2nd gear clunks/grinds cold.
it's even hard to get into even when warmed up sometimes. time to order some mt-90!

AND ask them to bleed the clutch as well - its hydraulic on these cars and needs a bleed every year or so....

thanks guys

Mine did it...trans rebuild and still does it...i've just taken it as something that happens....I just hold the clutch in for an extra 1/2 second and it's find...but mine stops after shifting into 2nd like twice....

I have the same symptoms...and i swapped my oil with redline mt-90. No dice...

so you swapped in redline oil and it didn't improve at all? i was looking forward to a slight improvement at least.... bummer

It's from sychro wear. It's a common issue on this car and our transmissions are known to be weak.

Look at how many transmissions TeamRX8 went through. Any type of abusive, hard-shifting.....and this transmission just goes bad. The Aisin transmission is probably one of the weaker links in this car - especially if you ever want to see some REAL track action.

MT90 is heavier than the MTL fluid from Redline's catalog. Many owners here have mixed both in a 50/50 formulation. However, TeamRX8 uses straight MT90 in his.

MTL - smooth shifting, but very thin for aggressive shifting applications
MTL/MT90 mix - Compromise, but still thin for really aggressive shifting applications i.e. competitive autocross where you have to bang on the gates more often than on a track.
MT90 - notchy shifting, but superior protection for the synchros and gears.

Again, if you're already experiecing grinding, your sychros are more than likely shot. It will require a replacement or rebuild of your transmission.

Yea i know my 2nd gear syncro is going, but swapping fluid is getting me by until i can afford a rebuild.

But all other gears feel awesome with MT90.

My car has a slight clunk going into 2nd when it is cold as well, never grinds. Have an '09 with about 850 miles on it, but fluid in there is over a year old (sat at lot for a long time). Going to replace with MT-90 around 2k and hoping it helps a little. Warmed up it is fine though. 1st gear always has a very slight clunk as well, but sounds normal for 8's

My 09 was clunky when cold into 2nd gear, changed to MT90 and was beautiful for a while..

As AusZoom said and I agree, even with Redline, that is supposed to be good for 200,000 miles, you need to change the Tranny oil every 10,000 miles or so if you want that Ultra Smooth change..

But yeah, IMO if you track your car often and used the Gearbox like a racer then it won't last, IMO it is not designed for constant High RPM changes and High load..

Just think, how many times do you think real Racing or Touring Cars replace their gearboxes...the answer is "very" often.

As good as the RX-8 is, it is made to a price, you don't have "Holinger" Quality or Reliability.
http://www.holinger.com.au/