Changed trans fluid now hard to get into 1st.

[Heat]

Hi everyone,

Having some issues with first gear after changing my transmission fluid.

1) Car has ACT2600 with street disc. Clutch has been in the car for a bit but doesn't have too many miles as I simply do not put many miles on the car.
2) Somewhat recently replaced the master cylinder, approx 3k miles ago. Bleed and changed fluid. No leaks.
3) Have tried adjusting the engagement via the clutch pedal, changes nothing.
4) Recently changed the transmission fluid following the vfaq guide. Filled until there was overflow, then closed the fill cap.

Used redline gl4. Transmission took about 2.3 quarts. When I emptied the old fluid, a TON came out. I removed the fill cap first and it was gushing out, definitely over a quart from just the fill hole alone.

Now it goes into 1st easily while moving, but not too well from a stop.

Did I do something wrong when I changed the fluids?

 

[Dylan0123]

Hi everyone,

Having some issues with first gear after changing my transmission fluid.

1) Car has ACT2600 with street disc. Clutch has been in the car for a bit but doesn't have too many miles as I simply do not put many miles on the car.
2) Somewhat recently replaced the master cylinder, approx 3k miles ago. Bleed and changed fluid. No leaks.
3) Have tried adjusting the engagement via the clutch pedal, changes nothing.
4) Recently changed the transmission fluid following the vfaq guide. Filled until there was overflow, then closed the fill cap.

Used redline gl4. Transmission took about 2.3 quarts. When I emptied the old fluid, a TON came out. I removed the fill cap first and it was gushing out, definitely over a quart from just the fill hole alone.

Now it goes into 1st easily while moving, but not too well from a stop.

Did I do something wrong when I changed the fluids?

Have you seen this vid?: ‪Proper Clutch Adjustment‬‏ - YouTube Shows the proper way to adjust the clutch pedal. Not sure if this is the issue, but it might help you out.

You might want to see if the clutch is dragging. To do that, put the car on a flat, level surface, put it in first gear with the clutch pedal all the way to the floor, and rev it to the redline (7k rpm). If your car doesn't move, then your clutch isn't dragging. If your car inches forward, then you have a dragging clutch. This can cause your synchro rings to wear out over time. Also, if the slave cylinder isn't able to self adjust itself, then when your clutch, flywheel, and other parts wear over time it can't adjust itself enough and it can cause problems shifting. This is all explained in the video.

That doesn't really explain why it happened after the tranny fluid was changed however. I'm not sure about using Redline GL4 (it might very well be ok...I just don't know) but I was recommended to use Redline MT-90 in my transmission by Jack's transmissions. Might want to look into that to see if it's ok to use and didn't cause the problem.

 

[Heat]

Thanks for the video. Very informative.

I forgot to put in the original post that I did test for clutch drag and there was none so I'm good there.

Also Redline MT-90 IS GL-4 oil, that's what I have in there

 

[South Dakota]

Others have had success with BG syncroshift as their lubricant. These transmissions seem to have their favorites, and you never know what it is until you try it.

Complete stop, out of gear, clutch in then clutch out then put it into gear, does that make a difference?

 

[minimoose]

I had this same problem when I changed my fluid. Mine goes into gear but sometimes it is a lil stiff for first. I just kinda got used to it.

 

[obsidian]

Check your clutch adjustment. Also it seems that some fluids are hard to go into first when the fluid is cold (sitting for more than 6 hours or so) but when warm, it's fine.

Is this the same with you?

 

[Heat]

Others have had success with BG syncroshift as their lubricant. These transmissions seem to have their favorites, and you never know what it is until you try it.

Complete stop, out of gear, clutch in then clutch out then put it into gear, does that make a difference?

I had syncroshift in it before I changed to redline mt-90. There wasn't an issue getting into 1st gear with syncroshift, if that's actually the case here.

Yes, complete stop, out of gear, if I notice it won't go into first easily a quick pump of the clutch fixes it.

Check your clutch adjustment. Also it seems that some fluids are hard to go into first when the fluid is cold (sitting for more than 6 hours or so) but when warm, it's fine.

Is this the same with you?

Let me say that I have adjusted the clutch many times, trying different engagement points over the years.

This weekend I adjusted the clutch using the slave cylinder method as described in the video linked in post #2. Using this method, the clutch engages literally JUST off the floor and has very little pedal pressure. It does seem to work ok though. Shifting is fine, except getting into 1st is still not smooth while at a complete stop.

This seems counter-intuitive. If the method in the video is supposed to give max compression in the clutch fluid and disengagement, why does the clutch engage so close to the floor and the pedal have very little pressure now?

My problem is not present when the fluid is cold. When the car heats up is when I experience the problem.

These symptoms seem to point towards something in the hydralics, namely when the fluid heats up and becomes more viscous and there is less pressure in the line itself. I can't help but think the engagement is wrong, but I did follow the video. It seems pretty hard to mess up?

Does rebleeding the line sound like a good idea?