Hard to shift when cold

[Dragonfly]

I put a 83' 280zx 5spd tranny into my car about a week ago the tranny came from the wrecking yard and seems to be in very good condition. What I have found with this tranny is that when the car is cold it is very difficult to shift gears but after the car is at operating temp the tranny shifts just fine.

 

Before I installed this tranny I drained the old fluid out and put in new fluid exactly as the FSM describes. The primary reason for my concern is that I have a 30 exchange warranty on this tranny and if this is a sign that the tranny is about to kick the bucket (in 31 days) I want to exchange it but if it is something from a lack of use (I think the donor car sat unstarted for quite some time) and will work fine in no time that would save me pulling the tranny again.

 

Thanks

 

Dragonfly

[fl327]

might have overfilled it, that causes drag on the gears, and can create leaks in the case and rear of trans as well.

what weight oil did you use.

[Dragonfly]

That is interesting that you say I may have over filled it. I noticed that when I filled it to just below the fill hole like it stated in the FSM that some fluid started to leak out the back over the drive shaft seal (the drive shaft was not installed) even though the tranny was sitting flat. Because I use a small fluid pump I can easily take some of the fluid back out without making a mess.

 

The fluid I used was one of the multi weight types and I believe that it was 85-130 or something like that. I actualy took my FSM to the store when I bought the fluid but they did not have any single weights there so I used a multi weight that covered two of the operating temp ranges covered in the manual.

 

Dragonfly

[Guest Anonymous]

You might be running to heavy a viscosity trans oil. I have a six speed that uses ATF. Check out the recomended viscosity.

[Guest greimann]

This is a case where following the manufacturers recommendation is very important. The GM / Ford applications of the BW T series require ATF grade of viscosity because of the small needle bearings used on some of the shafts. Other manual trannys use gear oils in the SAE 90 range. It sounds like the problem from difficult shifting is viscosity related and 85W-130 may be too heavy. Try a 75W-90 and see of your problem goes away.

[Mike C]

Just for clarification, the only BW trans that use ATF are the World Class trans with paper cone synchros (85 and up Ford and 88 and up GM. The earlier brass ring synchro cars use 85w90. I would drain the 130 and go back with 90 for a start.

[Guest greimann]

We may have conflicting resources on the T5 trans oil recommendation, because my Haynes manual on '82 to '92 Camaros specifies ATF for '84 and up T5s.