The past couple days its been extremely cold, and I've noticed that its been very difficult to shift when I try to leave in the morning.

The shifter literally feels like its in a bucket of molasses, it will not move at all, forward or backward. I have to rock it side to side until it frees up in the left/right direction, and then push it fore and aft until it will go forward enough to engage first gear. Once I get going I can get into everything except 5th, which takes a little while longer before it will go in without forcing it.

Once its warmed up fully, it shifts like butter, no issues at all.

I'm just curious if anyone else is experiencing this issue, especially those in Northern states and Canada.

I'll probably change the fluid when the weather gets warm, thats about the only reason it could be so stiff when cold and then fine once it warms up.

 

mine is stiff, but not really bad at all, nothing like you speak of. what kind of temps are you talking about

 

Mine is stiff in the morning when it's cold, but nothing to the exteme you're describing (and it's been motherfucking COLD here this past week... -20C before windchill). Mine just takes a little more effort than normal and the shifts aren't as smooth. I never have to get it unstuck or anything though.

 

Yep mine too.... and just a little FYI from my personal experience.

My old RSX-S (which are known to have really nice gearboxes, and they do) was also the same when cold. Not only that, I did change the fluid in that gear box to Amsoil. It was still the same when cold.

Actually what helped a lot cold or not was stiffer motor mounts. *shrug* But it did make sitting at idle a little bit annoying.

They do sell a shift kit for Saab.... for $27. I plan to get one... Someone posted a link on the site somewhere in another thread. That might actually help too.

 

same here. Or sometimes when cold wont go into gear first try

 

Well this morning it was 12 degrees F, its been in the teens all week.

Anyone know what kind of trans fluid the SS T/C takes and where to get it?? I've heard its GM "Manual Transmission Fluid", not Synchromesh, Dex III, or gear oil like most other manual transmissions.

 

Here's the thread about the bushings... https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/show...highlight=saab

 

Those look like a nice upgrade.

I don't think they will help with the hard shifting when cold though, because the issue is the viscosity of the trans fluid, not the bushings.

 

It's normal to experience this with the shifter when it's cold like it's been in the last few days. We had -32 Celsius last Friday, it was like the whole car did not want to move. Gets better when the car starts warming up after a few minutes.

The bushings will not make a difference for this issue, however they are a great little modification for a more precise and solid shift feeling. We have them available and they were actually designed specifically for the Cobalt:
http://www.twmperformance.com/bushingkits/index.htm

Now let's just hope the winter won't last too long this year...

Frank
TWM Performance

 

I bought the TWM way back in the day LOL. Are the bushings that came with it the same as those?

 

Yep, they're the same!

 

Cold QC winters here .. it does fine

 

When its below freezing my shifter pretty siezes up solid.... this morning I waited 20 mins for the shifter to break free..... I can move the shifter back and forth but I back wiggle it side to side.... I dunno whats wrong with it. I think I will lubricate the cv shaft when I get home today.

 

I have noticed the same thing in the cold, but after about 1 min of driving it shifts like normal. -10 to 0 all last week.

I also have a question with shifting, not to steal this thread, but has anyone noticed that when the anti lock brakes engage that the clutch doesn't engage? Twice I have been on ice and trying to stop, the anti lock brakes kick in on the ice and I would try to put it into first to roll through the stop, but the gears grinded. I figured this is because the master cylinder is for the brakes and clutch, but this is an assumption I am making. Any thoughts on this?

 

ABS activation shouldn't affect clutch engagement. Yes, they both use the same reservoir. You are correct about that. That little ABS controller (under the hood with the four brake lines sticking out of it, it came from the factory with a sticker that might have said "TURBO", which is a bit silly but...) only affects hydraulic pressure after the master cylinder (only pumping your brakes).

If your wheels are locking on ice and the clutch is not fully disengaged, the car should stall.

 

Lubricate the CV shaft?? First of all this is not possible, and second of all, even if it was possible, it would not help with hard shifting...

That's probably because you were trying to engage 1st gear after being in a higher gear. 1st gear is designed to be used from a dead stop, not engaged after the vehicle is moving. The 1st gear synchronizer probably couldn't adjust the speed gear to the RPM that it has previously been turning, resulting in a grind. Never downshift to 1st gear unless you are at a dead stop or moving very slowly, in which case 1st gear is necessary.

As I said, one does not affect the other. Completely separate systems, they just share a reservoir for fluid.

 

lol, well luckily I didnt try it then.... anyways I FEEL that it might be the metal rod that slides in and out of the white plastic tube on the left side after jiggling the shifter from left to right located under the cup holder. I think when its cold, the white plastic tube constricts the metal rod and holds it in place, if I spray alittle wd-40 on the metal part you dont think it will fix my problem.

This problem is guaranteed to happen every morning if below 30 degree F.

 

my 2.2 does this too... it helped a lot by adding more lithium grease to the shifter. but its still an issue. i would use wd40 though. use the stuff for bicycle brake cables

 

THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!!!!!
(sorry my inner Michael Scott couldn't resist)

 

hahah... awesome.

 

As soon as the weather changes, I'm going to change the fluid out for some synthetic manual trans fluid. Probably Redline or Amsoil.

Of course then it won't be cold, so I won't know if it fixed the issue lol...

 

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/show...5&postcount=17

 

Guess what: f430's, F1 vehicles, 599's, Cherry's and veyrons also possess this exact physics anomoly in common...

the ss t-c is not any different, it has the same coefficient of expansion as with any mfgr castings.

Warm it up before you expect somthing out of it!!!
brembos inclusive.

BTW everything else ie: tires, suspension, etc also has this same physics profile.

prost

 

just about every manual car does this, my S10, my Z/28, now the Cobalt... its one of the reasons I miss warm weather, lol

 

^^^ Troof.