2012 6MT hard to put in 1st when cold (also trans fluid recommendations please)

So this is a new to me vehicle , purchased in october. It has 137k. Things have been fine, until now when its very cold.. first gear is incredibly hard to engage until everything warms up. Once its warm, drives normally. is this common or did i discover why it was traded out of in the first place lol.

 

Also, since im here, i dont know when the fluid was changed last so i plan on doing that anyway. ive seen something about the extraMT fluid but it seems that stuff only comes in incredibly expenisve 5 gallon buckets. Any better options out there? Thanks.

There are a few good threads on this in the forum if you do a search. That being said I bought mine at 105k miles a year ago, after a new clutch and a MT fluid change, shifts are much easier in cold weather compared to before. I am not using and special MT fluid, I forget which one, but the new clutch really made alot of difference!

Motul 300 is usually at the top of the list from those threads, there are a few others that work well too.

I used Motul in my Impreza RS my STi and my LGT sedan back when I had them....really good stuff.

Motulgear 300 is good stuff, but from my experience, I wouldn't expect it to improve cold-weather/cold transmission shifting at all. Now that it's getting colder out, I'm finding that I have to double-clutch to get back into 2nd, and 1st is usually a fight.

I have been using Motul gear 300 with good results as well. Subaru has a "high performance gear oil" that they sell in 1 quart bottles, too. Whatever you get, you need a GL5 rated oil.

Hard first gear is normal. Like cww516 said, the Motul 300 is good but won't help in cold temps. I have the Subaru High performance gear oil now and first isn't much harder than the other gears in the cold.

Hard first gear is normal. Like cww516 said, the Motul 300 is good but won't help in cold temps. I have the Subaru High performance gear oil now and first isn't much harder than the other gears in the cold.

 

 

That's good to know. I'm in New Hampshire so cold weather performance is a must, as it's cold for just ever lol. I poked around some of the old threads, and it looks like some folks had good luck in the winter with redline lightweight shockproof. May try some of that.

I poked around some of the old threads, and it looks like some folks had good luck in the winter with redline lightweight shockproof. May try some of that.

 

Don't. I recently drained a cocktail of that and Motul 300 from my trans and replaced it with Amalie Elixir Full Synthetic GL-5 75W-90. Had the cocktail in for around 10k miles and it was getting to the point where I would have to pump the clutch to get into first. It's way better now with the Amalie.

I'm in NE PA, similar temps to OP.

 

I've had moderate success with AMSoil Severe Gear 75w90. Better in first, still not perfect.

 

Car has been hard shifting in the cold since I bought it.

Just for the sake of comparison, I think the factory fill (which I replaced with Motul at ~70k miles) did better in cold weather than the Motul does. Both turn into molasses on cold startup when you get down into the single digits, but I don't think I ever had to double-clutch in order to downshift into second with the factory stuff.

 

 

For whatever it's worth, I put Super Tech (Walmart) full-synth 75W-90 GL-5 in the Baja, and it's much happier shifting in the cold than the Legacy is. I seem to remember reading that the 1st- and 2nd-gear synchros are made of something different in the '10+ Legacy 6MT than in previous iterations of that transmission, though, so that could be an apples-to-oranges comparison.

Motul 300 is an improvement over the stock oil filled from the factory even in cold weather. It is still isn’t easy on cold days (MA). The extraMT is much easier on cold day. . I am in the metro Boston Area. If you want to drive down fine NH, I will sell you enough extra MT oil for a fill.

Hi All,

I live in Ontario and its cold right now (like -20). I noticed a couple years ago that I really struggled to get into 2nd with my 2011 LGT. I tried rowing the gears before setting out and that helped a bit. After 3 or 4 shifts its fine. I took it in to Subaru and they did the clutch and replaced 1st and 2nd gear synchros. It was better for a year and now lately its back to the way it was before. I had them put Motul 300 in when they did this work. It's frustrating because I spent a lot of $$ for these repairs and I'm back to square one. Also, I noticed after the tranny work that there is very noticeable gear whine that is not getting any better. I took it back in and they just said it was tire noise! It isn't. It's the tranny. Does Motul cause an increase in gear whine?

I don't care what anyone says, when its cold I let the LGT warm up for a bit so that I don't have to fight those hard cold shifts. I give it a good ten minutes to warm up and that usually takes care of any issues with shifting.

It may be worth checking your clutch fluid and see if it's dirty. I live in sunny california and had issues with my clutch getting into gear. I found that the fluid was dirty and there was a defect in the slave cylinder hose.

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6054858&postcount=2633

Does Motul cause an increase in gear whine?

 

Yes, in my experience it does. It's also the cause of your hard shifting.

 

I replaced my motul with Subaru's high performance gear oil and don't have whine anymore, and the shifting is much easier in the cold.

Yes, in my experience it does. It's also the cause of your hard shifting.

 

I replaced my motul with Subaru's high performance gear oil and don't have whine anymore, and the shifting is much easier in the cold.

 

Thanks coco for the advice. I've booked the car in to have the Motul drained and replaced. I'll report back once it's done. I was talked into using the Motul by a friend but have regretted it ever since.

Just following-up on this thread after installing the Perrin solid shifter bushing. So even after a new clutch my cold shifts were pretty bad, but when installing this bushing I found that the stock one was literally falling apart. My mechanic had brought this up when replacing the clutch, but it slipped my mind until actually doing the install.

 

The new shifter bushing has GREATLY improved cold shifts, and I am using pretty cheap gear oil. If you are having shifting issues I strongly recommend inspecting the existing shifter bushing, if it is worn/degraded. Also, installing a new bushing is super-easy, barely and inconvenience.