I bought a 02 dakota a little over a week ago I noticed it shifted bad when it was cold once it warmed up it shifted fine. I read on here how some people put the wrong fluid in it so i drained it and refilled it with the gm fluid. once it sat over night it was about the same as it was before??

 

elaborate on 'shifted bad'.

 

it's very stiff i have to shove it into gear but once the engine is at normal operating temp it shifts fine and feel like what it should

 

anyone??

 

I have heard of that in Nissan pickups and the answer was to usually switch to Redline Synthetic fluid but im not well versed on Dodge trannies yet. My guess is a good fluid would help fix that.

 

Likely a problem with the clutch hydraulics, it doesn't take much air to mess them up. Could also possibly be the pilot bearing.

FWIW I tried Redline MTL in my NV3500 and didn't like how it shifted and went back to Pennzoil Synchromesh.

 

I run Pennzoil Synchromesh also in my 5-spd. During the winter (temps from -4F to 32F) the shifts are a bit harder until it warms up (takes just a few minutes of driving) but nothing that I would ever be concerned about. I know that if I were to run straight gear oil the shifting action would definitely be much worse during the winter.

I'm also noticing a bit of soft grinding going on in the 3-2 and 2-1 down shift but it doesn't happen all of the time, just once in a while. I suspect it may be time to replace the hydraulic clutch assembly.

 

0 complaints with Royal Purple SynchroMax or Mesh....I think thats what it is...ha! But yea, winter, summer, always smooth and solid.

Kind of easy fix prior to clutch/system diag. or replacement

 

well it's been a month since i changed the fluid while it is shifting better than before i changed fluid it's still not great. My brother-in-law has same gen dak and his shifts like butter. it's not so much it wont go into gear as it is when it's cold it just has alot of drag to the throw. once it warms up it's alot better but not as smooth shiftings as the bother-in-laws. truck has 147k on it im 2nd owner didnt get alot of info on it so i have no idea as to if the clutch is newer or not, still grabs good. still looking for some idea's not really wanting to take it to a transmission specialist when i can buy a used one for probably less than to get them to work on mine.

 

Maybe check the bushings and all in the shifter. Maybe needs greasing or something. Amazing what cold does to things.