DiamondDave2005

I've always had the horrible 1-2 crunch when shifting in cold weather with a cold transmission, so I've been trying different things to make it go away.

I started checking my 1-2 shift RPMs, and after two weeks of shifting from 1st to 2nd at 4,000 RPM, I haven't had a single grind.

This only applies to the first few miles every morning, as I never had a problem when the car has been on the road more than 10mins or so.

The last few days have been fairly cold - it was 16* when I left the house this morning, and over the last couple of weeks I don't think it's been over 32* in the morning, so it was a fairly good test.

Dave

vtec9

I read a post yesterday that Honda suggests shifting at 15, 25, and 40. I tried that this morning when it was very cold, and it was definitely smoother. Before I would shift at about 3k rpm.. above speeds are around 3500-3700.

24s2k7

Yea, I shoft at very low rpms also hoping to save gas....
Was wondering what mph/rpm is ideal for shifting. Maybe I should follow Honda's instructions

Gink5

ooooo i thought the title said munchies.

c17r15

Honda recommends 15-25-40-47-52 in shifting for best gas mileage, it's in the owner's manual. Maybe the syncros work in unison of those shifting rpms.

I'm not sure if shifting at a lower rpm would help you save gas since you have to let the engine do the work giving it more load instead of letting the gears work.

xviper

What was your routine before? You may simply have found a shift rpm that assists you in better rev matching. Each driver will have a different experience.

tenblade2001

Also, the grinding was supposidly most noticable (TSB) when shifting at 6K or above.

R11

My experience is that the only real way to avoid it is to just shift slowly until the tranny warms up. Basically a two stage shift with a slight pause in neutral pretty much cleans it up. I really don't think the RPM makes much difference myself. It's not gears grinding, it's the synchros crunching. It's a pain, but it seems it's just part of life with an S. Take the bad with the good I guess...


ron

Mikes256

That's what I do. You shouldn't really be shifting like your going for a 13 sec quarter mile anyway when you first start her up. After awhile it becomes second nature to shift a little slower when she's cold.

Race Miata

I've mentioned in another thread but haven't heard any feedback (positive or negative) so I assume nobody has tried my suggestion which is to lift LESS and LATER when upshifting before warmup. You don't need to slow down your shifts but OTOH don't rush it in gear either. You just shift like normal except you lift LESS and LATER (or more slowly). Works on any car with a cold engine/tranny.