G50 slow shifting when cold

[geoz]

question: when cold the transmission seems to require considerably more effort - and care - to shift. simply seems like there is a lot more resistance. to be honest it makes sense to me, after all the gearbox oil is cold,

however: could it be that the oil is also a bit too heavy? i don't know what oil is in there, the gearbox oil was changed 4 years but only 14000 km ago. should i change it, just to be on the safe side? it is not a big cost, after all.

btw: would any fellow australian want to chip in re what to buy? i read swepco, but i think this is more for the 915 boxes, and probably also difficult to find here.

thanks in advance for your help.

georgie

[mthomas58]

Fairly common with the G50. A gear oil change with fresh synthetic should help considerably. It did for me. Swepco is not recommended for the G50. I used Valvoline 75W-90.

Synthetic Gear Oil Testimony on G50

Synthetic Gear Oil Testimony on G50

[saintz]

My G50 is slow when cold from 1st to 2nd but only on the first change of the day. I have heard Mobil1 gear oil is good for G50s, am yet to try it myself.

[Talewinds]

My 1-2 shift is very slow and finicky when the gearbox is not warmed up, but only 1-2. Later after a few miles, the trans shifts awesome. Glad others have the same experience...

[Wavey]

"They all do that."

G50s like Mobil 1 75/90. I used that for 2 changes over about 40K miles, but I recently changed to this:

http://www.lnengineering.com/store/catalog/mobilube-delvac-75w90-synthetic-gear-lubricant-p-39.html

and it's even better. My G50 shifts a bit better and is quieter now. This is what Porsche uses as factory fill in their race cars. If you can find it in Australia that's what I'd recommend. 1 gallon is all you need - I think it takes about 3 qt +/-. I've found that to get a true level reading at the fill hole, the car needs to be level, so do it on a lift, or jack stands all around. Don't forget to be sure you can loosen the fill plug before you drain it - they can be really tight.

[dshepp806]

Mine, too. Delvac all the way.....she warms up pretty quickly. Don't recall who recc'd this but I do it religiously:

When stoned cold (and before moving), place her in 3rd first THEN to 1st gear,...she always goes right in there much easier. 2nd is a bit notchy (not bad though) at first shift but fine after that.

Best,

Doyle

[geoz]

thanks for the replies. I am happy that i'm not the only one with a slightly notchy 1-2. I must say since i replaced the shifter bushings things have become significantly better; i'll probably also check the coupler once again although that looked pretty good. A bit of play there, but not much, maybe 1-2 mm. Too much?

[Porsche_monkey]

You should try it at -20C. Then it really is stiff.

[Peter Zimmermann]

The solution (most of the time) is Kendall Super Three Star synthetic 75W/90, unfortunately I have no idea where it might be available from in areas outside of SoCal.

[barndoor]

My '57 GMC 2 ton does the same thing,oh and so does my 911.All cars do this when the gearbox is not yet up to correct operating temperature.

[dw1]

+1 on the Mobil 1 Delvac

Changed my gearbox oil & engine oil this past weekend. Cooler running engine & quieter gearbox.

Brad Penn 20w50 & Mobil 1 Delvac 75w90 from LN Engineering.

[FastCarFan]

When it is cool or cold out, my car is very difficult to shift from 1st to 2nd for the first mile or so. In fact, rather than force it into 2nd, which feels like it could damage it, I often shift from 1st to 3rd until the car warms up a bit. Once I have driven for a few minutes it shifts fine.

I have heard that this is a common quirk of the G50, so I don't worry about it.