2005 6MT here. I just had the 30K service which included tranny and diff fluid changes. When the car is cold it will NOT shift into 1st unless car is absolutely stopped. Not 2mph, not 1mph, but completely stopped. While accelerating it's also very stiff to pull out of 1st. This continues for at least 15-30 minutes until the tranny warms up completely. This is very frustrating in stop-n-go traffic having to come to a complete stop before it will shift into 1st. The temperature this morning was around 35 degrees or so, not burr-a$$ cold yet. WTF!

Is the dealer using different fluid than stock, or will the fluid "break-in" a little over a few hundred miles? The last winter was great, with the same issue only happening with 0 degrees or colder temps.

 

Why would u wanna shift it to first while moving?? First gear is only usually good when u need to move from a dead stop. Everything else is 2nd and beyond. That's my experience and I could be wrong.

My car is also the same way when shifting out of 1st and I only have ~8500K miles so far.

 

LOL, not the answer I was looking for but if it makes you feel better it doesn't go into 2nd any easier just the same when rolling to a stop. Putting it into first while rolling to a stop is just my driving style. Besides, the point here is that it has radically changed after having the tranny fluid flushed. I'd have to say the clutch isn't releasing 100% any more

 

It's possible that they used the wrong fluid. Even the right fluid can be questionable in MN. Or your 1st gear synchro could be worn - given that you have the same problem in 2nd this is not as likely.
Q1) does it work better when the trans has warmed up?
Q2) have you tried rev matching?

 

I'm waiting for the dealer to call after they look at it. But...

A1. A little, but the engine feels overworked, almost like the tranny is under drag.
A2. Yup. Same result.

While it's idling in N at 1500rpm and clutch to floor, as soon as I release the clutch, the rpms drop to almost 1000. Which would imply drag simply from the input shaft. I would guess wrong fluid.

Within 4 days of the 30K tranny flush, it felt undriveable.

 

its cold to begin with, the fluid needs to be changed every 30k miles, your car is acting the way its supposed to, if you don't keep up with the basic maintenance it will drive like a big fat woman

 

My 05 with 17k is acting the same. I changed my to amsoil @ 16k but since then i can't put it in 1st while rolling to a stop @ stop sign and all the traffic here in the bay area is not helping much. I mean anything more than 5 mph then it will not go in unless i forced it in which i try not to. cold or hot doesn't matter much. it will only go in smoothly at a completed stop or less than 5 mph. then the other problem it my second gear will not go in smoothly either. its feel like there is a nothch or something jamed it and required some force to go in second. from third on everything is so freaking smooth. wtf ???? i know a lot of you will prob. say why put it in first why the car is moving ??? but if you live in my area where there are stop signs at every corner and street lights at the other then you know what i mean. Just looking for some info.

 

Try this to get into first.

Your rolling at 10 mph...

Clutch in, put it in Neutral, clutch out. Rev real quickly to 3K (while in Neutral), clutch in quickly and put it into first while the revs are still up. If you cant get it into 1st after doing this, something is deff wrong.

 

I see where you're getting at, get the input shaft spinning first. I had thought of that but not till after I gave it to the dealer.

Dealer has had it for 2 days now. They tried the oem fluid, then synthetic fluid, and then also a thinner synthetic fluid with no luck. There is a definite whine that they are unable to eliminate too. Infiniti is sending out a nissan engineer to look at it. I may be in my loaner for a while.

 

That's what I was curious about - rev matching. If you match the engine speed in neutral to what it would be in 1st gear and then shift, it should just synch right up.

Given:
1) The vehicle is difficult to get OUT of gear
2) Has drag while 1st is engaged but the clutch is depressed

This seems to indicate a shift sleeve detent failure. Effectively, one of the mechanical components in the synchronizer system may have become misaligned. It gives permanent presynchronization of 1st gear and prevents the gear from being disengaged (that's bad). As in remove and refit the trans.

I have not heard of this happening on a modern car...

 

I'm surprised I see people complaining about this, and it's not the first time. All three of my cars were manual and all three had this safety feature where it's hard to put it in 1st when you're rolling, and the same goes for 2nd gear but with considerable speed (in access of 30mph I would say, but I'm not sure the exact speed). The cars were '93 Probe GT, '01 Maxima SE, and now '04 G35c. It's a preventing safety feature, so when you're going too fast for that gear it will not let you in. I understand that at 5mph you sometimes need that 1st gear, but I learned to live with it, and go around it, eaither squeeze it in or stop. Rev matching, as others advised me before does not help and no matter to what RPMs I rev match, the 1st gear is just not going in without considerable force. Of course this is even more noticeable when cold. If this is something more than what I explained, then the dealer should fix it. Good luck.

 

That's my impression. Have the dealer check and adjust it for you.
They may have put different oil in there, and from my understanding, some work much better than others.
C.

 

Right, that appears extreme. I think the problem is about resolved. Dealer put amzoil in the tranny and diff. Shifts are much smoother and quicker.


I couldn't agree more with that. Before this happened, I could put it into first around 10mph or less with little force. After the 30K flush it was no greater than a complete stop, 0 mph. Any coasting at 1mph or higher would not allow the shifter to be pushed into first. The amzoil did the trick and now it's much better. We'll see how it holds up in the coming cold.

The only answer is the fluid the shop used is somehow different than the fluid that was in the car from the factory. With such high tolerance manufacturing in today's cars, it wouldn't take much of a viscosity difference to completely change the behavior of all those moving components.

Thanks for the info guys.

 

Where did you bring it to have the maintenance work done? You mentioned "The Shop", which makes it sound like it might be something other than a dealer(not that there's anything wrong with doing that), but they most likely didn't use the factory recommended weight/viscocity of gear oil when they refilled it.

Our cars are supposed to use a strange weight gear oil in the tranny, and the only way to get that exact mixture is to buy the stuff straight from Nissan(75W85) or to mix a quart each of 75W80 and 75W90 together to get the proper weight. No shop would ever do that with the gear oils unless you specifically told them to.

 

i've had the cold weather shift problem ever since my car was brand new. every winter it's the same deal... tranny needs to warm up before i can do a straight shift. the only other way is as chilibowl suggested above. every '05 owner i know has this problem. are u sure this is isn't your first cold season driving the car?

ps. i've been running redline in my tranny... but it doesn't fix the problem as i found out last winter.