Has anyone had troubles shifting to the 5th in the cold weather? Granted the car wasn't fully warmed up and last night being so cold, I wonder if there are just sensors that prevented it from going all the way to the 5th. I could only go up as far as the 4th. The 5th only came on after a couple minutes later. I have the X by the way.

 

I don't think it will let you bog down the engine. Were your RPMs "up high" when you shifted?

 

Most new automatics are programmed not to go into high gear until the engine is warmed up.

 

I always had manual so hopefully this is a new techonology thingy.

terrycs: it was only 3k-ish rpm @60. I couldn't speed up for a couple of minutes since I notice it didnt kick into the 5th gear on the highway. Normally it does shift around 3k or less when I baby the pedal.

Thanks.

 

That's quite normal in the cold. The torque converter also won't lock up until it's warmed either. now worries.

C.

 

Can other cold weathered friends/fellow Canadians chime in on this? How long do you guys warm up for? Am I the only one experiencing this issue? I find this kinda wierd driving on the highway past 60mph with such high rpm and not being able to jump into the 5th. This seem to happen under 30F.

 

07 X.

any X out there experiencing this?

 

Hm, that is interesting. I don't think I've experienced that yet. Although the current conditions do not provide me the opportunity to try that theory.

There was a batch of freezing rain and snow yesterday and today making conditions just terrible.

Not many chances to get above 60 kms/h in this weather.

Of what I have noticed is that the engine does not bog down, but I haven't really been counting which gear is currently selected. But my warm-up cycle consists of anywhere from 1 to 2 minutes (by the time I've started the car and got settled, agreed to the terms of the NAV, etc.)

I'll test this if I get the chance tonight and report back.

 

As I expected, no chance to take the car past even 55kms/hr, sorry, no definitive answer yet.

 

thanks for trying. by the way if u're driving around 50, could you see if u can go into the 5th in ds(manual) mode? I'm curious to know how long it'll takes you to be able to use the 5th.

 

I don't think the 5AT on the g35 has a locking torque converter, does it? The 4AT on my Maxima had a locking torque converter, and when the TC locked, the revs dropped and it seemed like you were in fifth gear. The revs don't drop any more with g35's 5AT.

 

The 5AT has a locking torques converter for 3rd gear and up.
So it creates a 1:1 ratio for the last 3 gears.

 

thanks guys. ChristianN did some testing and had the same results. I guess bottom line is 3-5mins of warm up time in the cold is sometimes not enough if you live close to the highway. Be prepared to drive 60mph@3krpm or less on the highway until it the engine decides its ready.

 

I have a G35x, but haven't noticed this problem (nor have I been consciously looking out for it). I live in the suburbs, and it takes a few minutes (5 minutes or so) for me to get out to the highway. From your experience, 5 minutes after starting, your car can shift to 5th okay?