srb1194

Well the job is done now. I had the fluid changed this morning and used the recommended PTX Fluid. The weather has been a little warmer here lately but my garage temperature is still the same as before. Of course, when I left this morning to take the car for service I had no issues whatsoever. The technician that changed the oil said nothing looked out of the ordinary, fluid was discolored to some degree but nothing alarming.

I've got to be honest and say when I left the shop with the new fluid I could still feel some resistance going into first. The fluid would have been at room temperature at that point. I drove about 25 miles home and then another round trip of 60 miles later in the day. I can't say that I can really tell any difference at this point. I have an event to go to on Sunday if the weather is favorable. I'll keep updating this as I gather more data. I'm still glad I changed the fluid but at this point it's not a noticeable difference.

I will also mention that the shop suggested that if I wasn't happy with the results that it might be time to recalibrate the shift linkage. I'm curious why no one mentioned that before in this thread. Is this something that is routinely done? I'll know more over the next few weeks.

Thanks for everyone's input.

Floyd540

The new oil needs time to "coat" the gears and synchro's before it becomes truly effective. No chemical reaction occurs but there is a mechanical bond between the oil and its magic additives that needs to occur and this takes time. Like castor oil that was used in vintage 2 cycle engines, you can never completely remove it from the metal parts. Give the new PTX a thousand or so miles. Also during this time your abilities will also adapt to the situation. Although both .1 and .2 cars share the same Aisian ( A Toyota company) transmission mechanicals , there is some difference in shift cable routing details and a change was made in the .2 cables. You can have them checked by your indy but he should have already checked that as he was there while waiting for the fluid to drain.
Time will make a difference. It did for me.

srb1194

Thanks for the feedback. 1000 miles will take me several months but that sounds promising. The Indy said shifting felt normal to him but said there’s a calibration rig that centers the shifter in neutral so proper adjustments can be made. He seemed like he knew what he was talking about.

Durling21

I’ll admit when I did my trans fluid change I didn’t see much of a difference. It is true after some mileage which I’m not sure how many miles it was, the shifting was smoother. I’d say I used to get 1st gear lockout 3 out of 10 stops before the change. Now I’d say .5 out of 10 stops with the PTX change. My next step is the numeric shifter to see if that Helps it even more.

onnastick

I had the transmission fluid changed around 1k-2k miles ago, and also a couple hundred miles ago installed the function first solution and cable ends. 1st gear lockout still happens, sometimes. I'm no expert, but beginning to think there's no way to avoid it happening at times.

anthonyk

For what it’s worth, I put new PTX fluid in a few thousand miles ago, and I have more frequent balky 2-1 shifts than I did before. I don’t know what fluid was in there before the change, so maybe it’s just different additive packages not playing well together. I’ll probably put another fresh fill in to see if it helps, but it hasn’t been a magical transformation yet.

Bruce In Philly

Darn... sorry to hear it didn't work for you. The effect is and was immediate for me.

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

srb1194

Thanks Bruce. Do you have knowledge regarding the shifter cables calibration. Is that a thing?

Floyd540

Not Bruce here, but also not in Philly. What your Indy is saying about "calibration" , he is referring to a green plastic gauge that Porsche offers for use when installing shift cables. The fixture/ gauge holds the shifter in an upright position so the new cables can be adjusted for length when they are installed. It is a helping third hand to get the neutral gate set when the shift lever is straight up and down. It is not a requirement to use and offers little use unless you have installed new cables. You can easily pull up the shift boot and look inside and when in neutral gate the shift lever should be vertical and it will be. For .1 cars,the cables can break where they exit the tunnel. You can check for that but your Indy would have/should have done that before he drove it.

Bruce In Philly

Mr Floyd noted the only adjustment I am aware of... and it does nothing for shifting performance. Some here disagree and will say it helps. I can't see for the life of my how it helps but hey,... whatever. I have installed the Numeric shifter and when you do, you address those cable adjustments in there all they do, as Mr Floyd noted, is allow you to point the shifter straight up in neutral.

The other end is bolted to the transmission and then the ends to the shift levers on the transmission. There is no adjustment there I am aware of. The cables being attached to the transmission allows the transmission to move around without moving the shiftin mechanism. What holds the shifter up is not the shifter assembly, but the mechanism inside the transmission. All that springiness, clicks, etc are all coming from inside the transmission. The shifter is a loose floppy nothing that is held in place by the transmission via the cables. BTW, they really aren't cables, but flexible rods and they push as well as pull.

Some say new motor mounts or a new transmission mount will help... again, I see no way that can have an affect due to the cables being pinned to the transmission... but hey, I dunno. I did change out my motor mounts for new OEM parts that did nothing for my shifting performance.

Said another way, there are no adjustments that modify shift performance. As I have noted before, I think there is wear going on inside these things and changing the oil ... oh around 30K miles... should arrest the deteriation, and in many of us, does improve the shifting performance.

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

srb1194

Well I guess it depends on who or what you believe. I certainly see points made that it doesn't affect shifting performance. I'm planning a Bluetooth interface and may have them check it at the same time. I'm on the fence and not really leaning either way. The neutral position seems straight up to me. I really appreciate the knowledge base here, helps a lot.