Well I should have posted this when I found out, but I finally figured out how to get smooth shifting when starting. If your car is like mine, when it's cold out, it doesn't even want to go into gear, even with new driveline fluids. Well mine normally goes into 3rd OK while standing still. What I do it put it into 3rd 4-5 times, and it becomes very smooth again, then either into 1st or 5th and then reverse. This isn't as much of an issue now that it's 30-50 outside, but when it was 20 or colder, it helped out.

 

If I can't get it to go into first I'll put it into Rev... And visa versa. U just gotta play with it a lil. Lol

 

When I can't get into 1st I clutch in and out once.

 

What trans fluid are you using?

 

+1, kicking the clutch seems to help, but 1st is rarely a problem for me. My biggest issue is from 1st to 2nd on cold days. It'll go, but it's gonna be a notchy b*tch about it, so usually I'll shift from 1st to 3rd a few times.

 

tried letting it idle a few minutes before you drive it?

 

I got the same problem. I let the car warm up for 4-5 minutes before I drive it everyday. It's really hard to get it into gear at first, so I pump the clutch a few times, try to get into third and once I can I gotta pump it in 3rd gear for like 4-5 times before I can get it into 1st or reverse. If I drive for a few minutes and dont constantly hold the clutch down at a stop light, the same thing happens again. But it's smooth once I drive 20 miles on the highway and then take the exit ramp. I just changed the trans fluid to AMS oil and it helped but didnt fix it. Also, sometimes when I jam it into 3rd and have the clutch down it grinds..... So I tried adjusting the clutch and it didnt really help. I'm getting a front motor mount soon to see if that fixes it, if anything it should help. I dunno what to do about it though.....

 

certain fluids will work better too, but summer is coming so we wont have to worry about this

 

Same thing I do.

I just pretend I don't have a 2nd gear for the first few miles.

 

my car likes to hesitate from cold start and drags a lot in gears until it is warmed up

 

i just have the 1-2 shift problem when its cold. I usually just let the clutch in and out a few times and that does the trick

 

I have the same issue, but is this normal?

I recently changed to Amsoil MTG (tranny) and put in a ACT HD clutch but the issue still exists.

 

I had the same issues as everyone else. Shifting into 2nd and 4th were my biggest problems though. I recently put on a counter weight shift knob and now it goes into every gear like a hot knife through butter. It doesn't matter how cold it is or if everything isn't warmed up yet it still shifts perfect. Stock knob is 69 grams and my new blox knob is 490 grams, this really makes a difference. I always had shifting issues till I got this knob, now it's such a joy to drive around.

 

Yes, this is perfectly normal, the Evo VIII/IX trannies are especially notchy and cold weather doesn't help much. I always had a hard time, just give it a few minutes to warm up. If you're trying to get in to a gear before moving (ie 1st or reverse) try slowly letting up on the clutch while pushing the shifter towards the gear.

In order to remedy the "problem" you'll have to put in an entirely new (or rebuilt) tranny. I'd recommend just dealing with it, it's part of Evo ownership.

 

Not sure why this wasn't mentioned.. but if you upgrade just the front engine mount to a higher durometer rating (BLOX front engine roll stopper) will also help eliminate that notchy shifting issues. I couldn't have been happier w/ this mod. IMHO, its the best bang for the buck mod for evo and only takes 30min to install with simple tools.

Last time I checked, you can find these for really good prices in private classifieds.

front engine mount installation instruction/guide here:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...tor-mount.html