Ive owned my evo 9 for a little over a month and now the weather has gotten slightly cooler (florida) and my problem seems to be more and more of an issue. Upon first start up and about 15 min after I will have lockout in 1-3 gear. I can always mess around with it and get her to fall in without forcing but i feel there has to be an explanation for this issue. The Trans was rebuilt by a shop while the car was at the dealer that i purchased it from, they also replaced the clutch with an act (i believe). Ive had cold start up lockout on several of my other cars but never for this long. Ive search and read the posts and am going to adjust the clutch pedal tomorrow, any opinions or pointers are welcome.

 

Take it back to the shop.

 

Adjusting the pedal will help, also maybe trying a different tranny fluid. Im having the same issue but in first snd reverse. The car has to be warmed up completely

 

I went back though my paperwork and unfortunately the warranty info was never given to me. I have a call into the dealer and hopefully they will shoot me an email or allow me to pickup all the needed info so i can get this taken care of.

 

I have a similar problem with my MR IX. I have been told by my mechanic and friends who build 4g63's its a fluid issue. I used factory fluid from mitsubishi in my transmission. It's apparently a common issue.

I just let it warm up and it shifts smooth as butter. But I also don't have to let it warm up for 15 min. More like 5 for me.

If they did install a clutch once you adjust the pedal you can see if it still exist.

I have heard of a lot of people on this forum using amsoil with good luck.

 

Same issue with my 05 MR. Once it's all warmed up it shifts butter smooth, but on on cold mornings I need to blip the throttle to get in gear. 1st and reverse are the main culprits. I use OEM fluids btw.

 

my reverse is butter all the time.. I talked with the dealer and they had 1st and 3rd gear synchros replaced along with the clutch. Ill be dropping it off after the 1st and we will see what they say.

 

The right fluid can help.
along with the right clutch pedal adjustment

 

Adjust your clutch pedal and change the fluid on your transmission

 

OP, your problem is not in the fluid - when your transmission was rebuilt, the gears were simply shimmed tighter than they were from the factory. Aluminum, as we all know, expands when it is heated. After driving for a period of time you say that you dont experience the lockout anymore. That's because the transmission case has heated up, expanded, and the tolerances on the gears against each other decreases (because of case expansion) and allows effortless gear engagement since the gear teeth aren't pressing against each other so tightly anymore.. On a stock transmission, when the case warms up and expands, the tolerances in the opinions of most transmission rebuilders is that they are too loose..so they shim them tighter, so that once everything is up to operating temperature the gear teeth are engaged against each other just perfectly. Not too loose & too far spread like stock specs....that places too much stress on the teeth, increases wear, & under racing conditions becomes a weak point in the drivetrain. On a stock car that isn't raced it's fine, plus the manufacturer doesn't want complaints regarding stiff gear engagement... but on a car that's modded or raced, it's not good enough.

Now, the only thing you can do to allow easier gear engagement (for the longevity of your synchro's, dont force it into gear), is adjust your driving style. When at a stop, if it doesn't go into gear easily, release the brakes to allow the car to roll & try pushing the lever into gear. If the car doesn't roll, try engaging 5th or reverse, etc..

Hope that answers your questions!

 

Adjust/bleed the clutch and throw in some OEm Trans oil

 

Great answer. Thanks for your input, I was wondering why my freshly rebuilt trans with only a couple thousand miles on it wasn't as smooth as stock when cold.

 

WW-GSR Best answer +1
Back to the OP, I had a similar issue only it wasn't as bad I would get "locked out" of second and third on very cold mornings (CT.. Cold as f*** compared to Florida)
It was a Shep ultimate ratio Trans, shifted like butter except for morning where it was bellow 15 degrees.. After speaking to john from Shep n explaining my issue he recommended "For winter use you can use redline mt85" after changing the fluid the problem seemed to go away for the most part.. There was still some resistance on very cold mornings but nothing compared to before but it's expected from a built trans + because race car