cold weather related transmission problems?

[marksi07]

My 07 Si's transmission behaves differently in the cold. Cold starting, the car seems to buck a bit when initially accerlating and the 2nd thru 6th gears are difficult to downshift and upshift. Only when the car is thoroughly warmed up ( about 5 or 6 bars on the oil gauge ) does the car drive normal.
Seems to happen when it is cold out. When it is warm out, the car's transmission is normal.
No noises have been detected either.
I was wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences with their Si's transmissions?
I brought the car to my dealership two times. The last time I left the car overnight so they could cold start it first thing in the morning ( since the early morning its the coldest ) but they claim that they never had any problems ( bs if you ask me ) and couldn't find any problems.
Any suggestions on what to do next? contact Corporate Honda? bring it to another Honda dealer?
I've been driving for 20 years now ( I'm 37 ) and have been driving Honda vehicles for the past 10 years. My 07 Si is my 4th straight Honda vehicle ( and all have been manual transmissions also). ( 98 Acura Integra GSR; 98 Honda Prelude; 05 Acura RSX Type S ). All had the cold air intake also ( the 05 Acura had the AEM V2 intake ). All of my previous Honda vehicles never gave me any problems whatsoever and have never behaved like my current 07 Si's.

[07k20z3ftw]

Originally Posted by marksi07

My 07 Si's transmission behaves differently in the cold. Cold starting, the car seems to buck a bit when initially accerlating and the 2nd thru 6th gears are difficult to downshift and upshift. Only when the car is thoroughly warmed up ( about 5 or 6 bars on the oil gauge ) does the car drive normal.
Seems to happen when it is cold out. When it is warm out, the car's transmission is normal.
No noises have been detected either.
I was wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences with their Si's transmissions?
I brought the car to my dealership two times. The last time I left the car overnight so they could cold start it first thing in the morning ( since the early morning its the coldest ) but they claim that they never had any problems ( bs if you ask me ) and couldn't find any problems.
Any suggestions on what to do next? contact Corporate Honda? bring it to another Honda dealer?
I've been driving for 20 years now ( I'm 37 ) and have been driving Honda vehicles for the past 10 years. My 07 Si is my 4th straight Honda vehicle ( and all have been manual transmissions also). ( 98 Acura Integra GSR; 98 Honda Prelude; 05 Acura RSX Type S ). All had the cold air intake also ( the 05 Acura had the AEM V2 intake ). All of my previous Honda vehicles never gave me any problems whatsoever and have never behaved like my current 07 Si's.

these Si transmissions are touchy. it will be hard to throw into gear untill, like u said, u hit 5 or 6 bars on the heat gauge. honestly just shift at 3k-3.5k till its warmed up. now the bucking is also normal do to the high compression of the engine (correct me if im wrong). this also needs to reach the 5/6 bars of heat till it is running normal, so basically when everything is at 5 bars your car will run smooth, untill then u just have to baby it. it requires alota attention but its an Si..but all this is normal so dont worry, there are no recalls or anything most all of us with Si's experience this, even i do and i live in FL, and its starting to get colder here..the tranny and engine just need some TLC and heat

[leonphelpss11]

It's normal and don't go over 3,000 rpm's when shifting.. It isn't good for the engine shifting at over 3k when it's not warmed up yet

[07k20z3ftw]

its not going to hurt the engine, because isnt vtec disabled until 4 bars? or something or am i mistaken?

[leonphelpss11]

Originally Posted by 07k20z3ftw

its not going to hurt the engine, because isnt vtec disabled until 4 bars? or something or am i mistaken?

Your mistaken, you can vtec at any time.. I was in first gear pulling out my school parking lot and I had 1 bar and I was out in the street by the time I saw a car about ot hit me, I vtec'd in first and got out of there in time.. I had just started 15 seconds ago and it was a hot day....

[Special Ringpop]

I try to drive the car under 2-3K RPM until it is several bars on the temperature guage high. The car bucks like a bronco when you slow down for a stop sign in gear, or if you accelerate too quickly.

It's really embarrassing, but its something we have to put up with, sadly.

Just take it easy and don't ride it until the engine is relatively warmed up.

[kenchan]

even on the AT cars the 1-2 shift is VERY slow and sluggish to the
point the car nose dives like some newb MT-er. cold weather sucks.

[07k20z3ftw]

Originally Posted by leonphelpss11

Your mistaken, you can vtec at any time.. I was in first gear pulling out my school parking lot and I had 1 bar and I was out in the street by the time I saw a car about ot hit me, I vtec'd in first and got out of there in time.. I had just started 15 seconds ago and it was a hot day....

thats great for your engine. 1 bar vtecing..ill have to try that right before i sell my car.

[leonphelpss11]

Originally Posted by 07k20z3ftw

thats great for your engine. 1 bar vtecing..ill have to try that right before i sell my car.

I didn't say it was great retard, I said it was possible... You're the one who said it wasn't and I posted a scenario about when I did it to disprove what you think is right.. Plus that 1 bar vtecing saved my car, so I'd much rather have a car that I can sell later on then not have one..

[AllShowNoGo]

ok people lets end the bitching and bickering rite here. here's the best solution to this matter and one that i use all the time:

just wait until ur car is fully warmed up (9 bars) and then drive (vtec it, drive it like a grandma, do what you will). ur car will be much happier. and nobody has to attack others.

[Special Ringpop]

I agree, Jason. Unfortunately, you shouldn't have to do that with a car. You should let your car, any car, warm up a little bit, but the car shouldn't buck like a bronco even during easy driving until the temperature is moderate.

But that's the only solution we have, is to warm up it and then drive it.

[AllShowNoGo]

Originally Posted by Special Ringpop

I agree, Jason. Unfortunately, you shouldn't have to do that with a car. You should let your car, any car, warm up a little bit, but the car shouldn't buck like a bronco even during easy driving until the temperature is moderate.

But that's the only solution we have, is to warm up it and then drive it.

well i mean you don't HAVE to wait for it to warm up, but is it for the best? i think so. not just with my Si, i've always waited on all my cars until the car warmed up even if i was just driving normally.

for example, when i wake up early in the morning to go jogging, i dont just wake up and immediately jog. i wait until im fully awake, get a glass of water, etc. and then jog.



EDIT:
what do you mean the car bucks?

[gtrice31]

its almost like the engine hesitates... accelerates a sec then like not enough fuel.. thats how id describe mine...

only ppl to beat up on is honda...

My02 rsx R swap in my eg NEVER did any of these things... gotta be in the programming in the ecu or something... DBW something...

[Will06SI]

My 3rd gear has been horrible the past week and the cold weather isnt helping its grinded twice and feels like it wants to pop out almost every time and i haven't had this problem for months. I need to switch to the new honda mtf which will only help the problem for a few weeks anyway but it should help like i said i went months with no 3rd gear issue then it pops up again out of no where. Its something i learned to deal with but if it continues i am def bringing it in.

[lionelp]

go Amsoil dude... I've also heard GM syncromesh works well... or redline

[sstupid]

Originally Posted by 07k20z3ftw

thats great for your engine. 1 bar vtecing..ill have to try that right before i sell my car.

Oh, brother.

[AllShowNoGo]

Originally Posted by gtrice31

its almost like the engine hesitates... accelerates a sec then like not enough fuel.. thats how id describe mine...

only ppl to beat up on is honda...

My02 rsx R swap in my eg NEVER did any of these things... gotta be in the programming in the ecu or something... DBW something...

hmm im still not sure what you guys are experiencing. it recently got cold here and i am experiencing a bit of the "notchiness", where going into second from coasting is a bit harder, but no grinds/hesitations/etc.

[sleeperone]

all cars behave different in the cold. just let your car warm up and if you dont just drive a bit slower and give it a chance to warm up.
simple solution !!!

[osohormiguerro]

when the weathers colder, i noticed my shifts are more crisp? maybe just me

[Tranc3r]

I experience this problem as well especially in the cold mornings!
Warm it up to 3-5 bars drive it under 3k rpm,
OR just warm up your car properly!