Cold Start Troubles

[mr1in6billion]

This problem is a 2 part question

1) Lately around here the tempeture has been getting lower and lower. This is my first winter with the mx and lately the cold has been causing a few problems. When I turn my car on after it's been sitting in the cold for quite a few hours the transmission locks. No matter how much the clutch is depressed the shift knob can't be placed into gear. I am forced to wait untill the car warms up (completely) before it will allow me to push it into gear (this process can take well over 15mins). For the next 2 miles it shifts funny. First it remains hard to put in gear, then once that has cleared up it will start to grind every few shifts. Once everything is totally warm the car runs stable; no hard shifts, no grinding. smooth as a whistle. Is it really the cold thats causing this? The car is canadian, it should be able to withstand the warm california winters (It's +45F out. Freezing by my standards, but this is the lowest it gets). Anything I can do about this problem?

2) My mx has a AC plug that extends from inside the engine block. For the longest time I couldn't figure out what it could be for. I asked everyone who saw my car if they knew what it was for and they were baffled by it. Someone on these forums mentioned a block heater (Comming from sunny california block heaters are unheard of.). So now i'm guessing thats what is it. Has anyone ever tried to hook their block heater up to a powerinverter installed in their car? How much power does the block heater eat up? Would this help with my above problem?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[95 rs]

well see i had the same problem but i live near the arctic... well it seems like it with the -50 to -65 weather we have up here in good old canada. but try putting atf in your tranny cuz it seems like the gear oil is just stiffening up and thats what it does. i put atf in mine and works fine. and well the block heater wont help the tranny problem. the main function of a block heater is to either have the oil warmed up to a temp that it will make it flow better on a cold start up. hope this helps....

[sk8erdude28]

For the first problem, I would try just doing a tranny flush. Not to expensive (unless you want synthetic tranny oil) and see if that helps.

THe block heater isn't meant to be run off the car. You are supposed to plug it into an outlet in your house a few hours before you drive. Even easier is to plug it in, and have a timer set up so it turns on ebfore u are even out of bed.

Also. I'm pretty sure a block heater actually heats up the coolant, not the oil, since the heater is built into a frost plug.

[Focal]

haha this is funny. Never heard of a block heater. A block heater is exactly what it sounds like. It is a small metal rod that is in the engine block that heats it up. It may not fix your shiftting problem but it would heat up your car faster.

[mr1in6billion]

I put atf in mine and works fine.

Awsome. I'll pick some up. Since I've never used antifreeze, how much should I use and where do I put it in?

For the first problem, I would try just doing a tranny flush. Not to expensive (unless you want synthetic tranny oil) and see if that helps.

This would probly have been my first guess, but I had that done when I changed my axles a few weeks back. So hopefully its not that.

...since the heater is built into a frost plug.

Whats a frost plug?

haha this is funny. Never heard of a block heater.

=b In my life it has snowed in my city once, which was pretty big news around the country. If any of you had been there you would have died laughing at what we considered snow. Everyone around here knows what antifreeze is, but it's very rare to need it. Blockheaters are practically non-existant. Maybe one of these days i'll plug it in and see what happens.

[sk8erdude28]

Hahaha.

A frost plug, is a copper (gold colored usually) plug in the block. There are probably half a dozen or more of them? Not sure on a inline 4 block. They are there for the reason, that if your coolant/antifreeze start to freeze (due to VERY cold temperatures) instead of the coolant expanding and cracking the block, it's supposed to expand and pop the plug out, so it can expand out the hole, not damaging your block.

[95 rs]

use automatic transmission fluid is what i was telling you to use for the shifting problem. sorry about the mess up.

[highlife]

Recently put a used 5spd in my 93 1.6, filled it with penzoil manual tranny fluid from wal-mart. On a zero degree morning last week it went into 1st a little hard but 200 yards later it shifted like the middle of summer. I've never owned a manual tranny that losened up so fast (especially an old one) and I have to credit the penzoil.

[azazel95]

I put atf in mine and works fine.

Awsome. I'll pick some up. Since I've never used antifreeze, how much should I use and where do I put it in?

WHOA! Hold on! atf = automatic transmission fluid, not antifreeze. Antifreeze goes in the radiator (allow car to cool down completely before removing radiator cap). And before you ask, yes, you can put auto tranny fluid in a manual. Drain from the drain plug, fill at the speedometer sensor plug. That should help your shifting problems. BUT!, since your car is a canadian version, it may already have atf in it. So check for leaks on your tranny. Being low/having no atf will cause horrible shifting problems with horrible noise. Mine did this for a long time then I simply put atf in and shifting was back to normal. I have a leak though so I have to keep my fluid topped off.