stick shift won't move in cold weather

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Rickety Rhino
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Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 6:03 pm

stick shift won't move in cold weather

Post by Rickety Rhino »

The stick shift in my 84 Tercel (manual) won't move after a cold night in the winter (< 20 deg F), even with a fair amount of force. This happens regardless of which gear I left it in (including neutral). If I run the engine for 20 min, then let it sit for 1/2 hr, I can then move the stick, although it's still stiff until it's been driven 10 min or so.
I flushed and replaced the transmission oil with 3/4 80W-90 gear oil and 1/4 purple synthetic, as recommended here, with no improvement. I also cleaned and lubricated the bottom of the shift lever (stick) where it connects to the transmission. This may be unrelated, but I also have trouble shifting from 1st to 2nd gear when it's cold; the double clutch technique helps. Does anyone have an idea how to fix this, short of overhauling the tranny or replacing it?
Thanks!
Location: Boulder, Colorado
Smokey The Brake - 1984 4WD, 230K
xirdneh
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My tercel:: 87 tercel 4x4 wagon w/reringed engine, 83 tercel 4x4 wagon w/salvaged engine and 4.1 Diff's
Location: seabeck, washington, USA

Re: stick shift won't move in cold weather

Post by xirdneh »

I have had a bunch of these cars and only one of them did that. I have wondered why too.
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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marlinh
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My tercel:: 'Everett' Blue 87 4WD Wagon (Rocky 86, recently retired)
Location: Kootenays

Re: stick shift won't move in cold weather

Post by marlinh »

Water in the shift lever area that is freezing?. If the boot is torn, moisture does get in that area.
larry mcgrath
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My tercel:: 83 tercel v20 B/T (The ROCKET)98 toyota t100
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Re: stick shift won't move in cold weather

Post by larry mcgrath »

You need to remove the plate that the shift lever is in ---- I think there is 5 10mm bolts holding the shifter to the top of the tranny ---- water gets past the torn boots , on the shifter and frezes ,take a rag and dry out the cavity, fill it with some 30w engine oil. Problem solved Larry
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: stick shift won't move in cold weather

Post by Petros »

this has come up before, as Larry pointed out, the only thing that can cause that is water in the shift linkage chamber will freeze and lock up the linkage.

Realize that the shift linage chamber is separate from the gear box and transfer case. Often moisture can collect in there and freeze solid, locking up the linkage. Just follow Larry's instruction and remove the top cover on the linkage housing (you can get to it from inside the car under the center console, without removing the trans). clean out all the moisture and that should solve the problem.

you might try and fabricate a new inner shift boot from a short length of bicycle inner tube and a few zip ties to keep moisture from accumulating. I am not sure putting 30 wt oil in there will stop it. Moisture would still get in and settle to the bottom of the chamber under the oil.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
Rickety Rhino
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Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 6:03 pm

Re: stick shift won't move in cold weather

Post by Rickety Rhino »

Thanks a lot guys, this fixed my problem. I cleaned the gunk out of the shift linkage chamber, and now it doesn't freeze up in below zero weather!
Location: Boulder, Colorado
Smokey The Brake - 1984 4WD, 230K
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helipilot77
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My tercel:: 1984 SR5 wagon
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: stick shift won't move in cold weather

Post by helipilot77 »

I wonder if grease would work better than oil. I used marine grease on mine.
. / TOYOTA
./_| |/|/ |]
donnyre
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My tercel:: 95 Tercel

Re: stick shift won't move in cold weather

Post by donnyre »

I've tried white lithium grease with success.
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