Standard trans. hard to shift when cold

[Old Retread]

I've only had my 2000 4WD sportage a few months and now that it is cold in the mornings the manual transmission is hard to shift. Is this normal or is the oil in the trans. to thick to let it shift easily like when it is warm? After it has run a while it is back to normal shifting. I thought maybe the leverage on the gear shift was such that a little stiff oil would cause a big difference the way it shifted on all sportages.

[PLP]

it is normal that on cold the shifts are harder.
indeed, putting fresh, synthetic oil will make it better, but not much. In my experience - the difference was noticeable, but do not expect smooth, effortless shifts with fresh oil.

What is cold? -20C? or +10C?

[Old Retread]

Thank you PLP, I'm talking temps in the 20s F or 0 to-10 C. I don't know what type of oil is in the trans. now but it appears that the car had pretty good maintance before I got it. I can't tell by looking or smelling it either, but if it's kind of normal I won't change now. I've had other standard trans but in larger trucks, I'm not familiar with these little fellas. Thanks again!

[upyourkia]

Even here in CA on a cold morning (45F) my tranny is stiff going into 1st and 2nd until it warms up...
May be the nature of the beast.
Be careful using full synthetic. Sometimes it is so slick, the syncros won't grab and you'll grind shifting gears. You can get synthetic for Posi/LSD's. I would go with that.

UPYOURKIA

[Old Retread]

Thanks upyourkia, I'll probably replace oil with non syn. then, that's probably what it's used to. Thanks for the temp. info also.