I have a 97 T-100 with 135,000 on it. We've had some colder days around here (around 10-15 F). On these mornings I noticed it's hard to initially shift into gear (auto trans) on the startup. Once the truck warms up its good. Is this normal, or is it time to flush out the tranny fluid?

Thank, Vern

Your saying the column is sticky? or the transmission wont shift?

Or are you referring to the trans staying in 2nd gear a little to long? From what I understand there's an emmissions feature that won't allow the engine to lugg in the lower gears until it warms up. I notice it takes a few mins in cold weather for my trans to shift into drive.

Both the gear shifter (on the steering column) and the gears shifting in the tranny itself ar sticky in cold weather on my '97 w/ 150k. They were that way at 110k too, with fresh tranny fluid, etc.

Nothing to worry about.... and mine only does it after sitting for awhile in colder temps. It's been staying below 20F through the days here (with a few that just barely got over 0F), and even after 6 hours at work it's "normal".

If th eproblem is the engagement into drive while really cold, you probably have gummy deposits on the various valve body parts. Do you know when the last fluid change was? If never, like most vehicles, that is probably the root of your problem. Try pulling the plug and getting the easy 3 quarts of tranny fluid out and replaced. If it is dark brown and smells like varnish, you have a problem. If dark brown and no bad smell, run it a couple of thousand miles and redo the 3 quart thing. Eventually you will end up with a tranny flush with the fluid looking ans smelling like it was fresh out of the can.

Thanks for the info everyone. Just to make it clear, I was referring to the actual gear shift going from park to drive being stiff on cold mornings. The truck goes right into gear with no problem. The tranny fluid seems alright, but seeing how I've had the truck for 3 years, I definetley need to flush it out and put new fluid in. Do you guys recommend the factory stuff or go synthetic.

Another interesting thing happend with the cold. I took the T up to Mammoth Lakes here in California. We recieved around a foot of snow over the night. I had been having trouble with a sticking rear brake on cold mornings... but you add in icy conditions and anti skid and any time I even pressed on the brake pedal the rear tire would lock up and send me sliding sideways. Not the best way to get around town. I took the brake drums apart, cleaned everything and put on new pads. For some reason I had a bunch of goo on the left rear pads that was causing the sticking. It didn't appear that anything was leaking from the manifolds or the axle, but only time will tell.

Yesterday I took the T up to a place near where I live called Robber's Roost. Nothing too challenging, but it's always good to get some dust on the tires.

Thanks again,

Vern

There's a product called Break Free. VERY good stuff. Just for yuks get a spray can and give a shot on all the linkage points for the shifter. Could be you have dust/dirt buuildup that is causing binding when things are cold. Good stuff up here in the cold tree stand - just need a touch.

Goo on the brakes ca only come from 2 spots - leaking axle seal (dooubtful as I believe they are sealed units) and brake cylinders. Next time you have the drum off, see if you have goo inside the seals.

Mine will hold in second for a while when its really cool out. But it does this on a recent tranny replacement so is it the tranny or the computer?