In freezing cold, 1st gear doesn't even catch?!

[vishesh]

Alright, so I am well aware (thanks to many of you guys and the rest of NICO forums) of the 1st -> 2nd hard shifting issue that is so common in the J30.

However, I just noticed a new problem. It's gotten extremely cold very suddenly here in Chicago, and after about two weeks of no driving, I pulled the J30 out to make a quick trip. When trying to accelerate at a reasonable rate (from a complete stop) the RPM's jump but first gear doesn't catch at all. That is, I can rev it and the car will just sit there. However, if I accelerate like a grandma (very slowly), 1st gear will catch just fine and I can continue driving. Also, the problem seems to disappear altogether when the car has warmed up a fair bit.

The car wasn't in any accidents recently, or show any signs of transmission problems (other than the common 1st-2nd hard shift), so I'm hoping it is just the cold weather and the car needing to warm up. The other possibility is the ATF that I just re-filled. I did a drain/fill x 3 to get the old ATF out (it was starting to look brown). After reading around for compatibility, I used Dexron III instead of Nissan Matic-D (matic-d is like $7/qt...sheesh!). Haven't had any problems except this one, but the Dexron could be the culprit. Any thoughts?

[elwesso]

my old Q would give a little bit of a delay when it was cold out before it would shift out of park to 1st gear..... not an issue if you let it warm up!

[vishesh]

sweet. that's reassuring because i was afraid it could a transmission problem and i don't know much but i do know that transmission problems are never cheap to fix.

thanks wes. you are the expert as always.

[grosspolluter]

When it's cold outside, shift into second, let the clutch out half way, then engage the clutch again and slip it into first. Works every time!

[yodawill2000]

Clutch ??

[elwesso]

I wish the J30 had a clutch........

[yodawill2000]

No doubt I would have beat that 69 Chevy the other day .. hehe Lost by a nose !