But the more I drive it the more I realize that this transmission is a piece of crap.

Yep!

I didn't like the Syncromesh - I had the same issues with it. 75w-90 helped out my shift quality a ton.

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/34-gen1-1-4l-turbo/54617-amsoil-75w-90-m32.html

 

I need to edit that. I did put the 75-90 mtf fluid in

 

Depending on the recalls they could have replaced 2 right axles and needed to add more. Did you measure what came out? The gen 1 was notorious for being underfilled from the factory. I did like you at about 20K or so swapping to the gear oil and the trans eventually went from being underfilled that 20K miles prior.

 

I filles the empty bottles with what came out so i spilled some and thransfred this from the oil pan so aboit 2quarts

 

How many miles on this Cruze? You're describing worn synchronizers or a worn clutch.

 

26k miles

Let me add that 2nd and third gears are the only ones that I ve grinded several times in the three weeks Ive owned the car so far. Its not perdectable sometimes it will go right into gear and other times.

Its a short quick grind each time its happened, its not like a grind like a missed gear grind

 

What RPM and how much throttle are you using when it happens?

 

The transmission shifts slightly better when Im downshifting than up shifting.

Shifting at low rpm 2-3k driving like a grandma it is more difficult to shift than laying into it shifting a high rpm 5k~
If i mat it to the floor and shift at high rpm is when sometimes it grinds.

For whatever reason this transmission doesnt like to shift fast. I can make quicker shifts with my jeep with a nv3550 shifts better than this and that is a pickup truck transmission that was put into dodge dakotas. So talk about a long throw.

Even shifting the car in a way to try and make the transmission as happy as possible. Sometimes it feels like Im trying to push it through the gears and not getting confident feedback that the transmission is fully in a gear.

 

I agree. I've driven a ton of really crappy cars with really bad manual transmissions and all of them were better than the Getrag M32 gearbox in the Cruze. It fights you if you even think about driving like a normal person. It wants you to drive like your grandma on Sunday. If you do anything else, you'll have to force it, and it's sensitive too so it might grind. I miss my Cobalt's robust Getrag F23 5-speed manual. And my Mazda MX-5's 6-speed close ratio manual is perfect, it's so amazing. Then every time I get back into the Cruze, I end up swearing at the transmission for being such a *****. I can't want to pay off the Miata so I can get rid of the Cruze for a truck.

 

For me 4000 and or wot 2nd was not gonna happen. I would have to run 2 out lift, wait a split second then shift. I had the No Lift Shift tune but it wasn't something you could do often if you wanted to. The Accord trans was so night and day I kept missing gears in the beginning because the throws are that close together. When I let the lease go, I'm not sure I could get another manual econo car.

 

https://gm.oemdtc.com/6205/difficul.../difficult-to-shift-andor-hard-to-get-into-gear-2012-2016-chevrolet-cruze-sonic

I did some serching a found this maybe this could be the problem?

 

https://gm.oemdtc.com/6205/difficul.../difficult-to-shift-andor-hard-to-get-into-gear-2012-2016-chevrolet-cruze-sonic

I did some serching a found this maybe this could be the problem?

That's worth a look. If you find it fix it.

 

I made an appointment to bring the car in on Tuesday, Ill let you know what happens

 

If i mat it to the floor and shift at high rpm is when sometimes it grinds.

For whatever reason this transmission doesnt like to shift fast. I can make quicker shifts with my jeep with a nv3550 shifts better than this and that is a pickup truck transmission that was put into dodge dakotas. So talk about a long throw

This is fairly normal. We believe it has to do with the clutch delay valve and an orifice in the hydraulic line that lets a very small amount of fluid through, which makes the clutch super slow to respond. That, crappy synchros, and wide ratios don't help its case.

Even shifting the car in a way to try and make the transmission as happy as possible. Sometimes it feels like Im trying to push it through the gears and not getting confident feedback that the transmission is fully in a gear.

Mine was extremely clunky, but aside from an occasional grind into 2nd or sometimes (rarely) 3rd, you could definitely tell when it was in gear. I often ground 2nd trying to dart into traffic with a 5K+ shift and trying to slam it in 2nd. Sometimes it would grind at 2500 RPM when cold, which was just immensely annoying.

 

This is fairly normal. We believe it has to do with the clutch delay valve and an orifice in the hydraulic line that lets a very small amount of fluid through, which makes the clutch super slow to respond. That, crappy synchros, and wide ratios don't help its case.


Mine was extremely clunky, but aside from an occasional grind into 2nd or sometimes (rarely) 3rd, you could definitely tell when it was in gear. I often ground 2nd trying to dart into traffic with a 5K+ shift and trying to slam it in 2nd. Sometimes it would grind at 2500 RPM when cold, which was just immensely annoying.

Did you find a solution to any of your problems besides changing the transmission fluid?

 

There is a clutch delay system that I am redesigning a part for that will fix many of these issues with grinding into gear. I'm hoping to have it available within the next month.

For cold mornings, let the car idle in neutral with the clutch pedal not pressed for a minute or so and the shifts shouldn't be too bad.

 

That would be great. Is it not as simple as just removing the cdv completelly and reinstalling the hydrualic hose?

 

For cold mornings, let the car idle in neutral with the clutch pedal not pressed for a minute or so and the shifts shouldn't be too bad.

Oh, I'd forgotten about that. Yes, that makes those first few shifts of the morning - and clutch actuation - much less stiff. Typically, waiting for idle to fall from high idle did the trick for me.

 

Thats what I normally do but its still stiff. Takes a few mins after that before it starts to loosen up and mind you it is technically still fall, winter has not started yet.

 

I just picked up a '14 LT, 6M, and haven't had any issues. It's got 82k on it. There are times where it maybe feels like the clutch doesn't fully disengage between shifts, but that's when I'm usually driving it a little harder. Maybe once it's no longer "new to me", lol, I'll run into this problem when I'm rougher on it. But for the most part, it shifts nice for me, and I'm happy overall. Even with the cold morning (mid 20s here), it was okay. Now, my FM/AM not working on the radio today is another story.... I think that's a conspiracy to get you to sign up for XM...

 

Well the dealer called me back today and said the could not reprlacate the problem. There going to try again after they put in a new rear shock that was making noise.

Does anyone have a short throw shifter? Im wondering if it will improve the shifting feel besides just shortining the throw.

 

Update: well I removed the clutch delay valve awhile back and just did the clutch accumulator bypass mods and it shifts much better. While it still doesn't shift like butter in second gear all the time shifts have improved in every gear. The clutch accumulator bypass mod made the biggest improvement most notably in the clutch feel. The clutch doesn't feel like I'm pressing my foot into a bowl of mashed potatoes anymore. It feels now how a clutch should feel and gives feedback through the clutch pedal now.

I highly recommend doing these mods for those of you with manual transmissions. Thanks to some of these forum members there are easy to follow write ups on how to do these.

 

I've removed the CDV, but haven't done the transmission flush or the Accumulator bypass yet. Both on my to-do list next. I will say that even without those, if I double clutch I'm able to shift a lot more quickly without the grinding or sticking that you normally get with this car.