[swares985]

Hello everyone! Just left CarMax with my 2015 Chevy Cruze ECO manual. 14.8k miles on the odometer, and I'm already in love with this car!

I've been perusing the forums already, and it appears the stock fluid in the transmission is an issue? I feel the notchy/grinding when shifting from 1-2. Is that still an issue on later model Cruze's, or am I just worse at driving stick than I thought?

 

[chevrasaki]

Welcome to the forum!

I had the grinding problem when shifting from 1st to 2nd with the stock fluid. It's a very noticeable event grinding gears. You'll feel it and hear it, it'll send shivers down your spine and cause you to apologize repeatedly to your car. The grinding only happened to me when I was "speed shifting" IE revving first gear out to 5,500+ rpms then slamming the shifter from first to second. I never had issues doing that in my Cobalt, but the Cruze was more sensitive. I changed to the Amsoil synchromesh fluid and it calmed down a lot. I've still managed to grind it a handful of times since switching. I think I'm going to replace it again this spring with the heavier duty Amsoil 75w-90 gear oil.

Other than that the Cruze has a very unique manual transmission that in my opinion takes some time to get used to with it's gearing and the way the clutch operates. But you should love the fuel economy that eco gets, there's not a lot of vehicles that can beat in the economy game.

 

[obermd]

Welcome. At 15K miles the GM Synchromesh fluid is shot. Replace it with 2.5 qts of AMSOil Synchromesh.

 

[chevrasaki]

Also I should mention you should change the oil and oil filter immediately. There's a possibility that neither the previous owner nor carmax ever changed it. It's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Merc6]

Welcome to the forums! Usually before I take a car from car max I had them audit their service records on the car. There wasn't an oil change done and the brakes were skipped over so I had them do that before I took it home.

 

[carid]

Hello and welcome to the forum! Great to have you join us. Plenty of knowledgeable and friendly folks here as well as informative and insightful discussion threads. If you ever have any questions, there's definitely a great team of owners and vendors that are happy to help.

 

[BrandoFisher117]

Welcome to the forum! :welcome:

 

[swares985]

Also I should mention you should change the oil and oil filter immediately. There's a possibility that neither the previous owner nor carmax ever changed it. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Already done! It was so close to 15k I just did the15knschdduled maintenance. Thanks!!

 

[swares985]

Welcome. At 15K miles the GM Synchromesh fluid is shot. Replace it with 2.5 qts of AMSOil Synchromesh.

I've got 3 quarts of Valvoline's Synchromesh laying around. Would that work in place of the AMSOil for now? I'm assuming most things are better than staying with OEM.

 

[blk88verde]

the Cruze has a very unique manual transmission that in my opinion takes some time to get used to with it's gearing and the way the clutch operates.

Agreed-on the ratios, they are low in first to get the car moving quickly then a large gap to 2nd, the top 3 gears if I recall are all overdrive. My GTO and 320i both have really nice gear boxes Tremec and Getrag with near perfect ratios, plus a big torque advantage over the Cruze, makes driving these cars a breeze.

 

[swares985]

Welcome to the forums! Usually before I take a car from car max I had them audit their service records on the car. There wasn't an oil change done and the brakes were skipped over so I had them do that before I took it home.

No need to worry about that! First thing I did when I got the car was change it over to Penzoil Premium 5w30 with a Wix filter, then checked over everything I could think of; brakes, suspension, electronics. Everything seemed to be in order for a car with 15k miles, just some body parts that needed some lubricant.