Drilling tranny casing to eliminate cold 2nd gear problems

I remember reading the article you are referring to years ago. It was before I was on F-Chat, so could it have been on Ferrari List?

 

No article, but I've kept the pictures!
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Good man! Gracias

 

Excellent , but can anyone tell us if it works ???

 

Radical surgery that.I would rather be patient and let the oil warm up!!!

 

I made a modification to my gt4 about 10 years ago to address this problem. I recall there was an article in some mag that professed this solution. It required drilling, but I'm not sure if the trans case was the issue. If I remember correctly, it did seem to work. However, there are those on Fchat who claim the procedure is invalid. You can do a search, read the thread(s) and make your own decision.

Edit: I found the article. Prancing Horse #127 page 45 and yes, the case is drilled from the outside and then plugged.

 

Doesn't mean you can't or that people don't let the oil warm up too.

I would rather have 2nd be no less difficult to engage, when cold, than the other gears.

And while the engines have good power skipping a gear when cold (1st to 3rd) is not the greatest thing either for the engine or clutch. Quite simply you're going to have to use more rpm's to jump to third or lug the engine a bit more than if you had a fully functional 2nd gear. Who wants to do that on a cold engine?

 

Is this the one?
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We should start a poll on this. See how many of those that performed this change saw a difference.

Perhaps others have had the issue fixed by properly aligning the linkage. Probably should have that on the poll as well.

Aaron

 

Ulf would you have a readable scan of your highly interesting article?

 

I have it, it anyone sends me a private email, I'll send copies. Its too big to post here.

Rick

 

It certainly helped on my car. Made the issue go away. Remember though, this is not about getting into second, it more about getting out of first. There are those who say it does nothing. I did mine while the motor and trans were apart so I know the hole got into the best place (rear of the pocket). Could be when doing it blind as the article speaks of, some have ended up with the hole in the wrong place. FWIW...


Rick

 

I have wondered why first is such a bear to get out of with below freezing temps.
Dave

 

Sorry, I only have it in the format attached. Try to blow it up to 200% and you should be able to read it.

 

Thanks Ulf.

 

DM and others. This sounds great - I wasn't aware there was a fix.

Anyone do this with the gearbox in ?

I have a drill and an access pit waiting for this job

Lee

 

You may want to start with something less radical like switching your tranny oil to Redline. You may be satisfied with the results.

 

+1 Redline MTL.

 

+2

Switching to Redline eliminated the 2nd gear problems in my 1980.
The hardest part was removing the old oil first.
Course I didn't know then about drilling into the case.

 

When I had my gearbox apart many moons ago I looked closely at it and maybe at the time I was too green on ferraris to see it. I came to the conclusion that the blind hole the shifter rod entered was for reverse not first, trying to compress a fluid would cause this issue but I could be wrong. I chose not to drill it and replaced my toasted syncros instead. The gearbox shifted perfectly from that day on stone cold in november without a warmup. The problem with these gearboxes is the they need to be rebuilt! My boxer manual states the syncros should be changed every 30K! You can drill holes, change fluid and add magic additives, skip gears when cold or sit there warming the car up before you can shift it. These are all signs things aint right so why not fix it? If the answer is "its too expensive" then you cant afford the car - that applies to anyone not directed at you Dave.

 

+1. I put in Red Line 75W90NS, no help.

 

That makes a lot of sense, except I drove a 2K miles 328 when I was looking, and it also would not shift into second very well when cold. Certainly, the sychros were not work out in 2K miles. I also had a 328 years ago with under 10K miles on it, and it was the same.

Also, I recall the magazines "back in the day" experiencing the same thing, on the cars when they were brand new.

So, it seems like worn synchros certainly can be one cause of the "difficult cold 2nd," there may also be something else.

(Also, from a mechanical standpoint, wouldn't the trans shift BETTER when cold if it had a worn second gear synchro??? Wouldn't the colder, thicker oil help the syncro to work better? Not sure, just a thought).