Stick shift getting extremely hot while cruising freeway.

I got the Competition Stage 2 Clutch assembly through URD installed last week (had a bad TOB and just replaced the whole thing with something stronger). While I was at it, I had the shop drain and fill my transmission with Redline gear oil 75w90, just as stated in the manual (and from much research on here). 2004 4x4 v6 5speed.

Shifting is a night and day difference around town, SO much smoother and less notchy with the Redline fluid. However, I've noticed now that when I'm on the highway doing 65-70mph for 20 minutes or so, the metal shaft of my stick shift (covered by the pleather boot) gets SUPER hot. I mean, it gets so hot that I can feel it radiating off the shifting knob and if I'm riding an incline at highway speeds for any length of time, it gets too hot to touch for more than a few seconds.

I freaked out at first thinking maybe they didn't fill the transmission up with enough fluid, but then I read online after doing some searching on the subject and it's come up that this is normal behavior for some gear oil? I don't know, prior to installing this new clutch and the Redline fluid the shifter never got hot. Maybe a little warm, but never this hot. The amount of fluid they used from the container implies that they did indeed fill it up with the appropriate amount.

Anyone else experience this?

 

I should also mention everything else about the way the transmission is operating is normal, if not better than normal. I did a 4 hour freeway trip today and other than the shifter being incredibly hot, everything else was fine. No trouble getting it into gear, no grinding, no slipping, nothing. Smooth as butter with the new fluid but it makes the shifter heat up like hell's kitchen.

 

Mine doesn't do that and I have redline MT-90 in it. It didn't before with whatever swill was in it before either. My 4wd shifter gets a bit warm sometimes bit never the tranny shifter.

 

Yeah it's really weird, I haven't read about it either with other reports of the Redline fluid. But when I googled the issue, there were a couple TW threads that popped up where others running different fluid reported the same issue but the overall consensus was that it was normal. I just don't get how that can be if the majority of people aren't experiencing this, not to mention it's not just getting warm....it's getting freakin' hot.

Driving around town where I'm constantly shifting it will stay cool, it's only when I'm cruising in 5th on the freeway for awhile that it really heats up. Maybe there's a heat shield that wasn't put back in properly when it was reassembled after installing the clutch? I'm going to contact the shop tomorrow about it and see what they say.

 

No shields that I know of, just the 3 shift boot.

 

I'm stumped on that one. It's normal for them to get warm to the touch but not scalding ass hot, something's definitely not right though. May call up a transmission shop and ask them.

 

I think it is about normal with warm air temperatures

Heat rises !!.

Even more so if the sun is hitting the shifter

Sitting in the sun my shifter is to hot to touch being black

 

My 2 cents. What causes heat........ friction. That can't be good or normal. I fear your going to find out why sooner rather than later.

 

I'm not sure if it's normal or not, but before I drove cross-country I filled my transmission and differential is with redline fluids. I noticed that my stick shift got pretty hot during the day. I was driving long days about eight hours each day meandering the country. I haven't had any issues with the transmission, and I don't drive nearly that much every day to notice if it keeps happening

 

Just finished a three hour drive and my stick is cool to touch

 

Another member of the Lukewarm shifter club. I run the same Redline fluid as well. If the clutch were slipping you would probably notice.

 

My t-case shifter gets warm, but not hot. My shifter doesn't though. I run redline in both.

 

Thanks for the replies guys, I don't know why but I haven't been getting notifications so I thought this thread died out last night lol. Thanks for all the input, I called up the transmission shop and am heading over there after work today for them to take a look.

Since our manual tacos don't have transmission temp warning lights or gauges, if the transmission overheats or starts to does it read on the standard temp gauge? At it's hottest yesterday when I was climbing a steep freeway grade out here in SoCal for 40 miles or so (the grapevine for us locals), I was climbing it at a steady 70mph and the shaft of the stick shift was so hot I couldn't touch it. But my temp gauge read normal the whole time.

 

Also, I was out wheeling for 2 days this weekend in Pismo and the shifter never got hot once, not even warm. And sand wheeling involves a lot of footwork. Only happens cruising at freeway speeds when I'm steady in 5th gear, strange...

 

Does this sound likely to you guys? Read it over on TTORA from a thread about a guy with my exact issue after putting Redline fluid in...

"Note that if the seal around the shifters is compromised, the shifters will get hot. Instead of the air passing around the tranny, it flows up into the cab. I had this issue when I did my dual cases and I had a hole in my shifter boot. Eventually I put the dual stick shifter boot on to seal up the floor, and the shifters haven't gotton hot on long trips anymore, even when towing..."

The trans shop had my shifter disassembled when they were doing the clutch so I'm wondering if this is my issue, maybe it wasn't put back together right and the heat from the transmission is making its way up the shifter...

Seems unlikely that it would be overfilled since you can only fill these transmissions up to the fill port opening...

 

The Temp gauge is just the engine temp. We manuals don't have a temp warning light for our transmissions. Its usually not as much of an issue because the fluid in the manual transmissions isn't actively part of transferring power to the wheels like it is in an automatic. So whatever is going on is kinda weird. I just use the oil that Toyota put into it when I have changed it. The only time I have felt that the shifter was getting hot was while I was towing up a steep grade going 70. It got a bit warm but when I came down the hill and was on flat ground again it cooled off. Im with @1988Mercedes on this one. Friction=heat. getting it looked at ASAP is your best bet.

 

Yeah I have an appt with the shop that did the work in the morning. Going to pull the fill plug off myself tonight and see if they somehow managed to over fill it.

 

When checking the fluid level on these transmissions do they need to be at any specific temp like newer autos do? I didnt think it mattered with these 5speeds but just want to be sure.

 

Don't think so. But if your shifter is so hot you can't touch it sometimes I would let it cool off just so you don't get really hot oil on yourself.

 

No, just be on level ground. Fluid should slowly leak out. Highly unlikely that's your problem though.