Cold Weather - Stuff / Sluggish Clutch - Any Solutions?

Simply put, when it's about -20 C (-4 F) or colder, the clutch on my truck gets progressively stiffer / sluggish the more the temperature drops. It improves slightly when driving in stop and go traffic, but if you are driving in highway traffic (i.e. not shifting often) it continues to be very stiff.

I'm worried that in an emergency situation I might not be able to make a fast shift. This was a problem also on my 2010 (I currently have a 2018). I have driven manual vehicles all my life and never had an issue this severe with any other vehicle I've owned besides Tacoma's.

Does anyone have any solutions for this that worked? Is there a low viscosity clutch / brake fluid that might remedy this?

 

Common complaint. No real solution. The accumulator delete mod helps a tiny bit.

Low viscosity fluid may work its way past the seals that were designed for DOT3.

 

This happens on all manual transmissions I've owned when it gets really cold. It's stiff but it will never cease to function quickly, could be hard on your clutch but that's moot.
On the highway, I cant see why you would need a quick shift in any emergency, brake pedal would be the go to at those speeds.

 

Thanks for the info. An emergency might be a quick downshift to complete a pass or something similar.

 

It’s a manual, it’s cold, it’s normal. Had a situation years ago, truck sat outside all night, -29* took awhile to get moving.

 

Dang… that’s cold af! I don’t envy you lol

 

Just checking in here and confirming I have that same problem. I've owned the truck for 6 years and same story every winter. I understand it's normal on these tacos, but it's not normal on any other manual transmission vehicle I've owned.

 

That's what I've been saying. I've driven manual transmissions all my life - various Honda, Jeep and Ford models and never had this problem in -30 weather. I asked my buddy who owns a 2019 Nissan Frontier if his clutch gets stiff in the winter and he says he has no problem.

I changed my brake / clutch fluid a few months back to Pentosin Dot 4. It was expensive but it's supposed to alleviate the cold weather stiff clutch issues. Will have to wait a few more months up here to get ttose temperatures, but what I can say is the shifting with the new fluid is significantly smoother under normal outdoor temperatures. Hoping for good things this winter.

 

I live Alberta too. I'd say it's just normal in what you have. A truck with manual trans. It's not a Mercedes. Maybe think ahead and don't put yourself in any situations that would cause an "emergency situation". Stuff just happens when it's -30.

 

I don't think you understand the point of this thread. OP asked for solutions, you come back with some sort of fatalist "well that's just how it is" argument, in turn helping no one.

 

Cayman, Miata, 350Z, Nissan trucks and plenty of Hondas in my garage and this is the only manual where the hydraulic clutch is slow on cold days. To be fair I only get a handful of cold days each winter so it only annoys me that little.

If I lived up north maybe some sort of insulation around the lines.

 

Wow. What a drama queen. There is no real solution that's why I never gave any. Maybe just man up when it's a little cold. Or move to California with all the other .......

 

You could try Motul Dot4 LV for cold weather use. From Motuls' website: ...outstanding performance at very low temperatures. Link to the specs sheet is broke.

 

Automotive brake fluid, 3, 4, and 5.1 are hygroscopic. Flush the clutch hydraulic system with small bottles before the cold sets in.
Living in the sea coast of NH, the high elevations of Flagstaff and Colorado now, all my MT vehicles are a pain to shift when cold, and the hydraulic clutch vehicles; '84 Audi Quattro, '85 GMC K3500 Sierra, '88 VW Quantum Wagon syncro, '00 Jeep TJ, are very bitchy when cold.
Take your time in first gear for a while and make sure that you have the best synthetic MT oil replaced recently.

 

I live in Colorado, and it starts getting stiff and wonky around 28 F. Dry cold. I did change the clutch fluid a couple times. Don't really care about emergency shifting, just want to figure out a solution. I had a '81 accord in Iowa in -45 F, clutch was not stiff. '83 land cruiser manual, no issues with clutch. '94 pathfinder, no issues. list goes on. Anyway, I'm looking forward to monitoring this thread in case anyone solves it.

 

Mechanical cable actuated clutches don’t have the same pedal feel as hydraulic in damn fkn cold temps.

 

I have also owned at least 10 different manuals and agree. 1980s cars and up. Never had this issue until now.

 

I am also an Albertan. Any vehicle i've owned where the slave cylinder is external to the transmission, the clutch has gotten sticky when cold. Only thing i've found to ease it a bit (not completely though) is to flush it with a dot 4 LV fluid.

I've tried Ford Motorcraft fluid, Pentosin and currently Bosch. I haven't experienced a winter yet with Bosch fluid so until then Motorcraft Dot 4 LV was the better fluid in my opinion.

With that fluid it stays soft once everything warms up.... at -40* though it will usually freeze up again after 30mins to an hour at highway speeds. Warmer than -30 and it tends to stay soft once warm.

 

Viscosity!
https://www.powerblanket.com/blog/lower-viscosity-flow-control-colder-temperatures/