Stiff Shifting when cold

98 Jetta, five speed manual trans, After a week of heavy rain the temps dropped into the teens. We had several nights were the temp was close to 10'F. The car starts fine, but the trans is very stiff. I have 1st and 2nd, then can't find any other gears until the car starts warming up. Gradually get 3rd and 4th in a few minutes then 5th. THe car shifts fine after it has warmed up. Now that the temps have warmed overnight it shifts fine. I did lube the exterior linkage at the trans with white lithium spray grease a few weeks ago which helped normal shifting.
Is there a vent where water could get in somewhere and freeze?

Many times it's just the cold and a lubricant that is in our transmissions that does not take well to a high mileage vehicle. It's safe to say it's not water or freezing. I have a 2002 manual transmission and in the cold [today 6F degree high] reverse felt tough, second was difficult and the last two over-drive ratios were worse. You have the possibility to buy a Diesel Geek short shift kit here. Read your owner's manual and replace the aged fluid in the tranny too. It's a do'er yer'self'er thing.

M.D.

Sorry to hear that your having problems with your trannie. You might want to change out the trannie fluid and see if it helps.

You did say that once the car is at normal operating temperatures everything is fine. So you might want to install a bock heater, this will help the car reach operating temperatures faster.

This stuff happens when the weather is cold. Shift slowly.

I used to experience this with the VW stock fluid. After changing to RedLine MTL I have had no issues in the winter. Mind you, it is a bit notchier. Nothing's perfect.

I switched to Redline MTL also this fall. It makes a huge difference on those cold days. I am interested to see how it performs in the summer when it is hotter.