downshift in cooler weather -help?

[388dart]

A727, reverse pattern maual valve body. no warmup tank on aluminum rad. and oil cooler in front of rad.
took the car for a spin on the weekend 45-50*F outside. warmed the engine up (Airgaps are not cooler/cold weather friendly) for at least 10 minutes.
Took it real easy and shifted up to 3rd no problem. Down shift from 3rd to second and the tranny kinda hung up - shifted back up to 3rd no problem.

Is this a case of the oil (standard weight Dextron) being just too cold to flow
into the right places - or am I headed for the tranny shop.
I plan on changing the oil before next excursion and was wondering if I should go Synthetic?

 

[duster340]

dont think its to cold for the fluid cant give you any sientific information on it more than the fact that i have been driving in pretty cold wheather with my car with out problems at all i dont have a manual valve body but it should work anyway....
anyone that think i am wrong?

 

[66dartman]

You might try getting the fluid above 150 degrees before going to the trans shop. A lot of auto transmissions need to have the fluid warmed up before they will shift properly. Synthetic might not hurt at all though.

 

[dusterdon]

Are you using an aftermarket shifter? Could be the cable is hanging up due to the cold weather. I used to have a B&M prostick that was sorta finicky in cold weather. By the way, Type F (ford) fluid is the hot tip in chrysler automatic transmissions. Supposed to have a higher coefficient of friction.

don