Hold light does NOT flash, but the car shifts hard. HELP!!!
Posted: May 27th, 2006, 12:55 pm
So I'm currently on a bit of a road trip between a work related event for myself, and a conference for the wife right after the weekend. Coming down from Edmonton to Calgary (about a 2 - 2.5 hour drive) was ok, but when I left Calgary to make my towards Lake Louise (about another hour or hour and a half), I noticed that the car feels a lot rougher when it shifts from 1st to 2nd. It's usually a smooth soft shift, and I can obviously hear when the gears change by the RPMs, right? But now I can FEEL it shifting too, and it's hard enough that it's kind of an obvious jolt. I feel it a bit still when it goes to 3rd and 4th, but not quite as hard as when it goes to 2nd. And yet, I get NO CEL codes nor does the HOLD light flash.
Things I've done recently to the car just for information to help diagnose my situation:
- replaced both CV shafts earlier this week before I took it out on the highway (really obvious and frequent clicking when I turn right, and a little bit on the left, so I replaced both)
- oil change w/ filter
- coolant temperature sensor (was getting a CEL code for it back in the winter, so I switched that out too this week)
- tranny cooler already installed
- drained ATF fluid last summer (NOT POWER FLUSH - I had read too many horror stories about power flushing these ATX's from this board, so what I did was just drain what I could, left whatever fluid there was in the torque converter, topped it back up, and I intend to get another draining this summer again to get out whatever passed through the TC); ATF filter also changed last summer
- checked the fluid levels, it's ok.
- ATF color is off-red.... kind of a brownish red, but that makes sense since I have newer fluid mixed in with the old fluid from before. But it's not a dark brown or a black color at all.
- no burnt smell to the ATF that I can tell, but then again, what does burnt ATF smell like? It's not a smoky smell to me, just metallic like it's been used (obviously) compared to the new in the bottle plastic smell.
Again, no CEL codes or HOLD light flashes come up. So why am I getting the hard shifting now???? I've left the car parked since I arrived to Lake Louise yesterday, and don't intend to move it again until we have to leave for Jasper tomorrow. Crossing my fingers and hoping the tranny was just too hot, so I'm giving it a rest for as long as possible. I'm too afraid to move the car without consultation first, AND I still have another 5 hours of approximate highway driving time to in order to get back to Edmonton by Wednesday. Am I gonna make it?!?!?! Why am I getting the hard shifting and how do I fix it??!!?
Things I've done recently to the car just for information to help diagnose my situation:
- replaced both CV shafts earlier this week before I took it out on the highway (really obvious and frequent clicking when I turn right, and a little bit on the left, so I replaced both)
- oil change w/ filter
- coolant temperature sensor (was getting a CEL code for it back in the winter, so I switched that out too this week)
- tranny cooler already installed
- drained ATF fluid last summer (NOT POWER FLUSH - I had read too many horror stories about power flushing these ATX's from this board, so what I did was just drain what I could, left whatever fluid there was in the torque converter, topped it back up, and I intend to get another draining this summer again to get out whatever passed through the TC); ATF filter also changed last summer
- checked the fluid levels, it's ok.
- ATF color is off-red.... kind of a brownish red, but that makes sense since I have newer fluid mixed in with the old fluid from before. But it's not a dark brown or a black color at all.
- no burnt smell to the ATF that I can tell, but then again, what does burnt ATF smell like? It's not a smoky smell to me, just metallic like it's been used (obviously) compared to the new in the bottle plastic smell.
Again, no CEL codes or HOLD light flashes come up. So why am I getting the hard shifting now???? I've left the car parked since I arrived to Lake Louise yesterday, and don't intend to move it again until we have to leave for Jasper tomorrow. Crossing my fingers and hoping the tranny was just too hot, so I'm giving it a rest for as long as possible. I'm too afraid to move the car without consultation first, AND I still have another 5 hours of approximate highway driving time to in order to get back to Edmonton by Wednesday. Am I gonna make it?!?!?! Why am I getting the hard shifting and how do I fix it??!!?