Thread: Help again with trans shifting a bit hard

Man I'm getting tired of this. Just when I get to finally start enjoying my car after all the hard work I put in, something like this pops up.

Let me give you some history. Got the car in May, dropped the trans and changed ALL the trans solenoids to the components that Dave @ Triple Edge sells (all high quality Borg Warner stuff), filled it with Dex 6, and everything was peachy other than needing the engine replaced, which I did in August. The car has had NO problems since then.

So here in MD we just got a lot of snow, and the weather is really cold. I've had no problems for the past few days, was able to drive around just fine; car never got stuck, never gunned the engine in the snow.

Anyway, was driving to work this morning, and I'm cruising at about 30-35MPH. The trans shifts from 2nd gear to 3rd gear, and it shifts HARD. Not hard as in banging, but the car lurches forward at the gear change. I thought I hit a bump, so I try it a few more times, and, yep, it shifts hard from 2nd gear to 3rd gear. 1st to 2nd is perfectly fine. After a little while, it sort of goes away. Also, it might be just me, but I think that 2nd gear is finishing at a too high RPM before it shifts into 3rd. I think. I might be wrong.

When I got to work I checked the trans fluid and the fluid level. It's still red, not burnt, no funny smell, and the level is perfect.

What could be causing this? Would it be the cold weather (I doubt it)? Or is this a far worse problem that I'm hoping is not?

I really don't have any money or time for a new trans or to be messing around with this right now.

Would a shift kit be an easy fix me up?

Originally Posted by Lawngoose

what is your gear ratio? The reason why I ask, is that when I got a new transmission the ratio was different. I had to reprogram my PCM...because it was shifting hard.

Have you dropped the pan to see if you have any metal chunks in it?

I have no idea what the gear ratio is for the transmission.

So far, since I had the car, I dropped the trans pan THREE TIMES. There have been NO chunks in it at all. The last time I changed the trans fluid was back in early August. I'd think that trans fluid should last at least 6 months to a year, no?

Originally Posted by Lsick7

Same thing happened to me. I had my trans swapped and wasn't informed as to just how important the tune was with 3.29s and it shifted like dirt. Now it's tuned for those gears and it shifts beautifully.

Well, the thing is that I didn't exactly do a rebuild. All I did was change all the solenoids in the trans while I was in there. I don't think that would warrant me to tune the PCM would it?

And here's a small update.

Just got back from a shop on my way home.

NO error codes. Nothing. Not for the transmission or the engine.

I really didn't feel it that much driving home. Everything felt normal. Car didn't do anything weird. I also pushed the car a bit, and everything felt normal.

When I was in the shop, I told the mechanic that I changed the trans fluid about 4-5 months ago, and then inquired whether or not it made any sense for me to change it again due to this issue. He said that I shouldn't have to. Since he's not trans privy, he recommended me to another place. Don't have plans to go over there at the moment.

So what do you guys think now? Just do a shift kit?

Originally Posted by gtpinsc

get it scanned for codes

I just posted the update in my last post where I stated that I already did that and there were absolutely NO codes at all.