unsprung

I'm guessing this is a tranny issue, but I figured I'll get some input from you guys before seeing what my mechanic says...

While driving, if I press the gas pedal down smoothly, the car seems to accelerate fine. However, if I'm driving at a leisurely pace and I mash the gas pedal, the engine will rev up, but it seems to not go any faster. When I release the gas slightly, the car seems to jolt and then speed up. I've seen the RPMs go up to ~4-5K before releasing, in which case they will drop, most likely meaning it shifted from 1st to 2nd. I haven't had the opportunity yet to drive it on the highway with this new situation, so I'm not sure if the 2-3 shift is the same. I haven't tried a manual 1-2 shift either, in which case I'm not sure if that would be beneficial or do more damage.

The odd thing is, if I accelerate smoothly, everything seems fine. And, if I keep the power switch on Comfort mode only, the car feels a bit better but mashing the gas will still result in the same high engine revving, same speed situation. Testing in only Power mode doesn't feel as nice as Comfort, esp. with the shift point from 1-2 being at 3500 rather than 2500 in Comfort mode.

I'll check the fluid tomorrow, but the light hasn't come on yet so I'm fairly certain that's OK. I'm hoping it's not the tranny going, but all signs point to yes so far. I guess at 126K, it was only a matter of time...

davebond007

Yup, tranny slipping. It's just that time of the year for them to start going out. You might be in for a rebuild/new transmission.

Luckily I have a 5spd and it has some fresh Redline MT90 for some smooth shifting. Even when the car is cold its still silky and soft.