Ok I am sure this has been spoken of before so pls don't bang up on me...

My auto tranny shifts with no problems and overall still feels strong at 150k.
However, anytime I slow down, say for a stop light and then the light changes before the I completely stop and take off again, 1st gear is slow as molasses. I mean OMG is it slooooow.

Now, if I completely stop and take off again, there are no problems....car pulls normally in 1st to 2nd and so on.

It seems like the tranny is taking too long to shift into 1st (stays in 2nd) when I slow down. Am I correct? If not, does anyone know what is going on? Is my tranny going? I've had this problem for a while. I love my automagic. LOL. TIA.

 

That's not a bug, it's a feature.

It's normal, for some reason, it stays in second unless you come to a complete stop.

 

mines doesn't atleast not yet try changing your tranny fluid my supra felt like that got rid of it thinking the tranny was going then i got the maxxx.....>

 

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Yes unfortunately our transmissions are designed to NOT downshift unless you completely come to a stop or completely floor it, often you will be stuck in 3rd gear at 15-20 MPH, but step on the gas a little bit and it will downshift, do you have any mods done to your tranny?

 

No mods. I see what you're saying but I still think it is abnornmally slow. As you mention I can step on it a little bit and will shift but it feels so weird to have to do that. I don't remember my 3rd gen behaving the same under the same cirumstances. Anyway, I guess I'll live with it.

I recently drove a '97 Acura CL 3.0. Our cars are comparable but the Max has a little more torque for sure. The auto tranny in that car is far superior to the one in the Max- hands down.

Thanks for your feedback guys. I thought I could adjust "something" but no such luck!

 

The 3rd gen tranny was controlled by throttle response in other words... the tranny shifted hard or soft depending on much throttle you gave the car, I forget the technical term. If it does feel entirely slow first check the fluid level, then MANUALLY downshift to 1 or keep the car in 1 and see how it feels if it feels strong then your tranny is fine, and it's just the tranny comp. controlling the upshifts and downshifts when you are in Drive...

 

That's a good idea. During my lunch break from work I will give that a shot!

 

get a shift kit for the tranny they go for about 150 at transgo.com

 

The shift kit wont help with your problem though.

 

Alright guys...

During lunch I manually shifted throughout the gear range and as I expected the tranny shifts super smooth. So....as it has already been said, it is the tranny control unit that is determining the shift into first gear when slowing down. Sorry guys, it is DISGUSTING to know that a 10 MPH I am still in third or even second gear.

I am going to drive my Aunt's 99 Max w/ about 30k on the clock to see how her tranny shifts when slowing down.

Thanks for all the feedback!

 

Oh boy here we go with another manually downshifting debate. I'll begin. No it isn't bad for the tranny.