It's been a day since I bought the car, and today I think I may have found a slight tranny issue. When shifting from 2nd to 3rd not giving it heavy throttle, it will rev up a bit out of gear, and then it's like it's trying to find 3rd and when it does, it goes in kind of hard. It always goes into gear, and if you give heavy throttle, it won't do it, or if you give it barely enough throttle so that it shifts it won't do it. Is this normal or something to be concerned about? I'm not modding the car, just a college commuter. Thanks.

There is no burning smell when it happens either.

And if the fix is too expensive or not worth it, will it cause any damage if I leave it alone?

After doing some reading, I found that the rough shift is pretty normal, but still not quite sure about the delay and slight rev up.

 

Assuming you are talking about an auto tranny here, then yeah what you describe is a "normal" defect of auto tranny valve body. Folks that have upgraded by buying a modded valve body have corrected it. I have the same issue under light throttle at about 20mph shift point, and so does my brothers 2000 SE. Our cars have been that way since we've owned them and with no signs of getting worse. If your fluid doesn't have a burnt smell and it only happens during the time you described I wouldn't be too concerned. Just keep it maintained. Good Luck

 

Yes it is an automatic . Thank you! I kept reading stuff that said it would eventually cause complete failure and stuff. There are no other issues, none at all so that's why I didn't know. Maybe people I read with the same issue said that they had other issues like a hard shift from 1st to 2nd as well as the flare up, or a delay from park to drive. But mine doesn't have any of that. I'll keep an eye on it. The previous owner claimed it had a flush done to it, but do not know when it was done. I just hope it doesn't get worse.

How much is an upgraded valve body? And how hard is it to do?

 

My car has 243K on it and my brothers has about 230K, both running strong, so if it eventually fails it sure takes a LONGGGG time to do so. I would say yea those folks probably had other issues that compounded the problem. I drain and refill my fluid every 20-25K miles, others have different methods but that's mine and its worked pretty well to this point. I have dropped my tranny pan a few times just to see what the magnets looked like and clean them up. I just say that because checking your pan magnets when changing your fluid can help you determine how well the tranny is doing.

I don't do flushes simply cause I hear bad things on several forums and its not worth the risk to me when I can drain and refill at shorter intervals.

An upgraded valve body I think is about $400 or more. Search the forum for "vb mod" to find all the information you are willing to read lol, there's a lot. To replace your valve body is a messy job but can be easy if you are mechanically inclined, do your research, and prepare before you begin. It is one of those "take your time" jobs.

Congrats on your max purchase, I love my car and wouldn't trade it for anything. You take care of it and it will take care of you!

 

My car has just over 129k miles lol. I'm not sure why they were selling it, never mentioned anything about it. I really hope it can last me through college without any issues. I still don't feel 100% confident about it, but what can I do. I'll pass on the valve body, too expensive for me ATM. How long has your car had the similar issue?

 

My 4AT did that too, usually did it more when cold so I'd just manually upshift it until it warmed up. The original automatic had 195k miles on it when my car was totaled, still shifting fine otherwise.

 

Mine seems to do it more when cold too. And once it warms up, it shifts a bit better. I'm trying to teach myself to not give a lot of throttle before it shifts so that it doesn't rev up. Seems to work pretty good so far. At least I know I can still race people without any issues .

Thanks everyone, it's reassuring to know that there isn't a huge problem with my car like I speculated. I will keep you updated if anything changes.

 

First thing I do when buying a used car is change out ALL the fluids.

Doing an ATF drain & fill on these cars is easier than changing the oil. MaxLife and a bottle of Lubegard Red have made my shifts buttery smooth.

 

I'll be doing an oil change soon, and will probably do an ATF change as well. Thanks for the input.

 

Hey do use lubegaurd red at Everytime u do a atf change? aslo do u change your atf regularly or at how often do you change your atf?