i have 2004 SE 5spd auto withhhhh about 22000 miles on it now and i just noticed today if i downshift into 1st gear at anything aobe liek 10mph BANG!

yea it def. never did this before. it bangs whenever i downshift into first.

i checked the transmission fluid, not burnt and the level is fine...... what should i do?????

 

Describe "bang" a little more or what it does a little more clearly.

Bob

 

you know how when you downshift the engine would rev up some more and make that typical downshifting noise, well instead of that noise, it bands like i hit the gas and put it into drive from neutral.

 

believe it or not, most tiptronic vehicles are not permitted to downshift into first, the max isn't one of them though. The noise you explain doesn't sound like anything the tranny should make, that's why warranties are key.

 

Why would you be shifting into first anyway?

 

i had sort of the same problem the other day, fixxxer... i slowed to go over a road hump. After the hump, i hit the gas just a bit and i got a big bang and it just didn't feel right... i believe it was shifting from 3rd to 2nd. Haven't heard it again since, but has got me worried... only 2200 mi. on my 5 spd... hoping that wasn't the start of more problems to come. I've got a bad feeling though...

 

I'm with DougJones. Why would you downshift to 1st gear. You never downshift to 1st. The lowest you go is 2nd, and that's when you turn a corner. The 1st gear is only used to start moving car on a manual shifter or the manual shift mode on the automatic trans.

I've had the car start moving in 2nd gear from a total stop but that's not a great idea.

 

I've noticed that, in the manual shift or auto mode, it will not downshift automatically to 1st unless you come to a 100% complete stop for more than a second or two.

 

I had the same thing happen as Spunko. I was slowing to make a turn the other day. I was at a slow roll and when I saw no traffic I gave it gas and it sounded like someone hit my transmission with a sledge hammer. I believe the car was shifting from 3rd to 2nd. This really makes me worried and angry at the same time.

 

exactly why i would downshift into first lol...

 

I've had that happen to me twice (both before having the poor-shifting TSB applied), both in the same spot (Wal-Mart parking lot, lol...). Both times it was at night, and I hadn't driven the car very far (only maybe 4 miles) so the tranny might still have been a bit cold. But yeah, the car lurched and it did sound like something hit the tranny pretty hard (I think it started to downshift, then stopped, and then started again really quickly). Both times I was going up a slight incline to a yield, then applied the gas and *WHAM*.

 

so then Monotaur, you're saying that the shifting TSB fixed that problem? If so, then I'm taking mine in next week.

 

Don't know for sure, but it hasn't happened to me after having this TSB performed.

 

What exactly did they do on that TSB??

 

I believe they reprogram the transmission controller to change the shift points when cold so the car doesn't lurch as much. Since my transmission only made this noise when it was relatively cool, I'm guessing that this might fix that problem (especially since I haven't heard it since), but I'm not sure. My car does shift a lot more smoothly now, although not as smoothly as another 04 that I drove (both 04 SE's). Also, my car does feel a bit (very very minor) less torquey when its still cold, but that's ok.. I'd rather it shifted more smoothly.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I think the process takes about 1-2 hours.