seems as though on the very slightest incline, my 2002 automatic SE is hard shifting in reverse or drive. anyone else experience or is this just the way the car is. kind of hard to explain but hopefully you will know what i mean.

 

Are you using the parking brake? Many people with autos don't think they need to put on the parking brake because the car won't roll. The parking brake is designed to take stress off of the gears (ie 2000lbs of pressure off the gear the size of your thumb!).

My mom and sister used to complain that I put the parking brake on too hard when I drove their cars. They didn't listen to me and a few years later 'drive' was where '3' was !

If you want to keep your auto in good shape, apply the parking brake hard enough so you don't feel any roll when you take you foot of the regular brake. Otherwise, that stress goes right to the tranny.

Or better yet, get a 6SP

 

on steep inclines i do use the parking break because I know it does take a lot of stress of the transmission. I was just wondering if I have a problem with my tranny since I have not noticed this in any other car. I guess I'll just use the parking break and hope for the best in the long run. I hate to question the dealer because that gives them an excuse to fix something that really doesn't need fixing!

 

why am i still a newbie!!!!!!!! how do you get rid of it

 

Post!

And always use the parking brake. If you are under warantee have them fix it.

 

I never thoght of using my parking brake on the inclines. What u r saying makes a lot of sense and I too was experiencing the same problem with my gears going in kinda hard. Ill try the parking brake and see how it works.

 

Your almost there ese, I think you need 35 posts to get to the next level.

 

just keep on posting u r almost there

 

xfirepwr, glad i'm not the only one experiencing this problem. do you think it really is a problem or not. I don't feel that we should have to use a parking brake to park our cars on less than a couple of degree incline. You can really feel the "gear gap" when the car rolls back. As much as a couple of inches i would say. log this as another post closer

 

Actually I experienced the same thing with my mom's 96 caravan. I dont think its something that we should be worried about since if you think about it when you put the car in park on a incline the car rolls down a little (3000+lbs) which makes the gears stick tight. Then when you want to change to drive the pressure that the little roll puts on the tranny is great that is why u have to use force to take it out of park and put it in R or D. It just makes sense to use your parking break (like one other member stated) before you let go of the brake since then u r avoiding the roll.

 

I just recently asked some of my coworkers if they are experiencing the same thing in their cars and 3 of them said that they are, so I guess its normal

 

Yes, but use the parking brake to alleviate it. Set brake before you let your foot off the brake pedal so you don't have all that pressure/weight on the tranny. Most cars do it. Some can get messed up from it.

 

well said......I step on the brake and pull up the e-brake when I park on a hill. Then I shift back to P and release the brake. By doing so, I am not using my tranny to stop the car from moving.

Quote:

Or better yet, get a 6SP

then u will have to use your e-brake, eh?

 

I couldnt agree more. I had to break it down to basics to get my wife to apply to parking brake (e-brake). Told her we might eventually have to get a new tranny if she lets the car roll like that. On another side, my friend at work who drives a 5-spd jetta told had to move my car once and the bastard forced the car to drive with the e-brake on. He told me he didnt know autos had or needed e-brakes.

 

I always use my parking brake. Lots of people have asked me why I use it so much. They don't know that it takes load off the tranny.

 

the 93 mercury sable i used to drive does that

 

The parking brake is your friend

 

Amsoil synthetic ATF helped with my hard shifts out of park.