my old tranny had that 2nd gear kick in the mornings and it lasted 100k miles like that but i hated it that tranny gave out at 280k miles. i got a used tranny with 160k miles its smooth when its warm but in the mornings or anytime car isn't warm it will KICK into 2nd gear like it has a damn shift kit in it lol but all other gears are smooth.



im running coastal ATF dex merc. new fluid and filter still clean but hard swift to 2nd. does it for 2 miles then goes away.

 

my zx2 does it as well. every morning there are 2 hard shifts, and after that it's smooth. the fluid is just getting started to circulate in your trans. i don't think it's a great concern.

 

Let it warm up... I almost always do, and unless im over 3K she rides smooth.. Also for the record If you let off of the throttle when you know its about to shift it greatly increases the smoothness of said shift. Oh and change your fluid every 30K.

kthxbii

 

I swear that when I ran a cycle of Auto-RX in the tranny and then switched to amsoil ATF at about 150K, it definitely helped the cold jerky shift to the point it was barely noticeable.

 

I think replacing the shift solenoids or the drop resistor would help with shifting. Think the shift solenoid is located inside the tranny tho.


EDIT:

Check the FSM. Their suggested troubleshoot method is to check TPS first and check VSS too.

 

Welcome to the 4th gen automatic transmission.

That morning cold kick into 2nd is normal.
Stop trying to fix it, your wasting your time.

 

you could try cycling it through the gears a couple of times in the morning.

 

i was thinking about running amsoil ATF but little expensive. specilly cause mine took 12 quarts to fill torque converter and complete tranny after installing it.


i was thinking about that lucas stop slip bottle they sell you guys think that would smoothen the shift?

 

we have 10 qts i thought...maybe ur flooding the tranny and it slips from over filling?

 

i don't know about lucas, man. wife had a bravada before i30, and the tranny started slipping (had a leak). put a whole big-*** bottle of lucas in it and some trans fluid. Not sure if it helped, but the car started moving, and shifted ok for the most part, but she lost OD. If you do decide to put some, don't put too much in. The stuff is pretty thick.

 

I can say its the TPS. I had the same problem shifting very hard into 2nd gear even the wheels will spin like a stick shift when going into gear. I picked up a throttle body assembly from maxfever on here with the TPS in place and I installed it and the shifting is barely noticeable. No more wheel spinning either.

 

if it were a tps, then why would it shift smooth after a couple of shifts?

 

I know its a bit confusing but mine was shifting through the rest of gears fine and also if you drive grandma style, it will shift into 2nd smoothly also. I even checked the TCM for codes and it had the TPS stored on it but it never flashed it to me. That's what made me change the unit and it has made a drastic difference. Go to a junkyard and find one with low mileage and take the entire throttle body assembly with the TPS on it and just swap it. You will see the difference.....I have

 

i doubt its the tps because other then this car runs perfect.

 

thought i would pop in because my 3rd gen does the the same thing

mine will kick/jerk a bit from 1st to 2nd for about 10 shifts/5 minutes and after it warms up its like butter. i had my tranny looked at by a professional last year and he said its nothing to worry about. i just grandma shift at 1.5-2k from 1st to 2nd for a bit then shes good to go

 

ya i guess ill just have to put up with it lol my other tranny did same thing and lasted for ever.