Hi all!

I have just had the transgo shift kit installed for my 2003 5AT and im a little concerned that something is wrong. From the threads I have been reading on here people say when you take it easy >20% throttle you hardly notice the shifts. When you go WOT it throws you back into your seat and takes off.

Now I have only driven it home in stop start traffic but shifts from 1-2 and 2-3 (all in D) are extremely harsh and I get a jolt like someone has pushed the back of your seat. The jolt is not always really bad but its always there to some degree. A few times when I floored it it was like the transmission didn't know what to do. It took like 1 - 2 sec before it decided to downshift. (Again not always like this).

The mechanic who installed it for me said it can take a little while for the transmission to "learn".

Has anyone else experienced this? If so did it get better over time?

 

How many miles have you put on the transmission? If it's not many, give it time. The air has to work it's way out of the solenoids. I just installed a Stillen VB (same thing) and the instructions said to take it easy for 50-75 miles until the air gets out. Mine was very harsh too for a couple of days, but now it's normal.

 

It has done about 91000kms so approx 55000 miles. I drove it this morning and it was a lot smoother!

 

The car has to learn the new VB. My car was the same way, I had my friend with a consult clear my TCM. There is no set mileage for it to learn so it may be fast.

the 1-2 shifts felt like someone rear ended you.

 

That's what I found as well. Does yours still do it?

I find that if I take my foot off the accelerator just before it changed gears its exactly as you describe...like someone rear ended me. I will try again tonight and see what its like. Hopefully it has calmed down a bit now.

 

So the car has settled down now and when left in D you can hardly feel the shifts. However when in manual mode its a little different!

I decided to change gears in M mode on the way home and it felt like being rear ended again! The shifts were the same regardless of how fast I accelerate.

Anyone else find this?

 

If you're still up, go ahead and disconnect the battery now until you wake up. It'll reset the ECU.

This is the way to do it through the pedals if you want to do it that way as well.

http://www.6mt.net/forum/performance...rocedures.html

Doing it through the pedals won't loose your radio presets/memory/etc.

ECU resets reset every computer running the car's engine, including the TCM which learns how you drive, and shifts the amount of fluid that pushes the activation of gears.

 

So I did the reset like you suggested. When I leave the car in D its fine. Manual mode is pretty rough / clunky but i rarely use it.

Hopefully it will get better with time!

 

That's normal. That's how mine is and the 2 other 35s with them I've driven in.

 

Ahh thanks for the confirmation DrewDrew!

 

you shouldn't notice it too much - but when you have a 3 >>1 down shift there will be a little lag and then it slams into gear. Normally when under full throttle. The way around this is if you are in manual mode to manually shift down before accelerating.

I notice it with a 5>>3, 4>>2, or 3>>1 downshift only

When the engine is cold I also notice while putting into gear from Park to Drive. If you got to Reverse first and let rpms drop, then proceed to Drive it is unnoticeable.

 

Yep I have noticed this! Will this damage the transmission in any way?

 

If your car is tune the tuner can take some of that out if you like.

 

THANKS for posting this. I was right on the cusp of getting a transgo. My fun-time in the car is usually random spurts of going WOT from like 20-60 or 40-70 so I'd probably hit plenty of those double downshifts as it is spur of the moment in D mode. Lag + slamming into gear = no fun and probably cause vdc to kick in and the engine to bog.

 

So if I get my car tuned they can reduce the harshness of the 3 >1 , 4>2 etc gear changes?