Just wanted to see if this was normal. When the car is in motion at slow speeds and I give it a tiny bit of throttle - it seems like the clutch does not engage until about 1500 RPM, Almost as if the car is a manual shift transmission. It seems like the transmission is Free Reving itself until 1500 or so RPM and then Clutch engages and everything is normal. The shifts are all smooth as butter... Is this normal?

 

No, not normal.

Sounds like a slipping 1st gear.

Auto trans doesn't have a clutch - it has a torque converter and cluch packs for gears.

Just because shifts are smooth doesn't always indicate good transmission operation. If the shifts are soft you are burning up the gears with excess slippage.

 

Anything i should do to help this issue? Fluid Change?

 

How many miles on the car and when was your last trans fluid change?

 

Miles 83,000 . Dont know when Fluid Was changed. i checked it - it was clean fluid...

 

Actually I'm experiencing the same thing as you. Really does not matter what gear I am, if I kick the throttle a little bit, it'll have a little bit of leeway to rev. If i'm off the throttle the rpms drop to idle and when I get back on the throttle it seems have to rev itself up to a certain rpm and that's when it feels like it grabs the gear.

Honestly I think it might be normal just the way automatic transmissions work. When you step off the throttle the rpms just drop instead of holding the gear. So when there is no throttle, I guess it just isn't really holding the gear because automatics need to be smooth, hence the space to rev. If the tranny holds the gear no matter what it wouldn't exactly be buttery smooth like it's supposed to.

 

^^Same thing happens to mine. Everything feels fine but yea when I'm cruising and hit the throttle the rpms go up maybe like 300 or so till I feel any acceleration. I really think its normal.

 

^ Yes its normal for, The RPMs to drop near idle when you take your foot off the gas when you are going slower then 45mphish. And the RPM does not climb under very light acceleration.

But If you punch it you should feel no slipping at all or any of this stuff, try that OP give it a launch.

The Torque converter is very complex in this car in what it does lol

 

Im experiencing the same thing and another problem.
5th is slipping and wont hold on the highway. Its an AT but im constintly downshifting into 4th on the highway. The transmission fluid is old and burnt. should i change it or not ive heard mixed reviews... Its an 03 AT Sedan with 114000K.

 

There is nothing wrong with changing the fluid at the very least you are able to rule it out as a cause. My 03 G35 auto sedan rarely has a hard shift under light throttle but when the transmission has been used for a while it seems to take more throttle and a few seconds to get it moving off the line.