Tranny won't down-shift
 

Today I drove my '04 automatic in very cold temperatures (16 F) and the tranny was up-shifting very hard. When I was coming to a stop it would not down-shift and when approaching a dead stop the car would stall.

The car would not engage first gear unless I upped the revs and shifted from N to D quite hard. If I accelerated from a dead stop normally the car would shift very hard and then stall.

I'm hoping it was just the cold temperatures and needs a tranny fluid change (which I have not done since I bought the car a year ago). I also hope any repairs are covered under the powertrain warranty, I have 49k miles. But I imported the car from US to Canada and I'm not sure if that voided the original warranty.

Anyone else experience these same problems?

do you ever let your car warm up to proper temp. before you drive it?

Well not sure where in Canada you live however the warranty should cover this type of tranny issue.

This was happening after the engine temperature hit its normal level. But that does not mean the tranny was warm since I cannot warm it up without driving.

Did you check the trans fluid?

I towed my car to the dealership this morning and they said the tranny is toast and they will replace it under the powertrain warranty. I'm quite the lucky SOB.

I didn't ask what was wrong with it because I was busy at the time, but I will ask for the details later.

They also couldn't find a service record on the car and wanted to do all of the follwing for $850:

-Coolant flush
-Injector cleaning
-Replace cabin air filter
-Change the rear diff fluid

I'm going to get them to change the rear diff fluid, but the rest I can do myself for much cheaper.

holy shiet... please find out what happened I am very curious to know what happened!

Granted which dealer did you take it too? What area do you live in?? That price is unreal.

the rear diff fluid is easy to swap as well

there is even a video DIY that you can follow in the stickies

I got my car back today with a brand new transmission and the rear diff fluid changed for a total of $91.

I asked what was wrong with the old tranny, and here is my translation of the diagnosis (bare in mind I don't know much/anything about transmissions):

A unit within the transmission that locks was faulty and would not unlock when engaging into 1st gear. Reverse doesn't require this, which is why R worked fine. Since the repair to this specific piece is too complex and damage may have impacted the rest of the transmission, it was cheaper to replace the whole tranny. The thing that shocks me the most is that there was absolutely no warnings of this problem. The day before I first noticed this the car was driving fine with no signs of trouble. The other thing is that there are only 49k miles on the car and I treat it like my child (not sure about the previous owner, but the car is mint)

Maybe someone else on this site can explain better...

I went to the same dealer that wanted to charge me $800 to install daytime running lights when I imported the car (I went to the dealer downtown Toronto who did it for $250). This is the woodchester dealer in Mississauga that CAA would tow my car to for free.

Wow, glad they took care of it for you. It's not common at all that the AT's go out on our cars. The MT's have the crappy service history.

In australia, we get the 350gt-8 versions, where we have the 8 speed cvt gearbox.

Mine had the exact problem 2 months ago.. and i havent driven it for a month.
Problem is.. this gear box is uber rare and expensive, and is gonna cost me around 5k AUD to fix it.

I feel your pain bro... i gotta get a new tranny from Japan... :dunno: