Transmission Question

[redtigerrocks]

Is it normal, on cold start, for a little lag in 1st gear on a auto tranny? If I keep my car warmed up it shifts perfectly from 1st gear but if I drive straight off cold start , it lags (a really really tiny lag). Also what RPM do you guys advise not going over? I've never pushed the car over 3-3.5k and I don't wanna abuse my transmission.
Thanks
Its fora 94 V6

[fenixus]

i think there should be no lag at all ever. if there is it means the tranny gear slips or something. how old is the fluid in tranny and differential ?

i sometimes go through full range of rpm until rev limiter, don't do it often, but well, sometimes (always on fully warmed up engine though) i do because i like it

[redtigerrocks]

differential- no clue...
transmission - around 10k miles ago.
but the weird thing is that its only at cold start. hm.

[JohnGD]

The 94 uses Aisin A541E transmission. It's not as good as the A140E but not bad. When you say a "little lag", do you mean the transmission needs more MPH before it shifts? Or do you mean it takes a little longer to shift into 2nd? When it's cold, usually the transmission won't shift into OD. Unless fluid viscosity had something to do with it?

What ATF did you use? Dino?

The first thing I'd do is check the fluid condition and level. When was the last time the pan was dropped and cleaned?

Originally Posted by redtigerrocks

Is it normal, on cold start, for a little lag in 1st gear on a auto tranny? If I keep my car warmed up it shifts perfectly from 1st gear but if I drive straight off cold start , it lags (a really really tiny lag). Also what RPM do you guys advise not going over? I've never pushed the car over 3-3.5k and I don't wanna abuse my transmission.
Thanks
Its fora 94 V6

[redtigerrocks]

By lag i mean that it takes a little bit more gas than usual to shift gears (just a little tap). I'm kind of scared to take it for a transmission flush because a mechanic said that if you flush the tranny fluid after a long period time of not flushing the tranny fluid, the transmission will start slipping/get worse. I currently have 172k the last fluid change was around 160k

[JohnGD]

Shift points are decided by the ECU. So I'm not really sure why 1-2 shift point was delayed.

Yes, there was the saying about new fluid with new detergent can clean off the varnish and plug things. But I think drain/refill is fine. You'll still have about 50% of the dirty stuff in there.

I'd drop the pan, change out the strainer, wipe clean the pan and magnets (cleanliness is important, no lints), and refill using (1) Valvoline MaxLife ATF or (2) Castrol Import Multi-vehicle ATF. Make sure you do the differential too.

Originally Posted by redtigerrocks

By lag i mean that it takes a little bit more gas than usual to shift gears (just a little tap). I'm kind of scared to take it for a transmission flush because a mechanic said that if you flush the tranny fluid after a long period time of not flushing the tranny fluid, the transmission will start slipping/get worse. I currently have 172k the last fluid change was around 160k

[redtigerrocks]

so its safe to do a tranny flush (change the filter too) after such a long time?

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by redtigerrocks

so its safe to do a tranny flush (change the filter too) after such a long time?

tranny flush does NOT equal to drain & refill procedure JohnGD mentioned.

he wants you to drain the fluid through drain plug in tranny pan (it's a 10mm hex bit) then remove tranny's pan mounting bolts (it think 10mm socket) to open it up for pan cleaning and strainer replacement/cleaning.

since you already moved things around by doing a flush at dealer 10k miles ago, then there is nothing to loose now

make sure you drain & refill differential too, it might have never been touched yet... dealer might have skipped it (they did it on my car).

[JohnGD]

There may be some machines out there that still pump solvent into the system. This kind of "flush" machines should NEVER be used.

There are a lot of "fluid exchangers" out there. Basically they can change out nearly all the fluid in the system, be it brake fluid, ATF, or coolant.

The last drain/refill (?) was done 10K ago. So I would rather just drop the pan, inspect for debris, change the strainer/pan gasket, and then fill it back up. Don't forget to do the differential too.

[12340987]

What you are describing sounds like what I have been assured is normal behavior. The computer does delay upshifts from first gear to warm the engine faster. My car also does this and I hate it. One thing you might try is moving out of northern Idaho like I am preparing to do, or buying a 5 speed like I was going to just after some other guy beat me to it.

If you are having to go all the way to 3k RPM to upshift I would inspect the linkage on the throttle body, as I believe the ones that goes to the transmission affects shift points (not too sure, might just be a kickdown cable.). The cables shouldn't be too loose or tight.

If your thermostat is stuck open it would take longer for the car to warm up might affect upshifts for longer than necessary. If the coolant temp sensor is really old and slow that might also affect it. When I changed mine I think my upshifts seem to happen a lot sooner after cold starts, but that might just be in my head.

If the tranny fluid is full, pink/red and doesn't smell burnt I don't see any reason to change it. If it was flushed 10k ago the filter should have been freed of debris and should also be good. It couldn't hurt to inspect it visually I guess by dropping the pan. The axle fluid is a good idea to change, though.

[zythr]

[quote=12340987;3227375]What you are describing sounds like what I have been assured is normal behavior. The computer does delay upshifts from first gear to warm the engine faster. My car also does this and I hate it.


Lol, Why? Here's a question for you, when you first wake up in the morning, are you wide eyed and alert or does it take you a few minutes?

[redtigerrocks]

Sounds reasonable..... Dang is everyone out their with Gen 3's have perfectly smooth transmissions? By reading this forum, it seems like everyone does...