Hey guys - I wanted to get some details from your experiences.

I have an 01 CL (automatic of course). I have occasionally noticed harsh down shifting. This seems to occur if I have been cruising around 60-80 in 5th gear and then press the gas pedal so that is shifts to 3rd. It will pause a second while the engine revs up, then BAM - catches 3rd gear.

This probably happens 1 out of every 5 downshifts.

Also, if I drive in SS mode, I can reproduce it pretty easily. Drive in 4th or 5th, let off the gas to slow down a bit, down shift to 2nd or 3rd (respectively), then immediately step on the gas when the car starts to initiate the down shift. BAM - the car catches gear.

It does this probably 3 out of 5 times.

One last occurance (and this occurs every time), is when I am comming to a stop. Instead of reaching a complete stop, I'll step on the gas to accelerate right before the car stops. The car seems to be in the middle of it's down shift to 1st gear - BAM the car catches 1st and lurches foward. There is no smooth transition.

Is this normal - or should I just not drive like that? Actually I don't really drive like that in SS mode - it's just easier to reproduce the harsh down shifts that way. I would think the transmission should be able to smoothly react to these things. I have had no other transmission problems, but the harsh downshifting seems to be increasing in frequency.

I have noticed with various cars that some automatic transmissions just work better than others. For example - most Dodge cars I have driven experience some of the behavior I described above. They are also notorious for failing.

What are your experiences? Have any of you guys notice the behavior in your CLs? I current have around 38k miles on the car.

 

i have the same mileage as you and my car acts just as you describe. im on tranny #2 since 20k and im sure this one wont last to much longer...

oh well i hear the NEW tranny is just fine, so let em blow up.