Dear All - recently, my 2008 RL (45K miles with CPO) won't shift into 4th or 5th when going down slight to moderate downhill sections. However, it will immediately shift when the road turns flat or when using the manual shifters. The car is easily capable of doing 45mph on the flat at around 1,500 rpm so it pains me to see it stuck at 3,000 rpm doing the same speed downhill! Does this sound like an easy clue to something that might be wrong?

Other transmission quirks that may/may not be related include a very high pitched whine (only at 53 mph +/- 1 mph and only when the transmission under load) that was not fixed by the propeller shaft replacement and occasional very forceful shifts into gear when moving from park (and when the car is still warm).

Any and all opinions gratefully received.

Thanks and take care - Kevin

 

How fast are you going and are you trying to accelerate? The car is likely using the transmission as a brake to stop unwanted acceleration.

 

The tranny issue sounds normal, mine does that. Did it act differently before? I have a slight whine on mine as well, could be prop shaft, maybe not. It's so minor it could be normal, never noticed it before reading about it here. And the clunk coming out of park is because you are parked on a hill. I don't car how slight the grade is. ALWAYS use the parking brake when parked on a hill. Apply the parking brake in neutral, release your foot off the brake pedal and let the car rock back against the parking brake, then put it in park. Now good luck teaching that to your female counterparts. Took many tries with my wife, but she has it down.

 

Thanks for the feedback - i didn't think of the possibility that the car is engine braking on a downhill section. Good point. The piece of road it always happens on is travelled at 40 - 50 mph and as I say, it sometimes stays in 3rd gear. Anyway - it sounds like it may be normal. I do always set the parking brake and will try the rocking back technique.

Thanks again and take care - K

 

That technique was taught to me by the Mazda service center. We had a 626 that was CRASHING into reverse and we used the parking brake. It was the way the motor mounts worked and something else, they had to replace the mounts and then showed me how to park on a hill and it never happened again, so this procedure WILL prolong the life of your motor mounts and possibly transmission.

 

This car seems to have a pretty good sense of inclines which I assume comes from a gyroscope connected to the ECU. I have trouble getting it to up-shift on up hill inclines even when there is almost no load stopping it. As soon as I get to the top, it shifts.

 

Yeah, mine does all this, it's supposed to do it. I grew up on manuals and this one acts like a proper driver would shift a manual. This auto tranny does NOT do all the things that made me hate automatics as a kid. Like shifting while you are in a hard corner, it knows when you are hard driving. Awesome, just hope it does not break after my extended warranty is up. I always envision the scenario of just leaving the keys in the car and walking away. There will come a time when a repair is just not worth it. I just hope that the car gets to well north of 150K miles when this happens so I can get my moneys worth of the car.