I've noticed almost every morning, cold engine, I hit the highway (easy driving in D5) and hold her at 50mph. About 3 miles down the road, every time, I feel a "jerk" from the front end which seems like either:

1. What it feels like when VSA/TCS kicks in.

2. Tranny shift down and up real quick.

3. Loss of engine power for 1/2 second.

Anyone else ever have this? On a warm engine/tranny this doesn't happen.

 

if you're around 50mph, it may be the car undecided whether to use 5th or 4th, especially when cold 'cuz it'll usually shift at higher rpms when cold to help heat up the engine quicker. and everytime it shifts there'll be a loss in power for that second (seems more prominent between 4th and 5th for some reason). and it may be jerkier 'cuz it's colder.

try leaving it in d4 next time you're going about 50mph and see if that changes anything.

 

come to think of it, i had a friend w/ a cl-s that just said he had the same problem around 60-65mph.

he tried to explain it to the dealer as the car misfiring, but they couldn't reproduce it and he said it only happens every once in awhile.

 

It's the torque converter lock-up engaging. If you look at your RPM gauge, you should notice a 300-500 RPM drop when the lock-up clutch engages.

 

Maybe its your Tranny??

 

i kinda ruled that out 'cuz of hte way he described it. i don't think it should be that jerky when the torque converter locks/unlocks even when it's cold, and there shouldn't be any noticable loss in power (like described as the tcs kicking in), especially when only cruising.

 

I never get the tranny jerk when i'm cruising, but I do get this once in a while when I let off the gas a little.... I thought this was normal..... is this what you are talking about?

 

That is normal. That "backlash" is the torque converter.

 

Drove this morning in same manner but in D4 as suggested earlier. No jerk this time. Maybe it was just at that "I dunno if I want 4th or 5th" stage.

 

i guess you should stay in d4 if you're going less than 55mph or until your car is sufficiently warmed up.

 

Hi guys,

Thought I'd share my experience cause this might be it.

Not too long ago around end Oct, my car was doing the same thing as described here. I thought nothing of it cause of winter gas and the cold weather and from driving all american cars the ACURA was still smooth.

Then in Nov one morning it would not start. Would turn over but not start. Got it towed and dealer said 2 and 5 cylinder was flooded, so they changed all 6 plugs just to be sure. Worked fine but it was not the same.

Then I got stranded the first week of Dec with my check engine light on and the car misfiring like crazy. It was NOT drivable.!!! I was in shock. A 5 month old car (HONDA) with only 14000kms have a reliability problem !!!

To make a long story short they found this time that one of connectors to the coil packs in cylinder 2 and 5 had a bent pin when the connector was put on and hence it was not always providing a good contact. The dealer said it came from the factory like this cause they do not need to remove the connection to the coil pack to change the plugs, since they can remove the entire unit.

All I can say is the car is now silky smooth at any speed in any temperature. If any of you are having any of these issues then have a dealer check it out.. I know I did not do it cause I thought they would say the same thing... "they would just say it is normal and thats how the car is.", but I guess I found out the hard way.

I hope this helps!

 

yeah, but if this is only happening between d4 and d5, and doesn't happen when he's in d4, then it's more likely the tranny is undecisive when cold and going around 50mph.

in your case, wouldn't that be happening in every gear all the time?

 

The transmission holds the gears a lot longer when the engine is still cold. It's not recommended to rev the engine higher than 3000 with a cold engine.. I usually make sure my engine starts to warm up before getting on the highway, but yes, the tranny jerks hard (kinda like the feeling of a shift kit) with a cold engine.
Ed

 

yeah, especially when it's undecisive between 4th and 5th.

hey TLatVULS, another thing you can do is use SS if you want to be in 5th, although as high as 4th is i don't think it's necessary at 50mph.

 

"I've noticed almost every morning, cold engine, I hit the highway (easy driving in D5) and hold her at 50mph. About 3 miles down the road, every time, I feel a "jerk" from the front end which seems like either:

1. What it feels like when VSA/TCS kicks in.

2. Tranny shift down and up real quick.

3. Loss of engine power for 1/2 second.

Anyone else ever have this? On a warm engine/tranny this doesn't happen."



If I were you, I would call the dealer and have them order a new a new tranny just incase its the transmission. You would get a head start. Becareful, My tranny just wet out the other day and the first sypthoms are "car jerks like VSA is kicking in"

 

I just bought my 99 TL about 3weeks ago & already the Maintenance light is on & I feel the car jerking alot. (not to forget some vibration) It only had 30k on it, I moved it up to 32k now, are these things normal?? I think it's my tranny because b4 this car I had a 97 Plymouth Breeze (HORRIBLE CAR) & I had the same jerking problem, then BAM!!!!!! tranny blew... what do u guys think??