Been having some shifting problems lately. The symptom is a sluggish shift from 3-4. Shifting to other gears seems fine. If I'm easy on the throttle, I barely notice it. If I'm hard into it, the shifts from 1-2-3 are fairly crisp, but from 3-4 the tach revs almost 1000 rpm before it settles in. Shift to 5 seems OK. Don't feel any slippage while it's in 4th, just the shift. Been doing this for about a month. There is no MIL, no stored or pending codes.

So in I go again to clean the screens, change the trans filter and start the 3x3.

The dual linear solenoid was clean (the one on top). The single (on the front), not so much. Here's the before and after pic of the screen.




Then pull the drain plug to start the 3x3. Doesn't look good. I did this just over a year ago. Fluid looks and smelled OK. I'll get to the rest of the 3x3 in the next week or two after I've logged a few more miles.



So after the first drain/fill, there's not much difference. However, the last time I went though this, it didn't improve until the 2nd cycle. Hopefully, it will improve once I complete the entire cycle.

I have another car (old Cherokee) so I swap vehicles every week. Don't do much driving these days since everything is pretty close and I'm retired so no commute. 250 miles a month on the TL is probably a high estimate.

I've read many, many threads on the AV6 swap and that may be the approach I ultimately take. Besides a persistent oil leak (another thread), it runs great. For now, I'll let it ride. Guess I'll have to drive like an old man.

So what's your guess on how long it will last?

 

Well, I have a quick update. The sluggish shift is gone. Perhaps it a Solstice miracle or a Father's Day gift!

The TL has been sitting for the past 2 weeks while I used my old XJ. I only did 2 of the 3 drain/fill. The drain plug had a little bit on it about 20-30 miles after #1. I don't think I've driven it more than about the same amount since #2. While running some errands with the TL today I simply didn't notice the slip so I found a stretch of road where I could hammer down. In both D5 and in "manual mode" the 3-4 shift was clean, swift and solid. The others were as well.

Perhaps some debris block a passage or two and restricted the flow to 4th and driving it enough finally cleared it out?

Still need to do #3. Perhaps this weekend.