I'm a semi newb to automatic vehicles... I've owned manuals my entire life so I don't know if what is happening with my car is normal or its a problem... I own a 05' TL with roughly 9k miles... When coming to a stop at a stop light or slowing down on a off ramp, you can feel the transmission downshift.. Like its using the transmission to help slow down the vehicle.. It almost feels like a second brake kicking in or something.. On top of this, the transmission feels jerky... Like if I ever floor it, it seems like the car is sometimes confused about what gear to shift down too.. I don't know if I'm paranoid or there is a real problem.. Like I said, I've really never owned an auto, so I might just be inexperienced... If these are some symptoms of a real tranny problem, please let me know.. Thanks!

 

I have an '05 TL auto also, and on the rare occurances that I am in the auto mode, I do NOT have that problem. I usually use the manual mode.

I would call the dealer and take them for a ride, and ask them. But don't mention that you have always driven manuals.

 

It's normal. The downshifting is from grade logic. It knows when you are slowing down and therefore downshifts to use engine braking. As for the confused part normal too. It doesn't want to over rev the engine obviously so it's calculating data to make sure it doesn't shift into the wrong gear I am sure. Downside of auto's I guess. Sometimes I really miss driving a manual.

 

its prolly a problem if it does it way too much during a slow down. When I had my auto accord, the car acts normal most of the time, but occasionally it downshifts for me a lot unexpectedly during braking, which seemed abnormal.

 

Yeah it downshifts on me when slowing down sometimes. Its perfectly normal. The way it jerks makes it makes it look like you have a manual to an outside observer. As for flooring it every once and a while, the automatic adapts to the way you drive so it probably gets confused if you dont do that all the time...

 

when in doubt, get it checked out.

 

have the same experience as yours with my 05TL with 8k on it. its normal like everyone says because of grade logic. but coming from a 00 accord cpe, im taking no chances with the tranny. went and had the dealer check it out and change the fluid.

 

even my civic would downshift as u slowed down (even w/o a grade.)

it went 135k b4 w/o a prblm b4 i sold it

as far as the "jerky" when u floor it - that's why some prefer manuals - as u know what u want and when as compared to and autotran.

 

If you are worried about it, take it in. I have had grade logic control in the past and not have had what you have been experiencing. No system is full proof and can instantly shift when you want it.

The 5 AT has not had the greatest rep since when they released the it, it had a lot of failures. More recently in 04, there was an oil jet that was retrofitted in existing models and they added it to the tranny housing. The ECU was changed from earlier models to change shifts points. The cam was changed so the car had less lower end torque than it had intially in the S model. It is all in the various threads on here.

The advice on here is usually pretty good, but make use of your warranty and see what the dealership has to say...