I have a 07 tl-s and when i first start the car, put it into Drive,the car jerkswhen i start driving, but if i stand still until the jerkiness happens, its a lot less but it always does that after a couple seconds of putting it into gear. and also when just casually speeding up, the car jerks and also when slowing down the car jerks a little forward and im wondering how i can fix this. just hoping i wouldnt have to get a whole new transmission

 

APP sensor.

Or pressure switches and transmission fluid change.

Both DIYs can be found in our garage!

 

Thats what I was thinking. It feels like there is a delay when the gears switch and that's why it's jerky. Thanks btw

 

Could it possibly be anything else?

 

Possibly the engine and transmission mounts. Mine had a similar jerkiness when it would go into gears, especially when downshifting via Grade Logic. It would feel like the car was slamming itself into gear and would noticeably jerk the car.

I found that my upper and lower, rear transmission mounts were bad. After I replaced both, the jerkiness when downshifting is gone. I can still feel the 4th to 2nd gear drops, but it's much better than before.

I was also having some jerkiness between 1st and 2nd. This weekend, I found the front engine mount vacuum line was not connected when the dealership replaced the front mount prior to me buying the car. It seems like the shift from 1st to 2nd is a lot smoother after driving to work this morning.

Another way to feel out if one of the mounts may be bad is to see how the car is idling in Park. Shift it into either Reverse or Drive and see if the car starts to shake more. I was noticing an increased amount of shaking and rattling in some panels when I took the car out of Park. Getting the vacuum line back on seemed to help. Sitting at lights this morning, I could honestly not tell the car was on if I had my hands of the steering wheel.

If you feel a delay in the car switching gears, definitely replace the pressure switches ASAP. I was having a similar issues and the pressure switches made a major difference. Basically the pressure switches do exactly what you would expect, they apply pressure to engage the clutch packs to shift gears. When they get older, the PSI they apply gets out of tolerance, so they apply less pressure, which can cause the clutch packs to slip and will cause sloppy shifts. They are one of the major reason you hear about the Honda V6 transmissions failing. Not so much the 07 and 08 TL's, as they got the RL's transmissions, which are a little beefier, but are still prone to failure. Once the pressure switches start to fail, the clutch packs start getting extra heat build up every shift, which will burn them up. Another issue is that Honda changed their recommended tranny fluid replacement interval up to like 60k miles. Once the friction modifiers wear down, the fluid is not doing the job it's intended to do. The combination of the failing pressure switches and the failing fluid causes the extra heat buildup that kills the clutch packs.

This is how I understand how these transmissions work based on the reading I have done, so hopefully I am not passing along bad info.

I'd inspect the front and side engine mounts for any obvious signs of wear first. You'll have to pull up the rubber heat shield boot around them. If they have never been replaced, do the pressure switches regardless of how the mounts look. If the fluid has not been done, definitely do that as well.

 

The car idles perfectly fine. But it could possibly be the engine mounts. I'll take a look when I get the chance and will let you know what the problem was. Thank you for the reply

 

How many miles are on the car?

It seems the engine mounts are very prone to going bad around 100k miles.

 

I have around 140k. So quite a bit

 

I've had the car for about 3 and a half months and this just started recently.

 

After reading the OP again, check your mounts. The front one especially likes to go. If the front one is bad, generally you want to replace the side engine mount as well.

Check the transmission mounts as well. My rough downshifting went away when I replaced my lower, rear mount. It was sheared in half, so useless. Top mount may be bad as well. Top tranny mount seems most common from the the threads I have seen recently. Lower, front tranny mount seemed fine on my car.

Check the condition of your tranny fluid. It should be pink on the dipstick. It should not smell burnt either.

What gears are you feeling the car be jerky in? Is the jerky-ness only when it is shifting gears? The original post is a little hard to follow.

If it is jerking right when you get on the gas when you are at a dead stop, it could be an issue with a bushing or a ball joint, potentially. If it's when you hit about 10 MPH, that's when mine shifts from 1st to 2nd, it could be the mounts or the fluid.

 

So think of it this way. As soon as you start the car, put it into drive and give it a couple seconds without pressing the gas, it's jerky just a little bit but if i put it into drive and press the gas right away it jerks like someone is about the stall on a manual car. It only jerks in the lower gears when up shifting and downshifting.

could there possibly be a transmission sensor? Cuz it feels like when I put it into drive, it feels like there is a delay and takes a couple seconds to go from park to drive.

I don't know if this is normal on this car but the rpms drop pretty quickly when I let go of the gas

 

I don't know if this matters but should some type of warning be popping up on the speedometer?

 

Jerkiness is low gears when shifting makes me think it's the mounts. Like I said, mine was pretty bad before I replaced two of the three transmission mounts. Similar symptoms to what you are describing. Still was jerky from 1st to second. Reconnected vacuum line that the dealer neglected to do and shifts from 1st to 2nd are much smoother now.

The delay between shifting from Park to Reverse or Drive is normal for this car, from what I understand. It will take it a second or so. If it's taking an exceedingly long time, consider changing the fluid. There is a gear position sensor on the transmission, but the symptoms of that failing sound different than what you are experiencing.

Has the timing belt been done on this car? I know my brothers car was having some weird issues with surging and jerking forward without hitting the gas. Timing belt shredded not to long after. Head had to be replaced. If it's the original TB and the car's at 140k, it's basically a ticking time bomb, in my opinion.

RPMs dropping quickly I don't believe is an issue. mine will drop quite quickly if I let off the gas as well.

If you aren't getting any lights on the dash, then chances are nothing major is wrong with the car. Granted, the pressure switches will almost never give a check engine code.

Here are the three things I would do:

1. Inspect mounts for cracking/tearing/damage.Replace any that are bad. There are 3 engine mounts and 3 transmission mounts.
2. Replace pressure switches. Chances are they have never been replaced and are due.
3. Check transmission fluid. If not pink, then do at least a 1x3 drain and refill, but better yet a 3x3 drain and refill to get ~90% new fluid in the car.

 

your car is a JERK. haha j/k

I had similar jerk issues, and 90% went away after replacing tranny mount along with my engine mounts. Check below battery where tranny mount is and see if spot any cracks in it.

If you want to to extra mile, as mentioned, swap out 3/4 gear switches and do a fluid change and call it a day

keep in mind, type-s tranny are meant to be bunch of jerks, but reliable. don't worry

 

Lol. The timing belt was recently changed so that can't be the problem. For me it seems like it could be the pressure switches or the mounts at this point.

I got a question for both of you. What other problems have you guys had with your car just so I if I run into the same problem I know who to come to.

NoTLoud, I'll actually be moving to Charlotte soon so maybe if I have problems in the future, we can meet up. You sound like you know quite a bit about cars

Thank you for your help!

 

Good to hear the belt was replaced. One piece of maintenance I will never neglect. Both my Dad and brother's cars have had the belts fail in the last year.

Hell yeah! Hit me up if you move here! I'd be willing to help where I can. I am trying to learn more and more everyday. Most all of my experience is just through issues I have had with my last car and this one.

As far as issues I have had, there's been quite a few. I've owned the car for 9k miles and have put a ton of parts in it. Car is at 109,500 miles. Mostly in preventative items and some items I thought had some issues. I am a perfectionist when it comes to how this car drives and it currently has a horrible issue with shaking while accelerating in first and second gear. I cannot figure it out. It's driving me crazy.

Parts I've had fail are:

• Battery
• Starter

Maintenance:

• Pressure Switches
• Tranny fluid 3x3
• Rear pads and rotors
• Drive belt tensioner and idler pulley
• Spark Plugs
• LCA Compliance bushings
• APP Sensor
• Tranny Filter
• Transmission Upper Mount
• Lower, Rear Transmission Mount
• Driver's Side Sub-frame Mount
• Both axles
• Parking brake adjustment
• Bled brakes
• Front right lower ball joint (ruined when doing axle install, got a junk Moog one, will probably replace again, was in a rush to replace, had little options and lacked tools to do it myself)

 

I am new to the car scene. Want to start going to some car shows, learn more about cars.

You did a crazy amount of work to your car. Did you do it all yourself? I'm just glad to hear that somebody is taking good care of there TL. Lol I am some what of a perfectionist as well. I have many plans to make this a clean, good looking car and just hopes everything goes well with what I have planned. But I have to fix this tranny issue first then I can get to customizing this.

 

Well you are only 18...

 

Is it to young to get into the car scene at this age? Lol

 

No,

it means you're new to ALL scenes

 

haha that is true. well i got to learn so might as well start now

 

Well you came to the right forum to learn alot about these cars and there are alot of active members on here that will bust your balls and give you great insight. Don't be shy and don't get your feelings hurt!

 

thanks for that advice!

 

I've done all but the LCA compliance bushings and the lower ball joint. You pretty much need a press for both or specialty tools and I didn't feel like dealing with potential issues that you could run into, so I paid for those. Labor is what kills you, so I prefer to do everything I can myself. My track record hasn't been to great recently though, I keep messing things up and just need something to go smoothly. Patience is the key to working on cars. I cross threaded a bolt the other week because I was a dumb ass and the 15 min repair job turned into easily 4 hours. I had to ghetto-rig the sub-frame mount bolt on with a bunch of washers while I waited on my order for the correct tap because I couldn't find one locally. Then I was super careful about using the tap because I didn't want to mess up the threading even more on a bolt that went into the frame of the car.

Good mind-set to have, maintenance > mods! I'm not putting a cent more into my car until I figure out my current issue.

 

damn that blows. is your car completely stock?

 

Stock except for coilovers. I had wheels on it, but those had issues too and with my current work load, I really don't have time to get them road force balanced anywhere, so they're sitting in my apartment.

Overall, I think I just have bad luck with cars.

 

Oh ok