[Subix]

Originally Posted by THE NEW GUY

manual option works only on 3rd and 2nd gear. it forces tranny to start in 2nd speed without passing trought 1st speed to avoid slipping in certain circumstances.
Shifting the lever on 3rd gear with the Manual light on, the first lowering rpm you see on the tach is cause of the tc lock in 2nd speed. then, the second lowering rpm is when tranny changes to 3rd speed. If rpm goes too high in 3rd speed, tcu will engage 4th speed to protect the engine. same in 2nd and 1st gear.

Ok so the locking of the TC (because it is in manual and locks at a lower speed?) is what allows the smooth shifting from 2nd to 3rd whereas in regular drive mode the TC doesn't engage until a much faster speed is reached so the flaring from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd is due to TC not being locked? If that's the case, would this not be related to an out of whack brake band adjustment? or is it just because something is actually broken?

*edit* Never mind that... I'll just accept that something is definitely worn/broken and unfortunately it's inevitable the tranny needs replaced. Thanks for all the responses/feedback guys!