D or 3 - not for me

[Hop]

I always drive in D but never liked the boged down drone when I'm riding at 40-45. Sounds and feels like it upshifted too early. So I tried driving in 3. Not good. It sounds great at 40-45 but when I slow down, it looses it's mind and shifts all over the place. It hunts going from 2 to 1 and from 3 to 2. It's a real crappy wtf feeling.

In D it shifts flawlessly. I hope that it's just not an early warning for me.

[ensteele]

Do you have the resistor unplugged? That would make it do that, but it should do it when it is in D as well.

[Hop]

Nope, resistor is in place.

[Trevor]

It could be that the selector mechanism is out of adjustment.

The mechanism operates a valve within the transmission which selects appropriate fluid passages for each gear ratio and also simultaneously moves the inhibitor switch. This incorporates a selector switch as a means of selecting the solenoid required for each gear.

[Hop]

I think that this could easily be the issue. I don't think that the car has ever been driven in any other gear than D or R. It was really hard to pull the shifter down to 3. I don't think that I'm going to try it again.

[crazyhorse]

Mine was difficult to move back past drive as well. I pulled the E-brake & worked the shifter back & forth slowly, until it freed up. It took a few trips through it's range, but it's like butter now.

Oh yeah.... I did this with the car off, so as not to confuse the TCU. I don't know if it'd do any harm with it on, but why take that chance

[TomsSVX]

Is the power light blinking when you turn the car on. (blinking 16 times?)

Tom

[Hop]

Yes The power blinking light does come on 16 times. And Crazyhorse, I've been working my shifter throught the range and it's getting easier but I still think that I'm going to stick with D. You should be able to shift like this while driving shouldn't you?

Originally Posted by TomsSVX

Is the power light blinking when you turn the car on. (blinking 16 times?)

Tom

[Trevor]

Originally Posted by Trevor

It could be that the selector mechanism is out of adjustment.

The mechanism operates a valve within the transmission which selects appropriate fluid passages for each gear ratio and also simultaneously moves the inhibitor switch. This incorporates a selector switch as a means of selecting the solenoid required for each gear.

Everything indicates a problem with the selector mechanism. Lubrication, adjustment, whatever. Not expensive, fix it before it leads to something expensive, due to confusing signals both electronic and or hydraulic.

[TomsSVX]

the symptoms you describe are that of a bad shift resistor. I would suggest lubricating and checking adjustment of the shifter column first as it is a good idea regardless. Then check your TCU codes found in the how to. I would image you get a code for shift solenoid A

Tom

[Nomake Wan]

I agree with Tom already, but rather than go with Tom or Trevor's advice, I think you should follow the directions for pulling Transmission Error Codes. The 16 blinks of the POWER light upon startup indicate a stored error code. To retrieve it, follow this procedure:

http://www.svx-iw.com/svxiw/article/?article=79

Though like I said... I'm pretty sure you'll end up with a Code 11. A simple replacement of the resistor behind the battery would solve that problem for you, making both D and 3 smooth as butter.