[fct]

I always felt that my car shifts from 2nd to 3rd and from 3rd to 4th very smoothly. Often you don't notice any shift at all. The 1-2 shift is quick, but I always feel a kick, sometimes relatively rough (relative to other shifts). This is specially noticeable at low speeds, as if the car tries to shift too soon. The most annoying situation is when you start to accelerate and then decide to slow down, and release the gas pedal. Often _after_ I release the gas pedal and the car starts losing speed, there is a shift with a noticeable kick into the 2nd gear. Perhaps, the transmission is just stupid by design. It's was probably always like this, but recently I kinda started wondering if those shifts get rougher or maybe it's just my imagination.

Is this normal, or could it be a sign of trouble?

PS: The fluid and filter are relatively new (10.000 miles). It uses Ford's Motorcraft Mercon V. The car has 60K miles. The engine is Duratec, so the transmission has to be AX4N.


PS: My friend has a gen 4 sable. I should borrow it to see if I see the same on his car..

 

[austex04]

What type of atf was used? Was this a fluid flush (as described in the topic finder), or a power flush done at a shop? Was Mercon V compliant atf used? Did this seem to start after the atf change? Also, check the topic finder on the VSS, that could be the culprit. The worse case is you have a failing transmisssion.

 

[fct]

The last flush was done at home. The procedure was very similar, except that we connected the cooler line right before putting the fluid in. (The instructions say that after putting new fluid, the tranny should be allowed to run a little and let the new fluid push out the remnants of the old fluid before connecting the cooler line). So it's possible that 10-15% of the old, somewhat, but not critically, dirty fluid remained in the transmission even after the flush. I personally doubt that this is the cause, but I'll do it properly next time. The color of the fluid looks good right now, so I am thinking of doing the next flush after about 10,000 miles. I believe a similar kind of behavior existed even before the last flush, though I can't tell if it got better or worse since then.

 

[nbpt100]

QUOTE (austex04 @ Jun 6 2010, 08:58 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=809961

What type of atf was used? Was this a fluid flush (as described in the topic finder), or a power flush done at a shop? Was Mercon V compliant atf used? Did this seem to start after the atf change? Also, check the topic finder on the VSS, that could be the culprit. The worse case is you have a failing transmission.[/b]

After your're sure you have the correct fluid and level. Try adding a bottle of Lube guard to the tranny. I have found that to smooth out harsh shifts some what in my AXODE. Expect improvement but it may not be enough to equal the smoothness of the other shifts.

Watch your speedo carefully. If it were the VSS, I believe the speedometer would jump around and possibly go to zero at times.