# Engine revving before accelerating



## D1ESEL (Apr 11, 2021)

Iam a gen 1 diesel owner, and recently bought a used 2017 cruze auto trans for my son. He's been experiencing something odd. Of course when I drive the car, it doesn't do it, but I've been on the phone with him while it's happened and here is how he explains it. Almost always from a stop, he will go to accelerate and the engine will just Rev to about 3,000 to 4,000 rpm and then drop into gear. Almost like doing a neutral drop in a manual transmission. No check engine lights or any other issues. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this? The last few days here it's been pretty hot in michigan, mid to upper 80's, and he said it seemed to do it more on those days than prior when it was cooler out.

Thanks


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## Fireworks234 (Jan 4, 2018)

How many miles on the car? It seems likely that the trans fluid is bad and needs replaced.


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## D1ESEL (Apr 11, 2021)

Fireworks234 said:


> How many miles on the car? It seems likely that the trans fluid is bad and needs replaced.


About 67,000 miles.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

That's odd - the Gen 1 Diesels are notorious for sticking in neutral at a light (as they're designed to do - shift into neutral when stopped so you're not sitting there just loading the converter) and then _slamming_ into drive when you start moving. Ours loves to do it and you feel like you've been **** near rear ended sometimes. What I normally do is start to let off the brakes to give it time to shift. Most times it'll act normally and already be in gear, ready to roll forward - other times it'll jolt a bit, but at least I've not given it any throttle yet.

A way to avoid that is to shift it into manual mode just before coming to a stop, and it'll stay in gear the whole time. That said - I have *not* heard of this being such an issue with the 9-speeds.


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## D1ESEL (Apr 11, 2021)

D1ESEL said:


> Iam a gen 1 diesel owner, and recently bought a used 2017 cruze auto trans for my son. He's been experiencing something odd. Of course when I drive the car, it doesn't do it, but I've been on the phone with him while it's happened and here is how he explains it. Almost always from a stop, he will go to accelerate and the engine will just Rev to about 3,000 to 4,000 rpm and then drop into gear. Almost like doing a neutral drop in a manual transmission. No check engine lights or any other issues. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this? The last few days here it's been pretty hot in michigan, mid to upper 80's, and he said it seemed to do it more on those days than prior when it was cooler out.
> 
> Thanks


Forgot to mention it's a gasser and not a diesel.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

Time for a transmission fluid change. If you're going to do it yourself at home (you can drain and fill) it's worth taking the time to do about 3-4 changes. Change the couple of quarts you can drain out, run the car for a few minutes, lather-rinse-repeat to try to get most of the old fluid flushed out.


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## D1ESEL (Apr 11, 2021)

Barry Allen said:


> Time for a transmission fluid change. If you're going to do it yourself at home (you can drain and fill) it's worth taking the time to do about 3-4 changes. Change the couple of quarts you can drain out, run the car for a few minutes, lather-rinse-repeat to try to get most of the old fluid flushed out.


That just seems hard to believe that after 67,000 miles that the original trans fluid would cause the trans to rev to 3,000-4,000 rpm from a dead stop then go into gear.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Unfortunately it's just out of warranty, so a fluid drain and fill is your best bet to see if it's an "easy" fix.

Kinda sounds like the accumulator (which keeps pressure up in the transmission while the engine shuts off so it can quickly get back into gear) is stuck/failed.


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## D1ESEL (Apr 11, 2021)

jblackburn said:


> Unfortunately it's just out of warranty, so a fluid drain and fill is your best bet to see if it's an "easy" fix.
> 
> Kinda sounds like the accumulator (which keeps pressure up in the transmission while the engine shuts off so it can quickly get back into gear) is stuck/failed.


It still has the balance of a certified pre owned warranty til this coming January and we'll within its mileage. I didn't want to change the trans fluid and then find out the trans is trashed and waste $300. Of course getting it to the dealer, telling them what's wrong with it and them being able to replicate it is always another story.....


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

D1ESEL said:


> That just seems hard to believe that after 67,000 miles that the original trans fluid would cause the trans to rev to 3,000-4,000 rpm from a dead stop then go into gear.


Have you seen how word transmission fluid can be after 67,000 miles? Have you experienced the kind of malfunctions that can come from old/worn transmission fluid?

I have, when I worked in a shop that did many fluid changes. The difference can be night and day.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

jblackburn said:


> Kinda sounds like the accumulator (which keeps pressure up in the transmission while the engine shuts off so it can quickly get back into gear) is stuck/failed.


Drain, fill, but add a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil™ to the fill. Drive for a month. Then do the 4-5 times drain and fill procedure to flush it all out as best as you can.


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## D1ESEL (Apr 11, 2021)

I've bought used vehicles with well over 100,000 miles that I've known for sure that have never been changed and have had no issues like this. I'd like to believe that it's just a simple trans fluid flush/change, but with just 67,000 miles I find it hard to believe that's the problem here.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

D1ESEL said:


> I've bought used vehicles with well over 100,000 miles that I've known for sure that have never been changed and have had no issues like this. I'd like to believe that it's just a simple trans fluid flush/change, but with just 67,000 miles I find it hard to believe that's the problem here.


OK, but you are passing up the cheap/obvious solution. Best of luck to you.


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## D1ESEL (Apr 11, 2021)

My thing is I'd hate to pay the $300 trans flush cost to find out the trans was blown. This exact scenario happened to my 2015 cruze diesel. I had the trans fluid flushed, and 2,000 miles later they replaced the transmission.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

D1ESEL said:


> My thing is I'd hate to pay the $300 trans flush cost to find out the trans was blown.


You can do it at home for maybe $50-100.


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## D1ESEL (Apr 11, 2021)

Barry Allen said:


> You can do it at home for maybe $50-100.


Its not the cost of it. It's the time, and the potential waste of time if the trans is on its last leg.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

If you still have a warranty, take it to the dealer and let them deal with it. Let them drive it around for a few days if they need to duplicate.

It's not normal, and it's not a common issue for these cars/transmissions.

There have been a small handful of Gen 2 [auto] transmissions replaced on the forum here, but it is largely those that are tuned. The manuals are a different story.


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## D1ESEL (Apr 11, 2021)

jblackburn said:


> If you still have a warranty, take it to the dealer and let them deal with it. Let them drive it around for a few days if they need to duplicate.
> 
> It's not normal, and it's not a common issue for these cars/transmissions.
> 
> There have been a small handful of Gen 2 [auto] transmissions replaced on the forum here, but it is largely those that are tuned. The manuals are a different story.


Yeah, the ole drop it off and tell them the problem and they can't replicate it and give it back to me and say though luck. I've played that game a time or two.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

D1ESEL said:


> Its not the cost of it. It's the time, and the potential waste of time if the trans is on its last leg.


How much time are you going to waste trying to get the dealer to diagnose it? You've already pointed out how they'll play the "We can't duplicate the problem" game. Your time to do what I suggest is a couple hours and maybe fixes the issue. If not, you're going to have to take the car to the dealership anyway and try to get them to duplicate the problem.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

Like, what if you take it to the dealership and they recommend a transmission flush as a first try at solving the problem? They'll ask you for a couple hundred dollars for that and you've certainly used up a number of hours of time where you don't have the car - a couple hours, or even a couple days if you have to leave the car there for them to get around to doing it.

You could do the transmission flush yourself, on your schedule, for fewer dollars invested in materials. And if that doesn't fix the problem, you've avoided having the dealership suck that money out of your wallet to do what you already did yourself.


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## Fireworks234 (Jan 4, 2018)

D1ESEL said:


> I've bought used vehicles with well over 100,000 miles that I've known for sure that have never been changed and have had no issues like this. I'd like to believe that it's just a simple trans fluid flush/change, but with just 67,000 miles I find it hard to believe that's the problem here.


I can say for a matter of fact that my car with 52,000 Miles had bad slamming into gears and whatnot. After doing my own drain and fill, first thing I noticed was just how black and watery the trans fluid was. That fluid was done. Second thing I noticed was just how much happier the car was almost immediately. I'll be doing another drain and fill sooner rather than later to clean up what the first one did not and then another one to last me for a while longer. 

These transmissions are notoriously hard on their fluid and after several people corroborating the same thing, changing the fluid makes these trans much happier. They do some very dumb stuff with bad fluid.


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## D1ESEL (Apr 11, 2021)

Fireworks234 said:


> I can say for a matter of fact that my car with 52,000 Miles had bad slamming into gears and whatnot. After doing my own drain and fill, first thing I noticed was just how black and watery the trans fluid was. That fluid was done. Second thing I noticed was just how much happier the car was almost immediately. I'll be doing another drain and fill sooner rather than later to clean up what the first one did not and then another one to last me for a while longer.
> 
> These transmissions are notoriously hard on their fluid and after several people corroborating the same thing, changing the fluid makes these trans much happier. They do some very dumb stuff with bad fluid.


That's the kind of info I'm looking for. Thanks


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Fireworks234 said:


> I can say for a matter of fact that my car with 52,000 Miles had bad slamming into gears and whatnot. After doing my own drain and fill, first thing I noticed was just how black and watery the trans fluid was. That fluid was done. Second thing I noticed was just how much happier the car was almost immediately. I'll be doing another drain and fill sooner rather than later to clean up what the first one did not and then another one to last me for a while longer.
> 
> These transmissions are notoriously hard on their fluid and after several people corroborating the same thing, changing the fluid makes these trans much happier. They do some very dumb stuff with bad fluid.


Yeah, mine was shifting pretty rough before I did a change at ~40-45k. There was a little bit of flare on the 2-3 shift where it locks the torque converter with the shift too. Completely different shift behavior after 2x drain and fills with new fluid, and the fluid that came out looked like well-used motor oil.

I'm pretty sure both of our Aisin 6 speed autos were on their original fills at ~100k, and neither one had fluid that looked as bad as the Cruze - or shifted as badly.

The flare before slamming into gear is concerning, though. That's usually a sign of something blocking up a valve body, pump intake, screen, etc. Still, unless it's throwing specific pressure or solenoid codes, most shops are going to want to try a fluid change first I'd imagine.


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## Fireworks234 (Jan 4, 2018)

jblackburn said:


> Yeah, mine was shifting pretty rough before I did a change at ~40-45k. There was a little bit of flare on the 2-3 shift where it locks the torque converter with the shift too. Completely different shift behavior after 2x drain and fills with new fluid, and the fluid that came out looked like well-used motor oil.
> 
> I'm pretty sure both of our Aisin 6 speed autos were on their original fills at ~100k, and neither one had fluid that looked as bad as the Cruze - or shifted as badly.
> 
> The flare before slamming into gear is concerning, though. That's usually a sign of something blocking up a valve body, pump intake, screen, etc. Still, unless it's throwing specific pressure or solenoid codes, most shops are going to want to try a fluid change first I'd imagine.


The slamming into gear wasn't a regular thing but it was definitely resolved with the drain and fill. It's been much happier and driving the way I remembered when I took it from the dealership.


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## Iamantman (Sep 24, 2018)

You all have inspired me to do the ol' drain and fill on mine. I don't know if you remember but I was one of those lucky gen 2 owners who had a tranny blow up on me. That happened right under 20k. I'm at 45 now and it's been driving great but I still have that 3/4 flair when cold. I've definitely learned to live with it but part of me also is pissed that a brand new transmission does that at all. But I was thinking then that perhaps the torque converter had the old bad fluid in it from before and mixed in with the new stuff. 

But also part of me is like it's under warranty I don't have time for this **** I'll just bring it in if it blows up again haha. 

So for the drain and fill do you just throw a pan under it and crack the plug when cold? Or are you heating it up to temp before hand?


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## Mrmatthew28 (Feb 23, 2020)

why are you complaining if it has warranty?????


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## Iamantman (Sep 24, 2018)

Mrmatthew28 said:


> why are you complaining if it has warranty?????


Me?
Mainly because taking my car to the dealer is a massive hassle. Logistics, cost, time off work, stress, etc, etc.


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## D1ESEL (Apr 11, 2021)

An update on the problem. We had the trans fluid flushed by the dealer. I had them keep a sample of the used fluid. I could not believe how dark it was. Since the trans fluid was flushed, we haven't had any issues, and it's been a month and a half since it being flushed.


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