# Transmission Jerky into 3rd



## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

Well I am not sure if this is paranoia or I simply don't trust the car anymore, but whatever the reason is. I am just wanting to get some better thoughts of others & if this is simply normal for the Cruze. Well the other day I notice my Cruze when it came out of 2nd into 3rd it was more jerky then it normally had been. Its more of a hesitating pull into 3rd you can feel it, not hard shift just more of a pulsing type shift. Then the rest of the gears shifts smooth & normal only way to tell it shifts is by watching RPMs, doesn't run bucked up or anything. Sometimes it will downshift like a "drop" into gear - not bucking or anything just like drop & there ya go, very few & between does it do that.

Now I am also noticing a slight metal I want to say from around 30mph like a rattle/mesh type sound doesn't do it at idle, doesn't do it at a stop light, it sounds overall good, just want to clear my thoughts & get some insight on this, I also contacted OnStar & done a diagnostic on the transmission health to make sure no stored codes that the system didn't turn the CEL on for.

So anything thoughts on this & am I simply being just paranoid on the situation?


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Nope not paranoia. Read my post http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/10-gen1-powertrain/170905-3rd-gear-issues.html. I am getting my tranny replaced since I just lost 3rd gear. When driving it will pop out of 3rd and difficult to downshift and or keep in gear. I am getting my tranny replaced this week since 3rd gear went south. BTW what trim level you have? LS/LT or Eco.? How many miles. If you can recreate for dealer you may be candidate for replacement.


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

Patman said:


> Nope not paranoia. Read my post http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/10-gen1-powertrain/170905-3rd-gear-issues.html. I am getting my tranny replaced since I just lost 3rd gear. When driving it will pop out of 3rd and difficult to downshift and or keep in gear. I am getting my tranny replaced this week since 3rd gear went south. BTW what trim level you have? LS/LT or Eco.? How many miles. If you can recreate for dealer you may be candidate for replacement.


Mine doesn't pop out of 3rd it holds quite well actually & shifts into 4th smooth - Mine is a 2LT 66,744/miles, the bad thing is my warranty has expired actually. Did your have any CEL or stored codes?

*Edit:* also mine is a Auto Transmission - not sure what type I actually have its a 2011 build date is 11 / 10 - what type would I have?


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

I have done a few quick search on the community forum here. & I came across one thread where *jblackburn *he mentioned to disconnect the battery cable & leave off overnight, as the transmission in the 2011 is adaptive?, Maybe this is what my car needs, as its not slipping or anything of that nature, just jerky going into that 3rd gear, possible a "lag" in the actual shift between 2nd to 3rd the rest of the gears are awesome. referenced thread is here : http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/34-gen1-1-4l-turbo/101497-transmission-issues-2.html

So do I simply just unhook the negative battery terminal & re-hook in the morning?; Will this allow me to relearn the transmission?


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## chevrasaki (May 1, 2015)

@*joshuab* You have an automatic transmission right? @*Patman* has a manual transmission and it pops out of gear. I think you could possibly be paranoid, I feel like you would know for sure if something was wrong. If it's not bad enough that you still have doubt, it's probably fine. But that's hard for me to say without having experienced what you're talking about. Do you have any CELs? Has it happened more than once?


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

chevrasaki said:


> @*joshuab* You have an automatic transmission right? @*Patman* has a manual transmission and it pops out of gear. I think you could possibly be paranoid, I feel like you would know for sure if something was wrong. If it's not bad enough that you still have doubt, it's probably fine. But that's hard for me to say without having experienced what you're talking about. Do you have any CELs? Has it happened more than once?


Has it happened before?, Not quite sure as I never really paid attention to it much, that is why I am questioning this to be paranoid. The car shifts smooth 1, 2 3rd(shifts soft jerk); 4th is smooth 5th is smooth 6 is smooth there isn't any slipping between the gears, no harsh high RPMs between shifts. Just slight/soft jerk if that makes sense, I reset everything by taking the battery cable off & put it back on it relearned & does literally the same. But again I am starting to think exactly that its "normal" because honestly I would think if something was wrong I would notice slipping out of gears etc & no CELs or any stored codes, I had Onstar do a check on the Transmission & all came back normal no errors. 

So maybe Paranoid what would you'll think? lol


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

Well I been noticing my driving & watching when the shifting from 2nd to 3rd, now all the other gears shift like butter. No harsh downshifting just every once in a while I might feel a bump on down shift. The car doesn't buck or anything, but here is what it seems to be doing after watching out for this.

When the car comes into second gear, & right before it shifts into 3rd I will notice a small 200rpm increase like a delay or lag possible going into neural for a couple seconds during the actual shift into 3rd, so I am assuming this is why it seems to be "jerky" or a bit hard? - Now could this be boost from the Turbo or what? If this is normal great, I just don't want to take this into the dealership & look like a idiot when they test drive it & be like what is wrong? 

So any feedback would be greatly appreciated & if anyone else is experiencing same issue & if they found a remedy or was this simply normal?


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

This is what is called a flare or shift flare in the transmission world. Where there is a temporary increase in rpm as the transmission shifts gears. 

Sorry - but that's all I know.


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

Tomko said:


> This is what is called a flare or shift flare in the transmission world. Where there is a temporary increase in rpm as the transmission shifts gears.
> 
> Sorry - but that's all I know.


Is this a issue that needs attention right away or just something there now to drive me nuts?


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

joshuab said:


> Is this a issue that needs attention right away or just something there now to drive me nuts?


Flare is a symptom of something that is not right. The transmission was not designed to do this. 

Google may be of further help: Transmission slipping and bucking - Chevy Malibu Forum: Chevrolet Malibu Forums


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

Tomko said:


> Flare is a symptom of something that is not right. The transmission was not designed to do this.
> 
> Google may be of further help: Transmission slipping and bucking - Chevy Malibu Forum: Chevrolet Malibu Forums


Thanks for the replies Tomko, I have been reading that post that you provided & I also did some searching on google. To get a better insight on this, & it seems that the issue does mostly occur within 2 -3 shift which what mine is doing. However mine isn't what you say "jerking hard" it more like you feel it shifting; not like 1 2 4 5 6 gears those are smooth as butter, just that 3rd gear is tricky; it doesn't shift violently or anything of that nature. 

Could this be a valve body issue ?; This car only has 67K on it what a shame I tell ya.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

As I read this thread, I'm leaning towards paranoia.

This 6 speed auto, under normal throttle positions (means not deep throttle) engages the lock up torque converter and applies third at the same time.
As a result, the 2nd to 3rd upshift often is interpeted as 'Harsh' when compared to the other upshifts........the description currently fits for normal operation of this unit.

It has been so long since your car has operated properly I suspect you are somewhat 'Hypersensative' to every action the car makes.
The slight flare you see is the torque converter locking immediately behind the 2/3 upshift IMO.

Rob


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

Robby you make a valued point as to me being "hypersensative" as I maybe. But I feel this issue isn't just 'me' cause at times this shift is smoother then other times, sorta like its intermittent. When at a dead stop I can pull out w/o spinning the wheels 1,2 fast then 3rd feels like it lunges forward & feel the like the engine rocks during the shift then 4,5,6 smooth all quickly & no further issue. All these 'harsh' shifts are not throwing me around or bucking of any sort. No CELs I contacted OnStar to do a check on the transmission system & all comes back good, no pending codes, or active ones & the system checks OK.

Just on another note, I wanted to try to test drive while the car was cold. So the other morning I get in it & start & let run for a couple mins & then took it for a short (easy) drive & the car shifted really good during this time, but after reaching operating temps the car started the same thing again. 

It leans towards, 'jerks' 'lunging' during the shift & feels like the engine rocks. note, this only occurs in 3rd gear. Also want to mention which I didn't on my initial response to this issue. I was driving along & during my down shifts when it got to 3rd or 2nd not sure, the car lost gear & revved for about split second & then grabbed a gear sorted stumped & then after that is when I started experiencing what I am now.

So I am baffled as to maybe a mechanical issue at only 67K, but maybe a electric issue on the transmission perhaps?; or would everyone just say I need to stop & just enjoy my Cruze & not waste time at the dealership when they got better things to do then me waste there time?


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Naturally, from where I sit, I can only go on your descriptions.

Untill the trans fluid attains a pre determined temperature, the torque converter lockup is disabled.......so, that lines up with your experience when you drove it 'cold'.

The torque converter, when it locks, is almost instant......that could translate into your perception of the engine/driveline rocking.
It could also be an indicator of a failing motor mount......Lord knows they have been disturbed enough times. 

But since this feeling is new and occured after this described downshift event, my thoughts are leaning more towards a motor mount concern.

Like I said, best I can offer from my desk.

Rob


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

Ok, so maybe motor mount(s) are failing is a possibility. & would make me sleep better at night if this is the actual case, now I wanted to try another couple things w/ my car just trying to rule things out. Before saying OK its time to go to the dealership.

So I found the RPM point of shift for 3rd gear is right around 2,500 rpm so I went from 1st, to 2nd, nicely & then right before the shift rpm point I let off the gas & watched the RPM drop & it smoothly shifted into 3rd w/o any jerk, lunging or anything of that nature. So then I come to a red light then pull back out & then just give it throttle to about half way & then when the shift for 3rd came up it jerked this time. 

Also will a motor mount cause harm to anything else or do I need to get quick attention on this, assuming its motor mount(s) issue?


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Generally one failing mount won't harm much more than your nerves.

Rob


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

Well I am just glad & hoping my transmission isn't going bad. & have some relief that my car shifted smoothly when not on the gas going into 3rd, so I may get appointment setup & see if the mount(s) are going bad & if so go ahead & get them replaced under warranty. 

So Robby, would you be more inclined on thinking this is a mount(s) issue where the 3rd gear shifted smoothly while not on the throttle at all. Because again as I was in 2nd gear & right before it hit the shift point RPM I let off completely on the throttle & watched the RPMs drop & that is literally only way I could tell it was in 3rd, plus after the initial shift I confirmed it was in 3rd by pushing it over to M+ to see - so that made me feel a little better in hopes it wasn't more major.


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## jmlo96 (May 2, 2015)

joshuab said:


> Well I am just glad & hoping my transmission isn't going bad. & have some relief that my car shifted smoothly when not on the gas going into 3rd, so I may get appointment setup & see if the mount(s) are going bad & if so go ahead & get them replaced under warranty.
> 
> So Robby, would you be more inclined on thinking this is a mount(s) issue where the 3rd gear shifted smoothly while not on the throttle at all. Because again as I was in 2nd gear & right before it hit the shift point RPM I let off completely on the throttle & watched the RPMs drop & that is literally only way I could tell it was in 3rd, plus after the initial shift I confirmed it was in 3rd by pushing it over to M+ to see - so that made me feel a little better in hopes it wasn't more major.


Have you made sure you changed your transmission fluid? Having bad fluid can make the transmission act really odd.


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

jmlo96 said:


> Have you made sure you changed your transmission fluid? Having bad fluid can make the transmission act really odd.


Yes fluid was changed a couple months ago. did a drain and refill not a flush.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

joshuab said:


> Well I am just glad & hoping my transmission isn't going bad. & have some relief that my car shifted smoothly when not on the gas going into 3rd, so I may get appointment setup & see if the mount(s) are going bad & if so go ahead & get them replaced under warranty.
> 
> So Robby, would you be more inclined on thinking this is a mount(s) issue where the 3rd gear shifted smoothly while not on the throttle at all. Because again as I was in 2nd gear & right before it hit the shift point RPM I let off completely on the throttle & watched the RPMs drop & that is literally only way I could tell it was in 3rd, plus after the initial shift I confirmed it was in 3rd by pushing it over to M+ to see - so that made me feel a little better in hopes it wasn't more major.


I would rather not speculate further untill a tech. has had a look/see.

Rob


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

Well just wanting to report my car seems to be doing actually fine at the moment it will shift sometimes a bit hard but not all the time, so I decided to get OnStar to do a full system health check on the transmission nothing came back. So I felt that wasn't good enough, so I had it hooked to a ultrascan scanner & check for any DTC on the transmission but nothing could be found far as active/pending state. 

So I am starting to assume maybe I am as robby said "hypersensitive" due to so many repeating issues; so if no active DTC codes on the transmission I am thinking all systems are OK mechanically and electrically. 

I got a appointment at the dealership this coming month for oil change, tire rotation etc, I will have checked further, but should I spend the money to get told what I already found myself? Thoughts?


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

joshuab said:


> Well just wanting to report my car seems to be doing actually fine at the moment it will shift sometimes a bit hard but not all the time, so I decided to get OnStar to do a full system health check on the transmission nothing came back. So I felt that wasn't good enough, so I had it hooked to a ultrascan scanner & check for any DTC on the transmission but nothing could be found far as active/pending state.
> 
> So I am starting to assume maybe I am as robby said "hypersensitive" due to so many repeating issues; so if no active DTC codes on the transmission I am thinking all systems are OK mechanically and electrically.
> 
> I got a appointment at the dealership this coming month for oil change, tire rotation etc, I will have checked further, but should I spend the money to get told what I already found myself? Thoughts?


Spend the money on a mindfulness based stress reduction program. 

It will give you more tangible and portable results.


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

Thanks Tomko. Well I was out riding today & came by AAMCO Transmission care shop, so I decided to pull in there & allow them to run a check on my transmission as I felt that shift again & its annoying the he** out of me to say the least. Well they hooked it to the Snap-on Ultra scanner - & then test drove the car, the tech said there doesn't seem to be anything wrong w/ the transmission as he could tell & said tho it does act like a "transaxle sensor" or something of that sort , does this sound correct or what?

Plus they brought to my attention; that the transmission didn't show any active/pending stated DTCs. But they did find some pending codes from the engine, however they aren't any CEL light on at the moment; so here I am confused to what codes are so I will post these up for suggestions & I got appointment coming up real soon at the dealership & I will get all these issues taken care of promptly as I do not like issues like this ( well to me ) there is, maybe I am trying to fix the wrong one! haha

These are the DTCs they provided :

P0113 : Intake Air Temp. 

CO277 : Brake Pedal Position sensor short to ground or open.

U0140 : Lost communication w/ body control module.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

joshuab said:


> Thanks Tomko. Well I was out riding today & came by AAMCO Transmission care shop, so I decided to pull in there & allow them to run a check on my transmission as I felt that shift again & its annoying the he** out of me to say the least. Well they hooked it to the Snap-on Ultra scanner - & then test drove the car, the tech said there doesn't seem to be anything wrong w/ the transmission as he could tell & said tho it does act like a "transaxle sensor" or something of that sort , does this sound correct or what?
> 
> Plus they brought to my attention; that the transmission didn't show any active/pending stated DTCs. But they did find some pending codes from the engine, however they aren't any CEL light on at the moment; so here I am confused to what codes are so I will post these up for suggestions & I got appointment coming up real soon at the dealership & I will get all these issues taken care of promptly as I do not like issues like this ( well to me ) there is, maybe I am trying to fix the wrong one! haha
> 
> ...


Couple of things:

1) You found an honest AAMCO and technician. Post there names please. 

2) There's a reason why the car doesn't have a pending light. It's because pending can and often do go away or resolve themselves. 

3) You have done the equivalent of having a whole body MRI and discovered any number of illnesses when in fact you felt fine. But these illnesses are normal for everybody and the body resolves them regularly. 

4) Sign up for that meditation course.


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

Tomko said:


> Couple of things:
> 
> 1) You found an honest AAMCO and technician. Post there names please.
> 
> ...



The AMMCO technician name was danny, ok well just glad there isn't anything wrong. I am just on edge w/ this as I don't want to experience anything further, or not be on my smarts & catching something 'simple' before it gets 'costly' by neglecting 'warning' signs as I thought this shifting 'roughness' was. So that all being said, I can sleep better at night knowing these issue are not something I need to get addressed promptly. 

Its just because this car has NEVER did this type of shifting prior to awhile back when it started out of no where recently, that is the only reason I am edgy w/ this.

& that meditation course yeah I could use, but I think just relaxing & stepping away from this would really help I guess. Since the car has many checks w/o any indication of any pending/active DTCs. Wouldn't you agree to just step back from this, & let it be? lol


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

joshuab said:


> The AMMCO technician name was danny, ok well just glad there isn't anything wrong.


Yeah, AAMCO Danny. He's well known on the interwebs. 




joshuab said:


> & that meditation course yeah I could use, but I think just relaxing & stepping away from this would really help I guess. Since the car has many checks w/o any indication of any pending/active DTCs. Wouldn't you agree to just step back from this, & let it be? lol


The skill you'd learn from a meditation course will help you throughout life beyond this particular ownership experience. Makes sex better too. YMMV


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## larlar75 (Apr 30, 2015)

joshuab said:


> Thanks Tomko. Well I was out riding today & came by AAMCO Transmission care shop, so I decided to pull in there & allow them to run a check on my transmission as I felt that shift again & its annoying the he** out of me to say the least. Well they hooked it to the Snap-on Ultra scanner - & then test drove the car, the tech said there doesn't seem to be anything wrong w/ the transmission as he could tell & said tho it does act like a "transaxle sensor" or something of that sort , does this sound correct or what?
> 
> Plus they brought to my attention; that the transmission didn't show any active/pending stated DTCs. But they did find some pending codes from the engine, however they aren't any CEL light on at the moment; so here I am confused to what codes are so I will post these up for suggestions & I got appointment coming up real soon at the dealership & I will get all these issues taken care of promptly as I do not like issues like this ( well to me ) there is, maybe I am trying to fix the wrong one! haha
> 
> ...


How much did it cost to do the test? I have a 2012 LS 1.8l that has had more than 20+ repair bills under warranty with a transmission replaced twice. It bucks down shifting to 1st, & shifting from 2nd to third


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

larlar75 said:


> How much did it cost to do the test? I have a 2012 LS 1.8l that has had more than 20+ repair bills under warranty with a transmission replaced twice. It bucks down shifting to 1st, & shifting from 2nd to third


When I pulled in & talked to them, they told me would be $39.99 to find trouble codes & provide those to me & a resolution. But upon checking they didn't find any trouble codes on the TCM that indicated a transmission issue, just found those "pending" codes where there wasn't any CEL on at the time so they said no charge to me, which I think was great.

Now does your actually slip out of gear?, Mine has went from "shift flaring" to I want to say a stall, no jerking or anything of that, it more like you can feel the engine moving sorta when it shifts, & also noticed when letting off the gas sometimes it feels like I am driving a manual car, you feel the engine likes its wobbling.

What is your actually doing? & are you still under warranty on the transmission? If so I would take to a dealer, my warranty is gone on transmission.

*EDIT : *BTW does anyone else experience such, when letting off gas as to feel like the engine moves, I have yet to get it duplicate all the time, but its happening around I think anywhere from 1600 to 1800 RPMs I think, more testing to get it to duplicate all the time, as I mentioned above its not happening all the time.


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## larlar75 (Apr 30, 2015)

So to describe my situation I want to first tell you that around 30,000 miles my car had the ECU & TCU updated which started these issues that never went away. 

If I'm driving after the car has warmed up and I approach a light in 3rd gear, when my transmission downshifts into 2nd it feels like it skips 2nd and actually slams into 1st from 3rd. 

Another example is if I'm driving in 3rd-4th-5th-6th and I step on the gas it'll downshift from whichever gear it was in, into the exact gear it needs to get into the powerband like lets say I come out of a parking lot and need to get into the far left turn lane quickly and I step on the gas while my car is in 4th gear, it'll downshift to 2nd bypassing 3rd causing my car to stall for a bit, then buck very very abruptly making me and my passenger slam their head against the headrest. 

Now that second example could be totally normal due to the computer not having a sport tune on it and it just getting confused. The first example though is very easy to replicate if I put the car into the auto-stick mode and shift from 2nd into 1st it'll slam/jerk every single time! 

My transmission is covered until 160,000ish miles due to it being replaced at 110,000 miles and another time previous to that BUT Chevy will not do anything when the transmission jerks because they need it to break itself in order to "fix" it. For instance my first transmission replacement at 40,000 miles started to jerk less than 1,000 miles after and lasted until 110,000 miles, and my current transmission jerks the exact same amount but didn't start until 2 weeks later and has been doing the same till this day @ 130,000 miles. 

TL;DR - I think the jerking issue is due to Chevy's TCU tune. I always wanted to get a tune on my car to see if it would get rid of the jerking but I drive my car like a bat out of **** and apart from minor things getting fixed 20+ times and making my car a lemon I've NEVER had anything major happen execpt the two times my transmission has welded itself together from all the jerking after A LOT of miles and left me needing a AAA tow.


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

larlar75 said:


> So to describe my situation I want to first tell you that around 30,000 miles my car had the ECU & TCU updated which started these issues that never went away.
> 
> If I'm driving after the car has warmed up and I approach a light in 3rd gear, when my transmission downshifts into 2nd it feels like it skips 2nd and actually slams into 1st from 3rd.
> 
> ...


Well I will tell you that isn't good at all, harsh downshifting & it seems to skip 3rd on downshift & goes straight to 2nd. When you do manual mode & shifting yourself, do you experience these issues the same as in auto?

& plus if you have good warranty on this transmission I would at least get it into the dealership & get it documented that is what I would do. It seems you are having issues w/ your transmission as I did w/ my engine, it was rebuilt & week later had to be completely replaced.


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## larlar75 (Apr 30, 2015)

Yea I can replicate the 1st situation easily with auto-stick, but I can't do it 100% with the downshifting from 4th to 2nd etc. Because it only lets you input one shift at a time unlike when it's in automatic mode and the computer can do what it wants.


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

I am not no expert at things; only guessing & giving my suggestions here. I am sure others will chime in & give some other expert advise, what this sounds like to me is transmission solenoid which would cause erratic shifting, delay shifting & all sort of things.

So my suggestions to you would be go get this transmission checked & have it hooked to the computer even those there isn't a engine light at the moment; doesn't mean there isn't a issue. The TCM could be storing some codes that could direct you into the right place for repair. So again I would strongly suggest that personally myself & I am sure others would agree.


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## ccarson05 (Jul 31, 2016)

Good news! I hooked up a OBD reader to the car and used an app to conclude the car is misfiring under high load in 3rd. I changed the spark plug gap- looks like I'm an idiot and over-gapped the new ones on original install. Set the gap to .28 and everything is now fine. 

One thing to note: the power is NOT the same as when the gaps were when above .36 gap. 

I'm going to open the gap to the suggested .33 (I think that is the suggested in another thread here). I'll report my findings. 

Thanks again for all the suggestions!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## joshuab (Apr 16, 2014)

*Update :* I do not know if these two are related in such way, so maybe someone else has experience such issue?, Well as I have made a post regarding 'brake caliper' issue, well I would set my Emer. brake & then somehow get my brake caliper from 'sticking' or whatever is going on. Well it would stop acting up & during this time my transmission would shift smooth as silk through all the gears & all on perfect shift points. 

So would a stuck caliper cause transmission to think I am brake when I am when in fact I am giving gas & the system getting confused where it should shift up or down, I know this may sound crazy but doesn't hurt to ask.


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## BrandoFisher117 (Mar 14, 2016)

joshuab said:


> *Update :* I do not know if these two are related in such way, so maybe someone else has experience such issue?, Well as I have made a post regarding 'brake caliper' issue, well I would set my Emer. brake & then somehow get my brake caliper from 'sticking' or whatever is going on. Well it would stop acting up & during this time my transmission would shift smooth as silk through all the gears & all on perfect shift points.
> 
> So would a stuck caliper cause transmission to think I am brake when I am when in fact I am giving gas & the system getting confused where it should shift up or down, I know this may sound crazy but doesn't hurt to ask.


I don't think you're crazy at all. I actually appreciate "out-of-the-box" thinking.


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## ProDigit (Aug 31, 2015)

Maybe I'm gravedigging here, but,
The issue I believe with 2nd to 3rd shifting, is the much larger gear differential between gears.
Between 2nd and 3rd shift, there's about a 1000RPM difference, while 3rd to 4th, to 5th, to 6th is about a 500rpm difference, which makes downshifting from 3rd into 2nd more of a jolt, 
Plus, add the amount of torque the engine has in 2nd, compared to higher gears...

Second issue, I do believe that the ECU is more gentle on the first 2 gears. 3rd and 4th gear somewhat, are more jolty. Picking up the foot by a tenth of an inch off the pedal after a minor acceleration in 3rd gear feels more rough than 2nd or even 1st. I believe the ECU is softening up those first 2 gears. And 4th gear and up have less of jolting effect, because the torque on the engine to the wheels is much lower in those gears.

I find my 6spd automatic does have a sticky 3rd gear.
When shifting from 1st, to 2nd, to 3rd, the shifts are very smooth.
Shifting 3rd to 4th, sometimes the gear sticks, in 3rd, and jolts into 4th.
4th to 6th is smooth again...
Not sure what the cause of that could be...


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

I used to experience shift flare from 2-3 on my auto 2014 LT. It would only do it when the vehicle was running cold, and it would only do it every now and again and that was at around 30-35,000 miles. I'm now at 63,000 miles and haven't experienced that issue in quite some time. Every now and again I experience floaty/lofty shifting like it doesn't quite know which gear to be in, and sometimes I notice downshifts when coming to a stop more than other times, but never anything harsh or scary enough to cause concern. I also drive my car extremely hard and it's tuned, so I think it gets confused when I'm driving it like a normal person.


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## ProDigit (Aug 31, 2015)

Yeah, true,
I also noticed it only happening when the transmission is cold.
Once the car is warmed up, no more jolting issues.

The floating between gears, I think, could be because the wet clutch, and the short time it stays in a gear.

The biggest issue I have with my 6spd auto gearbox, is the time it takes downshifting, when accelerating at higher speeds.
Eg: I'm doing 40MPH on the highway, and want to overtake the slow guy. Sometimes a gear shift takes 4+ seconds, sometimes up to 10 seconds. By that time, another car has already rear-ended me, if I'm not careful.
But I love the great gas mileage I get with the newer Dexos oils. Almost 20% better on the highway, compared to dino oils.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

anthonysmith93 said:


> I used to experience shift flare from 2-3 on my auto 2014 LT. It would only do it when the vehicle was running cold, and it would only do it every now and again and that was at around 30-35,000 miles.


Yep, mine does this when it holds out 2nd til over 3k. I try to not let it do that if the engine isn't warm, but it usually happens coming up a hill near home. 

Tune probably fixed it for you. Ford had a TSB addressing 2-3 shift flare on their version of the transmission with a programming update.



> The biggest issue I have with my 6spd auto gearbox, is the time it takes downshifting, when accelerating at higher speeds.



Slam down hard on mine and it drops gears and takes off instantly. If yours is an early year Cruze, the programming really needed help.


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## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

ProDigit said:


> Yeah, true,
> I also noticed it only happening when the transmission is cold.
> Once the car is warmed up, no more jolting issues.
> 
> ...


Mine also downshifts instantly and goes, I'm tuned so it's quicker than stock, but even stock mine wasn't nearly as slow as yours. It must need a dealer reprogram or a tune to help it out.


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## ProDigit (Aug 31, 2015)

jblackburn said:


> Yep, mine does this when it holds out 2nd til over 3k. I try to not let it do that if the engine isn't warm, but it usually happens coming up a hill near home.
> 
> Tune probably fixed it for you. Ford had a TSB addressing 2-3 shift flare on their version of the transmission with a programming update.
> 
> ...


Second gear usually goes higher, because of the larger gear spacing.
Sometimes in 3rd gear, mine revs to 3.5 or 4k RPM, before jolting into 4th, almost as if the clutch plates opened, but somehow were glued to the plate, until that gear shift happens.
Doesn't happen often though, just once in a blue moon.

But cold, my engine does have the tendency to stay in gear too much, which is not good.
High revs on a cold engine, can result in metal fatigue of the valves.


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## Shaf (Mar 23, 2020)

joshuab said:


> *Update :* I do not know if these two are related in such way, so maybe someone else has experience such issue?, Well as I have made a post regarding 'brake caliper' issue, well I would set my Emer. brake & then somehow get my brake caliper from 'sticking' or whatever is going on. Well it would stop acting up & during this time my transmission would shift smooth as silk through all the gears & all on perfect shift points.
> 
> So would a stuck caliper cause transmission to think I am brake when I am when in fact I am giving gas & the system getting confused where it should shift up or down, I know this may sound crazy but doesn't hurt to ask.


hi joshuab,
I recently have got cruze 2009 1.8, i had to take out the transmission because i was replacing main engine seal, my transmission was also playing up with 3,5 and reverse gears so i decided to rebuild it, found torn up filter gasket behind valve body, went on to take out everything, tested and reassembled all parts, all worked fine except getting that little lag while shifting from 2 to 3  so i exactly know what issue you had with your transmission, i dont have much experience with cruze but first possible reason which came to my mind is that probably its TCM needs some kind of tuning or relearning so it exactly knows the shift points to make it smooth because physically there is nothing wrong with it as i have seen it from inside, still researching, were you able to fix it at all?


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