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Transmission problems - how do I describe?
Delzhand
Registered User, Transition Team regular
Registered User, Transition Team regular
So I've got a 2006 Kia Spectra EX, and it's got a good number of miles on it. 110k+, IIRC. Recently I've been having an issue. Sometimes I'll start the car, shift into drive, let off the brake, and instead of feeling the normal forward movement at idle speed, the car will just sort of be still. When I apply the gas, the acceleration is incredibly slow.
I can get it up to speed for in-town driving, but there's never any shift. Downshift? Upshift? I don't know much about changing gears. It's an automatic. The car has a tach, and I normally when I accelerate, it goes up to about 3k, then drops down to 2-2.5k as I get to around 35-45mph. That doesn't happen. And it's not every time I drive, either. But the first time it happened I ended up on the highway for a short stretch, and the engine was spinning at 3.5k+ just to maintain 65mph.
I took it to a guy I trust a few weeks ago, and he asked me if I'd ever had a transmission flush, and I've only owned the car for a year, so I said no. He did that and either A) the problem went away for a while or
it had no effect but the problem is intermittent enough to not notice.
I'm taking it to AAMCO tomorrow, since it's literally less than a block from my apartment (and I'll need to walk back because my wife is out of town). I'd rather not come off as a total rube when I explain my problem to the tech at the shop, so what should I say?
As a side note, and I only mention this because I have no idea if they're even possibly related - I've also got two other minor issues.
1) When I run the AC, I hear a slow hiss about once a minute. It usually last 5 seconds or so, and it's pretty quiet. I'm normally a "windows down" kinda guy, but apparently this summer here in NC is supposed to be pretty brutal.
2) It used to be that sometimes I'd hear water sloshing. This is most definitely not just fuel in the tank, it sounds like there's a quarter full water bottle in the glovebox. I haven't heard it in a while, but I don't know exactly when it stopped. It doesn't seem to be related to the car's incline, and I'd usually notice it while coming to/starting from a stop.
I can get it up to speed for in-town driving, but there's never any shift. Downshift? Upshift? I don't know much about changing gears. It's an automatic. The car has a tach, and I normally when I accelerate, it goes up to about 3k, then drops down to 2-2.5k as I get to around 35-45mph. That doesn't happen. And it's not every time I drive, either. But the first time it happened I ended up on the highway for a short stretch, and the engine was spinning at 3.5k+ just to maintain 65mph.
I took it to a guy I trust a few weeks ago, and he asked me if I'd ever had a transmission flush, and I've only owned the car for a year, so I said no. He did that and either A) the problem went away for a while or
it had no effect but the problem is intermittent enough to not notice.I'm taking it to AAMCO tomorrow, since it's literally less than a block from my apartment (and I'll need to walk back because my wife is out of town). I'd rather not come off as a total rube when I explain my problem to the tech at the shop, so what should I say?
As a side note, and I only mention this because I have no idea if they're even possibly related - I've also got two other minor issues.
1) When I run the AC, I hear a slow hiss about once a minute. It usually last 5 seconds or so, and it's pretty quiet. I'm normally a "windows down" kinda guy, but apparently this summer here in NC is supposed to be pretty brutal.
2) It used to be that sometimes I'd hear water sloshing. This is most definitely not just fuel in the tank, it sounds like there's a quarter full water bottle in the glovebox. I haven't heard it in a while, but I don't know exactly when it stopped. It doesn't seem to be related to the car's incline, and I'd usually notice it while coming to/starting from a stop.
Delzhand on
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This discussion has been closed.
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Your automatic transmission fluid (ATF) should have been cherry colored before you performed the flush. If it was old, thick, or blackened, that could be the source of your problem. Unfortunately, if you washed away evidence of the problem, it might be more difficult to determine. Bad ATF could cause any number of problems, from gears not spinning properly to clutch plates not meeting. This could cause your transmission to have trouble changing from idle to 1st (taking your foot off the brake) or shifting from any higher gears.
You also might have a clutch problem, which could also cause those symptoms.
It's like trying to diagnose a person's illness. Some effects might be just caused by other underlying problems. If you could give us some more information later then we'll try to help out as much as we can. Good luck.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
The car doesn't seem to have any problems in reverse - the backwards idle seems normal and I can feel the shift.
That's pretty much all the info I have. It's still intermittent enough that I don't really have consistent info about conditions that cause it or cause it to go away.
Your clutch plates are probably slipping during a gear change. There's only one gear for reverse, so the transmission shouldn't have a huge problem there.
Good news and bad news: The good news is that a clutch change is relatively easy. The bad news is that it takes like five hours to take a transmission out of a car and open it up.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
Fuck me.
Your best bet is going to be having a mechanic check for fault codes. Even if the problem isn't persistent, there should be some stored from when it has happened that will help them diagnose the issue.
I can't remember if the shifting problems the OP described will trip a fault code. The computer would read a distinct component failure like a blown sensor, not an intermittent "kinda works sometimes maybe" problem like clutch plate pads really sucking.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
Any shop should be able to (and willing) to check your check engine code for free. You can also take it to Autozone and they'll do it. The code usually can tell you where the problem lies.
Not sure if this applies to you, but I just recently had some car work done. I thought I was having transmission problems (really rough acceleration), but among other stuff I needed I had my spark plugs replaced and the problem went away. It's something you should do around 100k miles, so I'd check if it has been done.