Hello,

Today for the 1st time when accelerating from a dead stop it feels like the car is stuck in 3rd gear. Works fine when manually shifting from 1st , 2nd, and 3rd. I put transmission fluid in it about 2 months ago. Any ideas what to look for or what's causing this?

Thanks,
Troy

 

What fluid did you use, is the level ok? Are there any stored TCU codes?

 

Thanks. The code I get is 12 (1 long flash and 2 short flashes). The liquid was Lucas Transmission fix. I just checked the transmission fluid levels and they look good. It also looks clear. Any other ideas?

 

Was this the D4 light or the CEL? ECU-Check Engine Light code 12 is for egr. Didn't see a code 12 for ECU, unless this is a 10 and 2-how long was the pause between the two.

 

not sure what a D4 is. It was the CEL. Maybe you can explain what the TCU is and how to check it? Sorry, but not familiar with this.

 

The same connector will flash the CEL if there are code. If will also make the D4 light blink/flash (drive, 4th gear....uhh the light thingy on the dash that tells you what gear the trans in in-yes very technical terms, don't know how else to explain)

 

duhhhh that's what the D4 is. Okay I know exactly what you're talking about now. I will see if that flashes when I check again. I notice my AWD flashing, but that's been on for a few years. Not sure why it was flashing though.

 

D4 light does not flash. I will take it to a trans shop tomorrow to have it tested. Since I can manually shift the gears it sounds like something that controls this automatically is not working?

 

The repair shop ran a test on the trans and found no problems. They said that they reconnected the neg battery cable to reset the computer and now it shifts correctly. They also mentioned that they get a code 12 and 20 when jumping the codes. Sounds like the computer was not communicating with
the transmission. Although, it's been reset this doesn't mean it won't reoccur again. Anyone ever had this happen before?

T

 

You can reset the engine and transmission computers by pulling the 7.5 amp backup/radio fuse in the engine bay fuse box.

If the code(s) return, you will have to troubleshoot the specific code.

If the transmission starts acting up without any transmission codes, then it could possibly be the transmission computer. Wait and see if the problem returns then check for codes before considering this.