Hesitation on rolling stops
 

My 98 LX automatic hesitates when starting to move from a not complete stop.
I compare it to shifting the car into Neutral, stepping on the gas and then
shifting into drive.This happens when approaching an intersection if I don't do a
complete stop. it has become very annoying. the car only has 66,000 miles. Just did a
trans fluid change 5,000 miles ago. your help would be greatly appreciated.
Vic

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

Does the transmission jerk the car at all when it feels like it is shifting into drive? Any rpm fluctuations? i.e. when it hesitates do the rpm's climb then does the tranny catch and jerk the car forward?

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

Sounds like it doesn't downshift into first, probablybecause you didn't give enough time for it to do that. If you roll into the gas more slowly, you might feel it pull in 2nd gear for a moment before it shifts down to 1st.

If it's truly going into neutral, that would not be normal.

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

Yes, your description of the problem sounds better than mine. Whenthe tranny catches, it jerks the car forward.
I have not paid attention to the rpms but I'm quite sure that the rpms go up prior to the trans engaging again. I try to be as smooth as possible evento the point of completely stopping to avoid the forward jerk. Perhaps the other post was also right. It might not be shifting down to 1st but I don't
think it's truly going into neutral.

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

The reason I asked is I had a similar experience in my '90 Mustang. But mine happened mostly when I would be going from Park to drive or from reverse to drive. Sometimes I would try to give it gas and 1st gear would not catch. It would rev up the rpms then jerk into 1st. Other times it would be when I was at a stoplight. But I always had to come to a complete stop. I noticed my tranny fluid was low and I added some as well as some "stop leak" cause I could tell it had been leaking some (the car had 170k miles on the same trannyand I'm sure those gaskets don't hold up forever.) After I added the fluid the problem seemed to be gone.
I noticed that you said you did a trans fluid change about 5k ago. Have you checked the trans fluid level recently? Ialways try to look for the simplest things first, but Ireally don't know anything about transmissions.That is just what I would do to begin with.

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

Oil level is fine and there are no leaks.

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

When it stays in 2nd & then doesn't shift into 1st until you press the gas... That's a fairly subtle jerk that you can feel. It doesn't last long enough to allow the revs to really climb much.

In order to get better fuel economy, trannys are programmed to use the highest gear that's useable & only downshift when they need. The control strategy can be pretty sophisticated, but there's always gonna be certain specific situations where the driver can outsmart the tranny & it gets confused.

It might be tough for US to tell the difference without driving your car firsthand. Thebig thing is to figure out whether it's actually going into neutral, because that would not be normal.

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

Next rimeI drive it, I will see how high the rpms get before it jerks.

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

does it exhibit any other issues when driving normally or going up a hill? or is it just the downshift problem?

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

Just the downshift. TonightI paid attention to the RPM's as well and as Islow down to about 600 RPM's and then step on the gas, it will go up to about 2100 RPM's before it jerksforward and gets going.The upshifts are all good, no other problems.

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

Oil level??? check the tranny fluid, not the oil! Its red!!!

Try putting it down into 1st gear manually. Sounds like the transmission isnt shifting down into first but then realizes that it needs to so it jerks down into it. Im no transmission expert but I would guess that theres a speed sensor the ecu reads to determine what gear the car should be in. Do you have that stupid "sport shift" option? If so is that on? I would first try manually shifting the car into 1st and start from there.

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

I don't have the sport shift. Thought about a sensor but since I get no codes and no idea where that sensor is located, I would try other options first.
I will more than likey change my tranny fluid again. WhenI manually shift, everything operates smooth.Appreciate all of everyones suggestions.

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

I had a similar issue in our minivan. It would also jerk into gears under low acceleration or rapid changes in accelerating/braking. We mentioned it when it went in for it's recall service and they did an adjustment that smoothed the shifting out. What the tech told us (true or not) was that the brain adjust the shifting based on how the vehicle is driven and they just reset it back to the default values.

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

That's something to consider. Since I'm picking up some tranny fluid at the stealership this week, I will definetely stop by the Service Dept. and inquire about this. It would be interesting to hear their diagnosis. thanks

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

Be sure to report back how it goes. :)

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

The problem has been solved. The motor mount which seats in the front part of the car (between the radiator fans and the engine) was shot. It had a crack in it. Therefore, allowing the engine to move forward as I slowed down and backwards asI stepped on the gas. This was causing the jerking movement on take offs.Part and labor was under $100.00. Thank you all for your suggestions.

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

Dang... I need to remind myself to check the simple stuff first.

Still, it's cool when it turns out to be something easy.

RE: Hesitation on rolling stops
 

There is an hydraulic pump inlet screen under the trans pan that can become blocked w/ fine steel particles leading to fluid inlet restriction to the pump. I've replaced this on a couple of my cars w/ no real change, however I've had others (primarily Acuras) report impressive improvement in shift quality after replacing the inlet screen. It requires removing the trans pan and about 8-6mm bolts. Only tricky part is keeping up w/ bolt lengths and matching bolt holes. I think there are 3-different bolt lengths[:@]

good luck