XRS

I noticed something this morning. When I shift when the car is still cold and the car is idling at a generally higher rpm (1000 rpm rather than around 700rpm), the revs shoot up a little bit before it the transmission engages. In this normal?

When in 4H, is the differential locked? (i.e. do you see the yellow indicator on the dash in between the wheels? Not sure why the engine would just rev though. In any case, you shouldn't be using 4wd locked if it ain't reaaaalll slippery.

Yeah. I get the same thing. How many km or miles do you have on your tranny?

Does it slam in to gear even without you giving gas when you put it into Drive? Mine doesn't slam into gear unless I give it gas before the transmission actually engages. That does seem odd. Maybe give it a couple seconds before giving it gas?

I think it's normal to have that delay in the morning. I've read that it's from converter drain pack and it takes the first shift to regain pressure or something along those lines. I guess what I'm experiencing might not be "normal" afterall, Do you usually give it a second to engage before stepping on the gas? Because if I do right away, the engine revs then shoots forward when the gear actually engages. I don't mind waiting the second, I just wanted to gauge whether this is normal as, like I have said, I never driven a truck and was wondering if it's normal to have this sort of delay in a larger vehicle. *EDIT: I've also noticed that the delay sometimes is shorter sometimes, and it seems to be somewhat random. I wonder what this portends. Sometimes it's less than a second (using a stopwatch), but sometimes it can take as long as 1.3 seconds. In any case, I will try to switch out more fluid to see if it improves the situation. Thanks for all the responses so far.

Mine has a slight delay between 2nd to 3rd. I don't think it is anything to worry about? Do you get the delay from Park to Reverse/Drive or from Drive to Reverse or vice versa?

Thanks Towncivilian. The shop recommended Lubeguard as an additive. Any thoughts on this product?

I'm glad that I'm not the only one and the 'issue' seems to be normal for this transmission. Thank you!

Thank you. I was getting a bit worried, as the tech made it seem like it was not normal at all (the delay moving from P to D). I will probably look up some DIYs and do some drain and fills myself. How long should I let the old fluid mix with the new ones?

That's the thing. I would expect this kind of delay for a vehicle with higher mileage, but this particular one only has 90,000km. I never noticed when I test-drove because I usually come to a complete stop before I shift gears and it takes me about a second to get going again. I'm just worried as this might mean I need a rebuild soon?

Hello Town Civilian, Thank you very much for your response. Only the fluid removed during the pan drop was replaced as the transmission shop said that a flush was not necessary and may cause more issues than it might fix. I'm not sure what fluid they used--I just assumed it would just be conventional Dexron III or equivalent. I didn't mean 1/4" shavings but rather 1/4 inch of accumulated tiny metal particles. None of the shavings I can see were large at all. And by "delayed engagement", I meant moving from Park to Drive or Park to Reverse. They delay is around 1.3 seconds--I just timed it just now. Is this normal? I don't think I have ever experienced this in other vehicles, but I've also never driven a truck, only small economy cars.

Hey guys, I recently purchased a 1998 Pathy with Auto transmission for really cheap. I was taking the vehicle to a shop to change out some fluids and everything looks good except for the transmission. The tech who took it for a test-drive says that there is delayed engagement, and this is an internal problem (which can be quite expensive to diagnose and fix). The tech dropped the transmission pan, and said there was a more than normal metal particles on the magnet. He showed me the pan, and it basically looked like it was entirely covered in small tiny particles...around 1/4 inch thick. However, he did say that the transmission fluid looked okay, although it was a bit varnished. He then proceeded refilling the transmission with new fluid. During this time, I did some research about the engagment delay issue. The delay is somewhat slight--maybe one and a half second to two seconds at most. I've seen on other forums saying that the delay is characteristic of this particular model.I told this to the tech, and he said that ANY sort of delay is not normal for ANY type of vehicle and always points to an internal issue with the transmission (most likely excessive wear he said). The weird thing is that the car only has 90000km and was never used for towing or anything! So I was really surprised that there is so much wear on it. He said that the car will likely need repairs soon and the delay will get worst and worst. So, my question is..do any of you guys experience a similar delay? Is this normal or should there be cause for concern? What are some things I can do to prevent the situation from worsening. Thank you very much in advance!