Sometimes Weak Start

[chadmg7]

Hi everyone,

I'm not sure which keywords to use in doing a search on this topic. When I started my car this morning, it didn't seem like it was going to start. It turned over, but then as it was doing the regular revving up to 2,000 RPMs or so (it's cold here), it sort of dipped down to 1,000 and it sounded like it might die. It stayed running, but sort of freaked me out. Is this indicative of something major, or was there just some gasoline in the line or something that caused it to "cough"?

Thanks.

[mburnickas]

Hi everyone,

I'm not sure which keywords to use in doing a search on this topic. When I started my car this morning, it didn't seem like it was going to start. It turned over, but then as it was doing the regular revving up to 2,000 RPMs or so (it's cold here), it sort of dipped down to 1,000 and it sounded like it might die. It stayed running, but sort of freaked me out. Is this indicative of something major, or was there just some gasoline in the line or something that caused it to "cough"?

Thanks.

Egr going? Maybe throttle body, Ivac or MAF dirty?

[chadmg7]

Just drove home work from and noticed that the tranny seems to be shifting at a higher RPM than normal. Also feels a bit more jerky when it shifts and when I shift from Park to Reverse to Drive. Please tell me this is not the transmission going out and maybe just the transmission needing a flush. The tranny dipstick is on the right side of the engine, correct? (Near the oil dipstick). I couldn't find it so I am guessing that the purplish-red dipstick with a metal clip is the tranny dipstick. Anyway, that fluid was brown and didn't smell good (contrasted to it needing to be pink and sweet smelling). What do you think it is?

[mburnickas]

Just drove home work from and noticed that the tranny seems to be shifting at a higher RPM than normal. Also feels a bit more jerky when it shifts and when I shift from Park to Reverse to Drive. Please tell me this is not the transmission going out and maybe just the transmission needing a flush. The tranny dipstick is on the right side of the engine, correct? (Near the oil dipstick). I couldn't find it so I am guessing that the purplish-red dipstick with a metal clip is the tranny dipstick. Anyway, that fluid was brown and didn't smell good (contrasted to it needing to be pink and sweet smelling). What do you think it is?

yes that is the stick. Also brown and burnt smelling fluid is not a good sign...

[chadmg7]

Does brown and burnt mean that it needs to be drained and refilled, or does that mean that damage has been done? New tranny or can it be repaired somehow? Just my luck...

[Toysrme]

It means you're doing damage to it, but there is no way to tell what's going on.

Several drain & fills, or flush it.

Clean your IAC, clean the MAF & Check your coolant sensor<s>

[khhoang]

Just drove home work from and noticed that the tranny seems to be shifting at a higher RPM than normal. Also feels a bit more jerky when it shifts and when I shift from Park to Reverse to Drive. Please tell me this is not the transmission going out and maybe just the transmission needing a flush. The tranny dipstick is on the right side of the engine, correct? (Near the oil dipstick). I couldn't find it so I am guessing that the purplish-red dipstick with a metal clip is the tranny dipstick. Anyway, that fluid was brown and didn't smell good (contrasted to it needing to be pink and sweet smelling). What do you think it is?

also inspect your engine mounts, particularly the dogbone mount, for torn bushings.

[chadmg7]

Thanks, I brought the car in today and told them to check out the transmission issue. When I dropped the car off, they said (based on what I had told them) that they would recommend doing a flush. I also mentioned the MAF, Ivac, throttle body, etc. and they said they'd check it out. I am waiting for a call back from them about what the problem(s) are. I also asked them to check the mounts.

[Miguel]

Keep me posted, my transmittion shifts ok but when I go from park to reverse, and from Drive to reverse it shakes kind of hard not that hard but I can feel it but and I put the car on drive I can't feel a thing.....Do you guys think I need a flush?

[chadmg7]

Just wanted to let everyone know the results.

-Got a transmission flush (they recommended this over a drain)

-Oil change

-They were unable to replicate the strange starting issue; maybe it's gone, because it has yet to repeat itself for me

-My rack and pinion system (which had been installed by my old mechanic) was LOOSE... they said the entire thing was shifting left to right when I would turn the steering wheel... that's nice and dangerous. So they tightened it up and now it steers MUCH better

-Transmission issues seem to have been cleared up by getting the fluid changed. It was a brown color, but they said it did not smell burnt. Seems to be shifting much better now.

So far so good. I'll let you know if anything worsens (I've only driven about 10 miles since I got it back because I drove straight to work!). :)

[Miguel]

Great, I'm happy for you,

[chadmg7]

Hey Miguel, mine was jerking slightly when I'd shift from reverse to park, park to drive, reverse to drive, etc. and the transmission flush *seems* to have helped eliminate that jerk.

I'm not sure whether it is even feasible that a tranny flush would make this go away... but it seems to have worked on mine, in addition to making the regular gear shifting even smoother than before.

[Miguel]

My fluid looks really good but, I only feel a bit of a kick went I put it on R nothing more.

[chadmg7]

Then I'd check the mounts, like khhoang mentioned. That is the only thing I can think of.

My friend's '99 Avalon was jerking when she would shift from R to D, etc. and I believe the mounts were bad.

[kpat]

had the same issue on my 95 and the dogbone was damaged and replacing the mount made it shift much smoother now...