2.0 fs auto transmission cold start problems

blkspdfreak

Member
:
03 black msp and silver p5
hello ladies and gents,

I have been having issues with my transmission in the mornings, or anytime the car has been sitting for a period of time and becomes cold. on the initial start, it goes into reverse fine, but as soon as I shift into drive it doesn't move (almost like sitting in neutral). if I shift into "1" it grabs for a second, then lets go. if I shift between 1 and 2 rapidly it slowly grabs after about 5 minutes and eventually gets going. I changed the filter and fluid, and there were no metal shavings from the gears in the pan, but when we opened up the filter there were some bronze shavings. we did a complete flush and I shifts like new, once its warmed up. its not throwing a code, but someone changed out all the sensors in their pan area and said it helped, I also read that there is some type of fluid like lucas that reconditions the bands but is only temporary....
My question to you guys is if any of you have had this same problem, how you fixed it, or if happened on another vehicle how was it repaired. Save all the BS answers please, I don't need to hear "bro your tranny is screwed, swap in a ms6 motor and do an awd protege5......" thanks for the feedback guys!
 
How many miles are on the transmission and how often was its fluid changed?
 
176k and counting..... i picked up the car at 120k as a daily and i changed the fluid when i got it and just did it again when all this started happening. im happy it's lasted this long, just hoping it'll last a few more months so i can get some other things lined up. there is a used one for $300 with 40k on it locally. might consider biting the bullet.
 
Mmmm, you waited 56,000 miles before changing the tranny fluid? I would not go more than 30K, max or every couple of years. It may be a good time to get that used one after making sure it is fully functional.
 
could it have anything to do with hydraulic pressure? I mean if pressure is low, wouldn't that prevent or delay shifting. But maybe once your car warms up, its able to maintain pressure better? Please let us know if you learn anything new.
 
Yes, but hydraulic pressure is directly affected by volume of fluid. For example, my MX6 GT's tranny wasn't shifting into first gear and would therefore stall the engine at idle speeds. A solenoid in the transmission was not actuating and I thought it would need to be replaced. It turned out that the transmission fluid level was down by about 2 quarts. After a drain and fill with the right amount of fluid, all is well.
I found that in order to get a good reading on the dipstick, the engine and transmission have to be warmed up, the car has to be level, and the engine, running while the fluid level is checked. I was measuring the fluid with the engine cold and turned off - big mistake!
 
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