Shifting Hard

When my 96 Rodeo is initially placed into drive, the truck will liurch from 1st to 2nd gear. This only happens when the engine is cold, like when sitting overnight.

I had the tranny fluid changed about 2,000 miles ago?

Any ideas what might be up?

Thanks,

G.

it is your range position switch (neutral safety switch) when it does it i bet the prnd21 don't match on the dash with what the shifter is in. look in the F.A.Q. at the top of the forum page and it explains this common problem in detail! mike

Have you owned this truck for quite some time....meaning, is it a *new* symptom, or is this the first winter of you owning the truck??

Reason I ask, is my '97 Rodeo ALWAYS does this, and has since the day I bought it off the lot new 10yrs ago. The computer is set up to not allow the auto to shift into 2nd until the coolant reaches a certain temp degree; I, for one, HATE the forcing effect that you feel with a cold situation....to bypass this, I allow my truck to idle 2-5 minutes and then take off.

Have you owned this truck for quite some time....meaning, is it a *new* symptom, or is this the first winter of you owning the truck??

Reason I ask, is my '97 Rodeo ALWAYS does this, and has since the day I bought it off the lot new 10yrs ago. The computer is set up to not allow the auto to shift into 2nd until the coolant reaches a certain temp degree; I, for one, HATE the forcing effect that you feel with a cold situation....to bypass this, I allow my truck to idle 2-5 minutes and then take off.



This sounds very weird to me. Something I have never heard of before. Are you sure the dealer didn't just tell you this to avoid the warranty repair?

At that particular time when I did question this, years ago, I test drove other auto V6's 96 & 97's, 4 different ones. They ALL did the same thing, granted though, I'm probably making it sound like a harsh/lunge forward, it's not that dramatic, it feels like a very solid shift is all, but I think more of it is because it doesn't shift into 2nd until right around 2,500-3k rpm's when the temp is still on the C mark.

If I wait till it's a tad off the C mark to start out, it's fine.

I've just always allowed it to idle for a few minutes before taking off, if I do this, it shifts fine right from the start. I hate feeling like I'm forcing it to shift at a high rpm AND I don't like the engine hitting that high of an rpm when it's 0 degrees outside and I've just started it.

The shop manual states that the shift point will vary depending on temp and whether at full throttle or partial throttle. Mine isn't a hard shift when cold, but it tends to at a different shift point. When it reaches normal operating temperature it shifts as one would expect.

I thought that I had actually read it somewhere, but couldn't remember exactly where at......thanks!

Oh, ok. The way you made it sound I thought it would just stay in 1st gear and not shift at all.

Have you owned this truck for quite some time....meaning, is it a *new* symptom, or is this the first winter of you owning the truck??

Reason I ask, is my '97 Rodeo ALWAYS does this, and has since the day I bought it off the lot new 10yrs ago. The computer is set up to not allow the auto to shift into 2nd until the coolant reaches a certain temp degree; I, for one, HATE the forcing effect that you feel with a cold situation....to bypass this, I allow my truck to idle 2-5 minutes and then take off.
mine does that to! but only on the first shift from 1-2 (when cold). the thread starter (gary) states his lurches , which i am assuming is a snap or unusually hard shift? maybe we need clarification? the only reason i said range position sensor, is because mine would act up on mornings, especially when wet out. and it would shift like the trans was about to come out. but once the range switch made the connection (sometimes up to 30 min) it would then be fine. so can you provide more clarification? thanks gary! mike

The shifting is a s Mike describes as it feels like the whole rear end is going to come loose. This is a really hard slam into 2nd gear.

Check your range mode sensor.

My 95.5 Rodeo also has a noticeable different shift from 1 to 2 when cold. As Ramblin said, it only happens when cold and without a good warming up. Always seemed "normal" to me though.