odd shifting after accelerating after stoping quickly

[jessetheaviator]

2006 cobalt automatic

so i just had some work done on the front of my car (small front impact, not straight on), had the radiator fixed (took them a few times to get it right), but when they gave it back to me last it was leaking transmission fluid everywhere! the car shifted sort of odd also, so i brought it back the next day. they said when they fixed the bumper, radiator, lights, and lower support bar they had to open the transmission for some reason, not sure why. they said when they put it back together they didnt plug the hose in correctly so it came out.

now.. im noticing a weird shifting when i stop quickly, at a stop sign, and then try to accelerate. it seems as though if i dont wait a few seconds it is still in 2nd maybe? and then quickly shifts down to 1st and then back to 2nd. i dont know much about this stuff, but this is what it feels like to me. twice in the last week now it has also taken a while to shift into 2nd gear, went up to around 3000rpms at pretty normal acceleration.

any ideas? i dont know if the leaking transmission fluid could have messed it up, it didnt shift THAT erratically after the leak so im not sure how much came out. i only have 46,000 miles on the car.

thanks.

[GreyGoose006]

well in MY experience, an automatic running with not enough fluid, simply wont have enough pressure to stay in gear.
what happens is you try and go, the car sits and revs, as if it was in neutral, then when the revs get high enough to build pressure in the trans, it drops into gear.

so

if this is what it feels like when you were driving with less fluid, or whatever, then you really shouldnt have done any damage as long as it was filled back up.

now,
if they put in the wrong fluid, or overfilled it, then you have problems.

[slideways...]

take it back to them. they should fix this for free. oh and they do have to drain some trans fluid when changing the radiator, as most radiators have transmission fluid coolers built in. but i bet they checked the fluid when the car wasnt running or something stupid.

[jessetheaviator]

well just found out that my car was running on 5 quarts of tranny fluid when its supposed to be around 12, so i was running quite low. the car seems better, but i think i felt a little slippage again after accelerating quickly after slowing.. should this tranny flush and fill make the car 100% better directly after having it done, or does it take some time to "work its way through the lines' or whatever.. i dont know much about this.

[slideways...]

try resetting the ECU. pull the battery cable for 10 minutes, then take the car for a drive. start driving like a granny but work your way up to all out hauling ass by the end of the drive. most modern cars have a lot of adaptive software in their programming to adjust the car to how you drive. if this doesnt help and nothing else does, consider going back to teh dealer and bitching till they get you a new transmission.

[jessetheaviator]

alright, i'll give that a shot when i get back home on tuesday. i appreciate the help and ill let ya know how it goes!