weird shifting when its cold... maybe i need ATF?

[BennyL]

hi guys,

so i've got a 96' BMW 318 automatic. its a 4-spd auto transmission... i think its a GM.

anyways, the car shifts perfectly normal in the summer. only problem i have in the winter: when i first start the car in the morning and start driving, it holds on to the gear for alot longer than it should. like, instead of changing gears when i let off the gas a bit, it keeps in gear and i pretty much have to push it to about 4000 or 4500 RPM to get it to shift. its weird, because its only in the morning when its cold, but it only happens for the first 2 or 3 shifts, then it stops... so its not like the transmission fluid is already warmed up. no way. i dont know... i just don't get it. i know its not slipping. the shifts feel fine when they happen. its just the first few shifts i have to push it so hard to get it to go.

why is this?

i haven't changed the transmission fluid since i got the car 2 years ago, and i have absolutely no service records from the previous owner. i picked the car up at 160,000 KM and now its at 190,000 KM.

could this be the reason? could it be in need of fresh ATF?

 

[Thingfish]

That is where I would start.

 

[Schmoe]

Break it down...you don't have this problem in the summer, warmer temps. You have this problem, only at first, in the winter, colder temps. True, the transmission is not fully warmed up, but IT IS warmed up some compared to when you first started it. I'd just give it a minute or two longer to warm up and then not worry about it. Also, your in Canada, really COLD up there.

 

[Eddie]

Some ATs will not shift up past 2d gear until the fluid reaches a certain temperature, unless you over ride it by forcing the shift.

 

[BennyL]

well ya, i figured it has something to do with the cold... what i'm asking is if i should change the AFT. do you think it will be less severe? i was thinking of putting in Amsoil synthetic ATF.

the question is, though, will it work? and is it safe? i don't want it to screw up my transmission. alot of people have told me that i might have this BMW "lifetime" ATF and if i change it, i could bust the transmission. is this possible?

 

[RF Overlord]

Originally Posted By: BennyL
a lot of people have told me that i might have this BMW "lifetime" ATF and if i change it, i could bust the transmission. is this possible?
In a word, no.

"Lifetime" fluid is a marketing ploy dreamed up to sell cars to the uninformed by leading them to believe the car will never need routine maintenance. "Lifetime" fluid only has the last the lifetime of the factory warranty, then it's no longer the manufacturer's concern. *Sigh*.

With that many kms on the car and not having a clear maintenance history, I would say the VERY first thing you should do is change the ATF. Most likely the additive pack is depleted and that's what's causing your sluggish shifting when cold.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
well ya, i figured it has something to do with the cold... what i'm asking is if i should change the AFT. do you think it will be less severe? i was thinking of putting in Amsoil synthetic ATF.


I'd recommend doing an Auto-Rx treatment. There's obviously a cold component to this ..and I'm not familiar with the trans; so I don't know if it's intelligent enough to factor that in. That is, any trans that was simply hydraulic will have some variance in shifting when cold; just due to higher pressure generated by all the reactive components (governor, etc.) ..electronic controlled may compensate for it (that "velvety smooth shift" khraph ).

OTOH, you may just have a sticky bore on some valve that needs a cleaning.

btw- I'm ALL FOR you switching to AMsoil ATF ...and that will surely ease the issue due to viscosity differences between your current fill at -whatever and a synth at -whatever.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Like Eddie said,my old 300ZX Turbo and 3000GT SL (both with auto transmissions) wouldn`t shift into overdrive until the engine reached "normal" operating temperature. This was actually covered in both cars` owner`s manuals as being the way the transmission was supposed to behave (enabling engine warm-up).

Maybe you car is designed the same,since it`s only happening when cold?

 

[mikeg5]

my tacoma does that and i drain and fill with maxlife every 15k miles. its a longer harder shift from 2nd to 3rd and somtimes to 4th until i see the guage gets to a certain temp.. this only happens in the cold also.. you may switch to synthetic atf, supposedly it helps BUT you dont have to. its nothing to worry about. just an option..

 

[Schmoe]

Dodges were notorious for that problem in the early 90's.

 

[Donald]

Whether its normal or not an ATF change is in order since you have no prior service records. I would have made an ATF change a priority when I purchased the vehicle given no history.

An upgrade to Amsoil would be a nice thing to do for your transmission.

 

[BennyL]

so its not possible that i drain and fill the transmission with amsoil and then its gonna destroy the transmission, right?

and should i drain and fill, or should i have the pan removed and cleaned and change the mesh filter?

 

[mikeg5]

either one will be fine.. if you are going to just drain and fill or clean the screen then dont use amsoil imo... get a good named syn or maxlife atf.. waste of $ if you are going to drain and fill with amsoil.. if you are going to do a full flush then yeah go with amsoil

 

[lewk]

My van shifts hard initially when cold too. The 4L60E will shift thru all 4 gears. The torque convertor will not lock-up until the engine is in closed loop mode.If I jump from secondary roads to the freeway early in my drive I can feel this happen. Servicing the XMSN is a good idea though.

 

[unDummy]

Full synthetic is always recommended. At that 190kkm interval, I would definitely drop the pan and change the filter. I would also recommend a full flush because of the mileage.

If you don't want to flush or drop the pan, peform weekly drain/refills until you reach 4-6 intervals. This should remove a majority of the old ATF. Then start single drain/refill regimen every 6-12months.

For emissions reasons, and to warm up the engine/transmission, when extremely cold, late/aggressive shift pattern is normal.

 

[H2GURU]

Better than even chance its programmed into shifter code to reduce pollution as engine supposedly warms quicker. I do not enjoy revving engines when they are cold though, and wish I could by-pass this feature.

 

[Gary in Sandy Eggo]

Some transmissions do delay shifting until they warm up, but your problem is likely used up fluid. Almost all transmission problems can be traced back to failure to change or refresh your ATF regularly. Even if you can't get more than 4-5 quarts out of a 10-12 quart AT, replacing that 4-5 quarts should show an almost immediate improvement in transmission shifting. The new fluid starts cleaning the varnish off the little valve bodies, and they begin to move more freely. If the fluid is ANY color other than a clear (transparent) red, the fluid needs to be replace.

A flush and replace that some places do would be the best approach you could take.

 

[Saturn_Fan]

Originally Posted By: Gary in Sandy Eggo
Some transmissions do delay shifting until they warm up, but your problem is likely used up fluid. Almost all transmission problems can be traced back to failure to change or refresh your ATF regularly. Even if you can't get more than 4-5 quarts out of a 10-12 quart AT, replacing that 4-5 quarts should show an almost immediate improvement in transmission shifting. The new fluid starts cleaning the varnish off the little valve bodies, and they begin to move more freely. If the fluid is ANY color other than a clear (transparent) red, the fluid needs to be replace.

A flush and replace that some places do would be the best approach you could take.



I agree. My VUE holds first gear a long time and then kind of bumps into second when you first start it up and run it in the morning. A few miles into the drive it returns to normal. The VUE vehicles are also known for about a 1 second pause that happens when you go from Park to Drive or from Park to Reverse. I just had it flushed a few months back and I didn't notice any difference on its tendency to hold onto first like the OP mentioned, so I think it is just the transmission warming up before letting you grab first.

 

[psudaytona]

My old car that has a 3 speed a413 transmission, and my current crown vic with the 4R70W shift at higher points when they are very cold. Its like that for like 5-10 mins then back to normal. I was always told the same thing that its normal.

Chrysler 4 speed A604s will disable overdrive until the unit reaches its "operating temperature range", normal operation. When I changed the transmission fluid in the vic the behavior stayed exactly the same.