Transmission Shifting Best Practices

[OPR4H]

Originally Posted By: Ethan1
Originally Posted By: PimTac
"ALWAYS: Footbrake> parking brake> park. And don't shift from D into N at a stop."

Okay I'll ask. Why? I do it all the time at long jstops. Many modern transmissions do it automatically now.


You hit the nail on the head: "Why?"


Because you're wearing clutches to disingage (N) and to engage back (D), that also goes contaminating the fluid with the debries that will endup in the solenoids and valve body, shortening transmission life. My old Civic did that automatically, but the transmission didn't endured as the engine and needed to be rebuild.

 

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
In wife's Q5, the first 1->2 shift of the day is rather abrupt/violent. It'll get up to fairly high rpms in 1st and then slam/snap into 2nd. The car has to sit overnight for this to happen. Then, every subsequent 1>2 shift is smooth, even if executed only 10 seconds after the previous one. This is irrelevant of ambient temp.

Still not sure why this is happening, but it seems many other Q5 owners experience it, too. I keep forgetting to bring this up with the service advisor. It's difficult to replicate since the car would have to sit overnight first.

Maybe the trans fluid did not have a chance to circulate yet? Or maybe it's programming. Not sure.

You need a software update or a new valve body.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
You need a software update or a new valve body.

I checked and there aren't any TSBs indicating trans software updates for this car.

Also, the car has been behaving this way since day 1. What are the chances a brand new car would need a new valve body? Also, if it was a bad valve body, wouldn't it affect all 1>2 shifts and not just the first 1>2 shift of the day?