hi guys,

i'm the owner of a 2004 V6 SW and i was hoping someone could shed some light on a few things.

i bought the car towards the end of '04 from a dealer with 8500 miles on the clock (now 45K). everything ran perfect and still does for the most part but i've noticed two things:

1. when in manual mode, sometimes i start from standstill in 2nd gear and sometimes it jerks roughly back into 1st. this only occurs at slow speed. i'm assuming that i'm not mantaining enough speed to engage 2nd, but the jerk is pretty violent. normal?

2. there is an annoying rattle i've been living with for a while and it's bothering me enough now that i'm here asking. it's in the dashboard approximately by the center console. dealer tried to fix it once and succeeded only for a brief time. it came back 1 day later. my memory is hazy because it's been a few years but i remember the SA saying something is possibly hanging loose and they would wrap it with foam if that is the case. any ideas?

also, the steering column has a loud squeak. i plan to have this issue addressed next time i'm in for service and i was hoping someone would know so i could possibly point the SA in the right direction without incurring too much diagnostic cost with both this and the rattle.

TIA

 

1. That's exactly what it is. You don't leave from a stop in 2nd gear.

 

is there a problem with starting in 2nd?

 

Um yes auto's have physical gears...they just have a torque converter rather than a clutch. As for your problem, the '04's, i believe, had the 4spd auto in them still. Am I right? If this is the case, then the gearing ratio may simply be too tall for the car's available power to launch you while in 2nd gear from a stand still. I know in my '05 (which has the updated 6spd tranny) I can take off from 2nd without a problem due to the fact that it's a fairly close ratio gear box.

 

Wow, I find myself not even paying attention to what I'm writing as I'm doing homework...LOL. I'm just gonna go back and delete that post.

 

i have a 5sp. auto. and power is not the problem.

i should have explained the circumstance in which this happens:

i don't make it a habit to always start in 2nd. i do it when i'm on an incline and especially with passengers and/or a heavy load in the back. i start in 2nd gear in manual mode because 1st is so short; i go ten feet before i have to shift and lose momentum. i start in second for efficiency (or so i think).

if a car ahead of me doesn't go fast enough or if i have to lift off the throttle for whatever reason, the tranny jerks roughly into first.

my concern is with this jerk. when i'm in MM in 4th and don't carry enough speed, the tranny eases into 3rd with no problems. i was asking if this sounds like a problem with the tranny or if that is just the way it reacts to an automatic downshift. i used to have a 2000 Millenia S that would act funny transmission-wise sometimes and i read that it was normal. great car BTW.

 

Especially on an incline you should start in 1st, you need the added torque to keep you going. Starting in 2nd is something you do when you need less power at launch (ie. wet roads). There is no added efficiency to be had here, you are actually making your engine work harder by doing it how you are thus it's actually lower efficiency.