OK, I recently purchased a gently used 2002 Santa Fe 2.7L AT. It had 56,000 mines and seems to have been well maintained. I have put about 1000 mines on and something has got my attention.

After shifting from Park To Drive or Reverse to drive the car will hesitate as the gas is pushed. This seems to be a momentary hesitation and it feels as though the engine is reving (no drop in RPM) after a sec theres a slight jerk and forward momentum begins. The car runs beautifully after this point. Shifting from 1 - 4 happen as expected. It never has an issue on the road or freeway. This is annoying after coming to a complete stop however.

Tomorrow bright ant early i plan to have the Transmission oil and filter changed to see if there is any improvement. I check the A/T stick and the Transmission oil seems slightly brown with slight black deposits? I'm already fearing the worst but i am hopeful this solves the problem.

So the reason i am posting this is to get other possible explanations? It was my plan to take it to the dealership for the 60k even though it is well out of warranty. I just didn't want to do it this soon. as i said i JUST bought this car and I a still recovering from the expense.

Thanks for any help

OK so took it in for a AT flush.

Bad: The flud was really bad and it looked like it had been a while since it was changed

Good:Its a lot faster off the line then it was before

Bad: Still some hesitation between Reverse / neutral and Drive though nowhere near as bad as it was before.

Any thoughts?

if the mileage is genuine it's likely that it still had the origonal fluid in it, l hope you had the genuine SP111 fliud put in. the filter is built into the gearbox and does not need to be changed, have you had the CEL come on? speed sensors can sometimes be a problem

In the two weeks i have had it i have never had the CEL come on. I am inclined to believe that the mileage is genuine. the car is in impeccable shape. The engine is quite and runs smooth.

Would speed sensors account for a rough idle when its in drive? Now that the AT fluid has been changed that went away. I'm still a bit worried. Hopefully the dealership will give it a full inspection

Just got back form the service center

Good News: Everything but the transmission is in great shape

Bad News: Need a new transmission



~FIN~