Ok, so you all know how I've complained about poor MPG, lack of any kind of power in 3rd and 4th gear, and the transmission constantly "hunting" for a gear between 3rd and 4th...

So yesterday I was on my way home from work, on the interstate and had some slow jerks in front of me. I went to go around them, and when I gave the car gas to accelerate, it first acted like it was going to downshift, but then I noticed the RPMs went WAY up, like 5 grand, and the car was free revving, like it was not in gear at all. I took my foot off the gas then gave it gas again and it still was not in gear, and revved way up again. I took my foot off the gas one more time and when I gave it gas the third time it seemed to go in gear like it should.

It didn't set off a check engine light, and it hasn't done anything weird since. I'm wondering if my lack of power in third and fourth is the trans slipping? The car only has 1600 miles on it. I'm turning about 28-2900 RPMs in fourth gear at 70mpg. Does this seem right with some of you that have the autos? Keep in mind that I also have the SRI, if that makes any difference.

I know you would say "hey, you work for a dealership, just drive it in and have them look at it", but I run into some of the same problems you do... they are just going to tell me that if it didn't throw a CEL then they can't even begin to determine what happened and if it hasn't done it again for me not to worry about it. :rant2:

What do you think it could be?

That's happened to me a couple times as well. I have no idea what it's all about.

Also, I run about 3,000 RPM from 70-80 MPH too. Kind of a bummer for fuel consumption I would imagine, but I haven't done extensive testing or anything. I'm just an average joe, not a go-nuts enthusiast with a dyno testing machine or anything haha.

well our cars don't have that much pull at those speeds it probably was in gear its just that it was taking a while to accelerate, otherwise im not sure i dont have the auto

try resetting the ECU? unhook the battery for a few minutes then hook it back up..
test the battery, make sure you still have good voltage.... there was another thread where someone got a new battery and it made all the difference in the world...

I hate to say it, but your trans is doing exactly what mine did......It was replaced at 6000 miles. When the cold weather hits, you will probably experience a flare at the 3rd gear shift as well. Yes, your trans is slipping. It is hard to get the dealers to admit to any problem as well. The auto trannies in our cars suck.....plain and simple.

The reconditioned unit that they replaced mine with is performing very well so far, now has 8600 miles on the car. Another problem I have is the Check engine light coming on every 1000 to 1500 miles for a problem with the adaptive learning program for the trans. The dealer had their chance to straighten it out, but failed. I am just resetting the ECU whenever it happens.

I love my Accent, for the style, format and the performance, but they are cheap crappy little cars. The Koreans cannot hold a candle to the Japanese when it comes to making small inexpensive "RELIABLE" cars.

No, it was not in gear. I realize the car has no power but theres a difference between being in gear and just not pulling hard, and being out of gear and free revving. Its like pushing the clutch in on a manual...

Thank you Dawg. So I guess all I can do is wait for it to get bad enough to be able to prove it to a tech. Otherwise it'll just be "unable to duplicate, vehicle performing as designed". Just wonderful... maybe I should start saving up for that Genesis Coupe after all.

This automatic would definitely not be able to handle any kind of boost...

This post has been edited by LilBean: Jul 27 2008, 11:16 AM

I agree. I mean, my car is BRAND NEW. I got it with 30 miles on it from the dealer and I've only put like 300 on it since then (3 or 4 days ago), so it's not like it's normal wear and tear. It's only happened once with me though, so I'm not really worried about it for the time being.

This is the very reason I always buy manual cars, less parts that will break.

You might want to put a disclaimer in that statement, this transmission is basically a Mitsubishi gearbox. LOL! :grin: Despite being Japanese, Mitsubishis to me have always seemed like garbage, why Hyundai had to pick them as the basis for their mechanicals I'll never know. Probably lowest bidder. :P If I would have known the A4AF3 transmission was of Mitsu's doing I may have picked a different car. :grin: I thought we had a different gearbox in the MC than the LC/LC2 had but it looks like it's the same unit and the LC guys have had a lot of trouble with theirs. :crying:

Thankfully, not many major problems with mine yet but one glitch. If it dies, oh well, warranty. On perfectly flat ground at highway speeds and at constant throttle, the RPM's spike up ~200 and immediately back down as torque converter unlocks and locks back. Doesn't make sense why it's doing it and I can't readily recreate it so I'm just ignoring it for now. Getting some torque converter shudder at low revs in the 40-50 MPH range too.

I don't expect much out of automatics anymore, my last car's auto died at 60k- and that was a Toyota gearbox which apparently their crap is supposed run a billion miles or something. :blink:

This post has been edited by hoosieraccent: Jul 28 2008, 01:46 PM

Yeah, that's another thing mine does... the torque converter locking and unlocking is REALLY irritating... in fact now that I think about it, it's probably not hunting between third and fourth, it's the torque converter not being able to make it's mind up. It's worse between say 40 and 55. I just get annoyed and turn O/D off because I figure it's better for the car than lugging the engine with the torque converter in lockup.

I was trying to figure out if it was slipping out of OD or just the torque converter too... One time it did it I reacted quick enough to kick off the OD and the revs shot up even more so it was still in OD.

I was wondering if I was the only one who noticed that particular quirk.

No, I noticed that issue first, but couldn't figure out what it was. Being as most of my in-town driving is around that speed, it's a constant irritation and probably the reason for my poor MPG. Hardly any stop and go in my route, but the converter lockup still acts up.

my tranny stays in lock up ...say im going down hill it stays locked .the rpm`s go higher like it is a manual it doesnt unlock and coast .is this normal?

Don't know if it is the same or not, but I notice that some times, if I give it full throttle to pass someone, the RPM's are there, but it takes probably a second or two to engage, and then you better hang on. Almost like taking it up to 5K rpm and dropping the clutch (although mine is auto.) You almost have to predict when you want to pass because you are not sure when it's going to kick into passing gear.

try speed sensors or they call it the pulse generators. look at your dtc messages.

Do the coolant bypass mod if you haven't already. I've found that it will significantly reduce the time it takes for any accelerating action. It's really quite handy :thumbsup:

The coolant bypass mod has already been done, but that doesn't effect how the tranny engages. The engine responds just fine, but if the tranny lets go and lets the engine rev to 5K, then it doesn't do me any good.

It has only done it a few times for me.