[StarJack]

Crusing along near speed limit, floor it to WOT, release accelerator, front end dips as car starts slowing and I realize it's staying in low gear! It takes 3-4 seconds for it to upshift to 4th. Try it again, same result, extremely slow upshift after punching it. I tried it again and tap the shifter over when I let off the gas and it upshifts immediately. Punch it again and when left alone it takes 3-4 seconds to upshift. Try it again and triple check she's in Drive, same slow upshift. Whisky Tango Foxtrot?

I was wondering if any of you have experienced the same very slow upshift after WOT? Any of you gear heads have an idea what might be up?

She's at the dealer now, and I'm nashing my teeth. Only 400 miles on an '05 300C and she's in for her first problem. I'm concerned to put it mildly.

Thanks for any thoughts you may have on this problem...

 

[Northern Rider]

Starjack - this may be small comfort, but it is unlikely there is anything mechanically wrong with the tranny. Most likely a computer glitch.

 

[StarJack]

Starjack - this may be small comfort, but it is unlikely there is anything mechanically wrong with the tranny. Most likely a computer glitch.

NR, it's already starting to look that way. I got the call I dreaded most from the dealership. "The computer shows nothing wrong and the mechanic couldn't reproduce the problem'" I told them I wanted the service manager to drive it, and they said he would, so maybe there's a little hope left. Bit I suspect he'll "find nothing wrong", I'll get in it to drive it home, and immediately be able to reproduce the problem. :sigh:

Just a hunch, hope I'm wrong. Sounds like they're going to miss getting it back to me by close of business. So it might be a while before I can update the thread. I'm bummed. This is my 7th new vehicle (all but 1 Ford trucks), 1st Chrysler. I've never had a problem within the manufacturers warranty period before, let alone at 400 miles! :eek5:

 

[HornetC]

I've noticed the same thing, althought I'm not sure it's quite 3-4 seconds. My thoughts were that because I had WOT (or nearly), and let of the gas, even a tiny bit, as I NEARED THE SHIFT POINT that the computer may be waiting for me to "finish up" (reach the shift point) instead of upshifting too early - or maybe it's just a programming flaw.
Am I in denial?

 

[StarJack]

Hornet, I'm not trying to coax it into upshifting. I did that last week and it auto shifted like a dream. I'm taking my foot off of the accelerator, and it's staying geared down for 3-4 seconds after I let off the gas. Never did this until today. My guess is yeah, you're fooling yourself. Take it in and make them run diags at least, and to document the problem.

Dealership just called back to reiterate they could not duplicate. They had told me the (no)service manager would drive the car but did not. They now say he will ride with me in the AM. I was supposed to have a Lojack installed with the auto start today. I'm being told the finance guy didn't make the Lojack appointment I was assured on Monday had been made, so they'll have to reschedule that. I was told I'd be given a loaner and was not. I could go pick up the car, but since I wasn't given a loaner and their courtesy driver AND the salesman have left for the day I'm SOL.

The only person in this whole fiasco that seems to give a rats behind is the service rep. He said he'd send someone to get me tomorrow. I asked the receptionist for the dealership managers name, and plan on giving him a copy of the two pages worth of timeline I've written today that document the broken promises, the unreturned phone calls, and the problem I had with the transmission.

The only black eye I can give them now is that I haven't recieved the survey yet that supposedly affects their precious five star rating. I'm skeptical that really matters though. Every freaking Chrysler/Dodge dealership in the Atlanta area is a Five Star.

 

[StarJack]

Interesting morning. Dealership sent a porter to pick me up at home, in my car. Porter tells me that the service manager (SM) drove it and couldn't recreate the problem, but that he was waiting to take a ride with me. So the SM takes a ride with me. I'm cruising about 40, WOT up to about 60, let off gas, and the transmission stays in 2nd/3rd until the car coasts down to about 25mph, then upshifts. SM is surprised and comments that he had not completely floored it. (I thought about telling him how I had explained it 2-3 different ways to the service department rep in an attempt to make it so clear a child could understand it, but thought better of it.) I try it again, and this time it upshifts after about 1.5 seconds! So the SM directs me to a nearby office park under construction so that traffic will not be a concern, and we try it from a standstill, and the car shifts normally!

Tried it from 30 mph and the car upshifted after about a second. SM comments that the TCM is constantly learning and being trained by the inputs the driver is triggering based on a persons driving habits. Bottom line was I could not recreate with the same severity (not upshifting for several seconds) what happened on the very first attempt with the SM in the car. SM says he wants to talk to a Chrysler engineer on Monday that works at some Chrysler facility in Atlanta. He wants to see if the engineer has heard about anything like this because he hasn't seen or heard of it before now himself. He told me to pay close attention to speed & rpm as I drove the car and to log those when this problem happened. It does seem that problem only occurs within a narrow set of parameters.

The financial guy that was supposed to have set up the Lojak says it was Lojaks issue with not showing up. He says he's going to set it up so that they will come to my home to install it. The remote start appears to work like a charm, and the cool vanilla mud guards I had installed look nice. On the loaner, I was told that some 300c's qualify for a loaner, but mine doesn't. I'm not sure what's up with that and I wonder what kind of crap your dealers have layed on you about that?

In any case, the salesman told me he would loan me out a used car for future service work if I needed one, but he couldn't loan me out a new one. All in all I'm some what less disappointed with the dealership than I was last night. The SM spending 30 minutes with me was more than I expected. I'm going to wait and see what develops next week and try to grab a firm range of speed/rpm for the SM as he asked for over the next couple of days.

Sorry for the length of this post, but I figured a few folks that have had transmission or dealership problems might be interested. :dunno: I'll update as appropriate...

 

[HornetC]

I'm cruising about 40, WOT up to about 60, let off gas, and the transmission stays in 2nd/3rd until the car coasts down to about 25mph, then upshifts.

WOW - that DOES sound very "sticky". Mine's not that bad but I'll see if I can reproduce the same thing today.

SM comments that the TCM is constantly learning and being trained by the inputs the driver is triggering based on a persons driving habits.

My wife drive the car about 1/4 of the time. Every time I get in after she drives, the gas mileage is down by at least 1.5 MPG, apparently she has a heavier foot! Maybe the SM is right and it's the tranny trying to learn two different driving styles?

Glad your frustration level has gone down with the service dept - so much easier to deal with a problem with when you have a good attitude.

I'll be watching for outcomes and thanks for the legwork.

 

[HaTaX]

My car does the same thing, and Ilike it...... I believe it is part of the transmission controller for "spirited" driving.. When you come into a corner hard and fast, when you come out of it, you want power, the tranny will have the lower gear ready and all you have to do is punch it and you've already got the lower gear... I think the transmission holds the gear until it's sure you're done "playing" I actually really like this feature when I go through some back road twisties.

 

[HornetC]

I think the transmission holds the gear until it's sure you're done "playing"

Just what I was thinking ... but stuck in lower gear from 60 down to 25 MPH a la StarJack?

 

[HaTaX]

Yeah, 60 to 25 is not the same thing, I'd believe 60 - 50 as it slows down quickly when it's in a lower gear.... That one sounds like a problem

 

[jeepgrady]

Excuse me, but, you can tell the SM that all 300's get the free loaner car from DC. You may not get a new one. Most dealers will give a rental car, however, what's the difference? The whole issue is to inconvenience the customer as little as possible as his vehicle is in for service.

 

[Northern Rider]

Starjack, there is a new software upgrade for the TCM that improves shifting behavior. It flashes just that one computer module (the car has 9 computer modules!).

Hopefully, your service manager will know or find out more about it. I don't have the TSB # offhand.

He is right about the computer trying to learn your driving habits. One suggestion. Make sure you and your wife use the driver position memory feature so that each of you resets the seat, etc. when you drive. You have to dedicate your keys - don't interchange them. This way the computer knows who's driving - you or your "fast lady"!

Hope this helps.

 

[HornetC]

You have to dedicate your keys - don't interchange them. This way the computer knows who's driving - you or your "fast lady"!

I had no idea it would differentiate and learn two different driving styles ...really!?!? I really do love this car.

 

[arnoldw]

All automatic transmissions work the same way...depends on your driving style :smoker:

 

[StarJack]

Hi folks, just me doing the driving. I tend to drive rather sedate, with the occasional WOT. The thing I told the sm I didn't understand was that the car had not behaved in this fashion until that Friday AM, at the 400 mile mark. I took her for a spin last night and narrowed things down some. It seems to happen if I'm cruising between 35-50 mph when I floor it. Flooring it beneath or above this speed results in more typical shifting, although still occasionally a second or so longer than you might expect. It also needs to stay floored near two seconds to generate the problem.A cruiser started shadowing me after my 4th WOT, so I took her to the barn as it was approaching 01:00. :wink:

Thanks for the comments, I'll let you know how things progress.

 

[StarJack]

Engineer asked the SM to ride with me and video this happening. So we're going to meet first thing next Tuesday and do some runs, I guess to provide some evidence to the enginer. It's now happening consistently if I floor it from 41 to 47ish, making it drop into second, and hold it for a a couple of seconds, but let off the accelerator before it autoshifts into 3rd. Trying it from a slower or faster speed results in fairly normal shifting. Weird.

 

[StarJack]

Took the C in today for the followup to the tranny sticking in 2nd gear. The SM hooked up some type of computer and recorded all the computer activity while I repeatedly demonstrated the problem on the road. SM said that after WOT the computer was indicating that the throttle would hang at 39%, decreasing very, very slowly after that, which is why it'll stick in second until the car slows to about 15 mph if I don't tap the autostick. He said he'd upload all the information to the engineer and be in touch in a few days. I'm satisfied that at least they are taking it seriously and gathering information for analysis. In the mean time the problem manifests itself in such a narrow and defined manner that it really doesn't interfere with routine driving.
Of course, now the remote start has quit working. :tired: Indicates a sensor saftey issue, so I have to take it back in tomorrow morning. They have also acknowledged I am entitled to the rental car, premium care service or some such. So that little misunderstanding is resolved, too. The beat goes on...

 

[StarJack]

I'm not the only one!

I stopped in to speak with the SM this AM. The Chrysler engineer reviewed the computer data and asked the SM to attempt to duplicate the problem on other cars. The SM was able to get two brand new 300 C's on their lot to exhibit the same "bug" that I discovered in mine! The data is now going to be examined and discussed with other folks up the food chain. The SM said he couldn't give me a firm time frame, but that something would be done.

To reiterate for those that are curious. This problem only appears under a very narrow and strict set of circumstances. To wit;
On a fairly level road driving between 41-45 mph punch it hard to the floor. Not slowly, not almost to the floor, bury the pedal.
Hold the pedal to the floor for at least one full second, but not more than two. One second and a half is about right. The idea is to wind her up in 2nd into the upper ranges but not to the point she's ready to shift into 3rd.
Yank your foot off the pedal completely as fast as you can. Watch and see if the nag1 upshifts to 3rd as it should (within a second or two at the most) or if it hangs in 2nd until the car darn near comes to a stop. If yours hangs, you should report it to your SM.
This does not occur if you don't do the things above exactly as I describe them. If you touch the gas pedal after releasing it the tranny will upshift into 3rd like she's supposed to. If you slap the autostick over she upshifts properly.
I'm apparently not too good at explaining this, as a mechanic and the SM on his first drive could not duplicate this. Once I showed him, he saw that it happens every single time the above parameters are met. Once you are aware of the problem, it's no big deal, just a minor irritant. When I first came across it, it damn near caused an accident. :ugh:
I'll let you know what else develops. Best Regards!