Lil4cyl

Hey all, I have been driving my RX for a couple of weeks now, and I have a couple of observations on the transmission that I was to ask you about/compare. First off, I have a good knowledge of automatic transmissions and their operation(Used to work at a tranny remanufacturing company). Her are my observations so far:

When cold, after first starting and leaving, I notice that the 2-3 shift is delayed heavily, like over 4000rpm before shifting into 3rd gear. So if I am driving in the neighborhood, and dont go above that, the tranny will stay in 2nd gear and not upshift if I coast the RX. This only happens when cold. After the tranny/engine warms up this goes away.

Next: The 1-2 shift seems to have way too much shift time for me.. it takes like 2 seconds to shift into 2nd gear. Too much shift time=heat and wear on clutchpack friction plates=bad tranny in near future. This does not change if I switch the ECT switch to power either. I also tried to do some full throttle shifts from stop to see if the computer would shift the tranny quicker at full throttle/max rpm. No change at all... way too much time on the shift especially for a full throttle shift.

What I need to know is if this is normal for the RX? Do you guys experience this? I have 43,000 miles on it, so I need to know if I should take it to the dealer and let them check it out in case it will need a transmissio before the 50k runs out.

Thanks in advance guys!

salimshah

Partial reply ...

When cold, the tranny is helping the engine warm up quicker. It is normal and intended behavior to reduce emission.

Salim