tranny not shifting into 4th gear when cold

[blackphoenix]

lately it's been really cold here (around 0) and something weird is happening with the transmission. I let the car warm up for a minute or two, and when I start off on the highway the tranny won't shift into 4th gear for like 2-3 minutes. It stays in third whether I apply the gas or not. Then eventually it will go into 4th and all is well.Is this some kind of feature to help the engine/transmission warm up or is something wrong?I have an 09 vibe AWD with the 4 speed. bought the car new.

[ou.grizzly]

How far do you drive before you get into the highway? Is this your 1st winter with your 09 AWD Vibe?At 0 degree F, it will take a few minutes for the oil and trans fluid to warm up...I have a 2009 AWD and I let my vehicle warm up for 5 minutes or so at 25 degrees F. The highway (expressway) is about a 5-6 minute drive and I have no issue with shifting. Of course, I have already driven 3-4 miles before the proceeding on-ramp.

[j42.snyder]

Although mine's a 5-speed auto, I have driven several 4 speeds that do exactly as you say. My mom has a Suzuki Aerio with an Aisin 4-speed tranny, and it won't shift into 4th for a good mile or two in the winter. Today I went with my brother in law driving a 2007 Dodge 2500 with the 5.7 Hemi and 4-speed, and it too wouldn't shift into 4th until it had warmed up for at least 2-3 miles. It was about -6C around here today.I'd certainly say its normal for your car. Mine won't lock up the torque converter until it's partly warmed up - but still shifts normally otherwise so far. I'll have to see if that changes at it gets colder.I'm not sure if it's a transmission or emissions driven "feature". I read somewhere once that it purposefully keeps the revs higher to warm the catalytic converter up faster - which makes some sense. Not much you can really do about it, other than waste gas warming it up first idling. Even that probably would take a long time to have any effect.John

[keithvibe]

yes, either let the car warm up more or drive slower till the overdrive can kick in. It holds the gear longer to warm up the trans fluid faster when the car is cold.

[djkeev]

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »yes, either let the car warm up more or drive slower till the overdrive can kick in. It holds the gear longer to warm up the trans fluid faster when the car is cold.Not busting you but do you have industry documentation for this statement or is this simply your opinion you are expressing to us??Dave

[BlueCrush]

Quote, originally posted by djkeev »Not busting you but do you have industry documentation for this statement or is this simply your opinion you are expressing to us??Daveit is FACT. Every single auto tranny Vibe, Matrix and Corolla does this. It will only rev to 5k and will not shift into 4th/overdrive until the engine has reached a certain temperature. Mine will shift into 4th/overdrive after I reach 1-1/2-2 clicks on the temp gauge every time.

[djkeev]

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »it is FACT. Every single auto tranny Vibe, Matrix and Corolla does this. It will only rev to 5k and will not shift into 4th/overdrive until the engine has reached a certain temperature. Mine will shift into 4th/overdrive after I reach 1-1/2-2 clicks on the temp gauge every time.Not questioning if they do it, I understand they do.I am questioning......Quote, originally posted by keithvibe » It holds the gear longer to warm up the trans fluid faster when the car is cold.Is this a engineering design factor? Is it just coincidence and "we" have to live with it?? It is stated as fact, just looking for documentation for it.Just trying to help understand the issue and not start an internet opinion as fact.If it was preceded by "I believe that........"Or"I think that......"it would signify opinion vs fact.Keithvibe is a very knowledgeable poster here.Dave

[keithvibe]

Just think about it for a second. If it holds the gear longer,more heat is generated because higher rpms are usually present which means the engine is working harder. The harder the engine works the faster the oil and transmission fluid heat up.To be fair I have not been able to back this statement up from toyota. This is my own personal explanation.If I find documentation to prove this I'll post it.

[djkeev]

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »Just think about it for a second. If it holds the gear longer,more heat is generated because higher rpms are usually present which means the engine is working harder. The harder the engine works the faster the oil and transmission fluid heat up.To be fair I have not been able to back this statement up from toyota. This is my own personal explanation.If I find documentation to prove this I'll post it.Not questioning the logic of your statement, I totally agree. I was just questioning if it was designed to operate in this fashion and looking for documentation if it is indeed "normal" as designed.Then again, there is normal as real world use functions also, designed that way or not!!Dave

[blackphoenix]

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »How far do you drive before you get into the highway? Is this your 1st winter with your 09 AWD Vibe?At 0 degree F, it will take a few minutes for the oil and trans fluid to warm up...I have a 2009 AWD and I let my vehicle warm up for 5 minutes or so at 25 degrees F. The highway (expressway) is about a 5-6 minute drive and I have no issue with shifting. Of course, I have already driven 3-4 miles before the proceeding on-ramp. Yes, this is the first winter with this car. I drive around town for about 4 minutes until I get on the highway. I always let the car idle for at least two minutes when it's really cold out. I was concerned because I've never had a car that did this before.

[ColonelPanic]

The engine idling at 2k rpm and once you finally get it out on the road the fact that it won't go into OD for a while is pretty annoying. They've been doing this for a while now, I remember an old roommate's 97 Corolla that did the same crap. Haven't seen any documentation on this but if it isn't normal, then everybody's transmissions are defective. Both the original and replacement slushboxes in my Vibe did this.The Hyundai I have now goes into OD when cold but there is a noticeable difference with how it shifts -- winds up a bit more before shifting and the shifts are slower and sloppier than the norm. Checked the service manual and it was documented that the PCM forces the transmission into different shifting modes depending on what the transmission fluid temp sensor reads.

[ou.grizzly]

Quote, originally posted by blackphoenix »Yes, this is the first winter with this car. I drive around town for about 4 minutes until I get on the highway. I always let the car idle for at least two minutes when it's really cold out. I was concerned because I've never had a car that did this before.It is normal believe it or not. Owners of the Vibe GT 03-06 thought they had engine issues because they could not hit "lift" but once the engine warms up, RPM's are increased. Safety feature. Let your vehicle warm up to where it idles below 1,000 RPM's and then drive is the best option.

[cq358]

In fact, just pure idle is very bad for your engine. The oil circulation is the lowest at idle. I would prefer you to stay in 2nd -3rd gear and let your car stay fluctuating between 2000rpm-3000 rpm until your car warm up and leave it to drive after warm up. My vibe park outside even temperature dip below -38

[Whelan]

It's a safety feature, probably already noted here a bunch of times but I'll help beat the answer to death Pretty much a standard safety that won't allow the car to shift because the transmission is not warmed up enough. So shifting to a higher gear would actually do more harm than good. Try to keep it below 40mph and you should be good with the 4spd. auto. I have a 2005 AWD and was perplexed by this at first. But to me it is a "It's OK to turn the heat on now" indicator. When the tranny finally makes the shift to 3rd I can blast my heat and now it is warm.Driving your car after startup and letting it sit for a few second before shifting is actually better than sitting around warming up. Sitting still fluids take longer to get pumped through the engine thus increasing warm up time. My 02 Civic did this with the 5spd. You could override it by forcing the shifter past the gates, but they stayed in a semi-lock mode until the car was warmed up so 1-2 were your only options for a little bit.

[cq358]

I agree 100% with Whelan's advice.. In 0 degrees C/ 30F,the car doesn't require too much warm up . I found warm up is critical when you have to start a car that is sitting outside over night at temperature around -30/ 0 F. If you want your automatic transmission to shift smoothly, you should cycle the transmission from P >R>N>D and stop in every position for 15 second to properly prime both Torque converter and solenoid valves with transmission fluids.

[zionzr2]

my auto wont shift into 4th (overdrive) untill the coolant temp reaches 135-140 degrees F.regardless of how hot or cold the Ambient temp is outside.In cold weather it obviously takes a bit longer to get the coolant to this temp.