A post from last month mentioned that our 2007 Chevrolet Silverado's transmission was acting up. I've noticed the same issue. It seems to happen only when the vehicle is cold. Moving underway in first gear at normal speed (like when you're pulling away from your house in the morning, for instance), the transmission holds first gear longer than it should and then abruptly and roughly shifts into second...
I keyed our truck into Edmunds.com's Maintenance and TSB finder and did not see any TSBs that looked related to this problem. I've also searched CarSpace's Silverado forums and performed a couple of Google searches. I wasn't able to turn up anything. Big picture, this transmission shift problem is a minor one, but it's something that should be noted the next time the truck goes in for service.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor, Edmunds.com
chryslerkid21 says:
04:10 PM, 06/14/07
my dad's 06 Dodge durango does the same thing. i heard somewhere that it does that to warm up the engine a little faster
mcloffs says:
04:28 PM, 06/14/07
My '93 Mercedes-Benz does the same thing and it's supposed to -- like the previous poster said, it's meant to warm things up faster.
bullitt5 says:
07:25 PM, 06/14/07
My '91 Silverado did that. You would have to floor it to make it shift out of 1st. A month later, the tranny completely went. It wouldn't shift higher than 2nd.
stingray454 says:
11:21 AM, 06/15/07
Yeah, I'm not buying that it's supposed to do that to make the engine warm up faster. It should NOT do that. Cold engines should not be revved higher. There's something wrong with the transmission or the torque converter.
esoterica says:
12:09 PM, 06/15/07
I've driven Mercedes, BMWs, Volvos, Hondas, and Cadillacs that all shift at a higher RPM initially when they're cold. They do this on purpose (all modern transmissions are electronically, not mechanically, controlled) to warm up the catalysts faster. It should not shift roughly however.
altimadude00 says:
07:23 PM, 06/15/07
My automatic '00 Altima does the same thing, sometimes staying in 3rd gear for the first couple of miles. It then chunks down into 4th. The shifting between first and second is also abrupt as it's "warming up". It's always done that since I first bought it 130k mi. ago.
It's one reason why I'm interested in buying a CVT Versa; no chunking or abrupt gear changes (I hope....that's why I'm tuned into both the Versa and CVT Altima).
jerrywimer says:
08:28 PM, 08/10/07
See my other post where the Silverado's tranny holds gears longer when cold (and pretty much any rear-wheel-drive GM product with the 4 speed auto nowadays). It's all about making the engine run at higher rpms while it's cold, in order to get it (and the coolant, exhaust, etc.) up to normal operating temperature as quickly as reasonably possible. This is because the catalytic converter has an ideal operating temperature range where it does its work most efficiently. Holding gears longer when the truck's cold to warm it up faster reduces the amount of time when the most pollutants might make it past the cats. ;o)
slowrider5 says:
07:00 AM, 08/24/07
It is supposed to do that, but only when it's below freezing cold outside. RTFM - it's in there.
member12 says:
03:39 PM, 09/16/07
It's to warm up the catalytic converter. It's for emissions and converter longevity. I am not sure in California, but the rest of the country requires them to last between 100,000 and 150,000 miles.
Every car expected to pass an emissions test does the same thing. Honda, Chevrolet, Cadillac...unless of course it's not tested by the EPA.
Want to see something else strange? loosen the gas cap and drive around for a while on any post 1999 vehicle. You'll get either a vapor cap light or a check engine light, depending on model.
shawn2e says:
10:20 PM, 01/ 4/12
Had the same problem with mine, but at any temp outside. Had to get a solenoid replaced in the tranny twice.