View Full Version : when cold, slow to shift outta low gears


kirkjerk
08-08-2004, 04:08 PM
Hey there--
Sorry if I'm using the wrong terminology, I'm not very smart about cars and engines (well, smart enough to like the xA)...but I was noticing that when I first start driving my car in the morning...and I guess the blue "engine is cold" light is still on...often the car seems a bit slow to get out of the low gear, so as I'm going 25-35, the tachometer is rather high relative to normal, between 3000-4000rpm. Sometimes if (at a stop sign) I shift it into park and then back into drive, it behaves more normally. Anyway, is this a problem I should get looked at, is it actually the correct behavior, is it not correct but not too big of a problem, or is it probably all my imagination?

Thanks!

JDMbB
08-08-2004, 04:42 PM
while the engine is warming up, the revs stay a little high. it should go down once the engine is warm. happens to me all the time. it shouldnt be a problem to worry about.

Brownrice909
08-08-2004, 04:46 PM
Thats what it's suppost to do. Your suppost to let the car idle in the morning for a few minutes to let everything warm up. Your revs are higher because the car goes into "cold start" mode which means by keeping the revs higher, it'll warm up the engine faster. It'll take longer to shift as well for the same reason. Nothing to worry about but if you want a better explanation i would just call up your dealer and ask them to please explain how cold start works and why it does what it does.