TrebleStauter

I noticed recently that my automatic transmission will not shift into 2nd when the engine is cold.

Even after warming the car up for a few minutes, the low temp dummy light is still on. When I attempt to reach a highway speed, the rpms will wind way up until the the dummy light turns off, then about ten to thirty seconds later the tranny will finally shift.

I thought this might be normal for a smaller engine, having had a larger one in my last vehicle. Although now I suspect that this is irregular. A brand new car.

It gets really cold in Ohio, of course. Even at warmer temps (40-50) the car takes around five minutes to warm up to the point where the dummy light will turn off, and the transmission will function properly.

Anyone have any experience with this? Any help would be appreciated.

SanchezHacker

This happens too on the xA, its the car's way of protecting itself until it reaches the proper temp.

Bennyboy

the best way to warm up the car really is to drive it gently. Letting the car idle warms up the engine, but the tranny doesn't really warm up that way as far as i know

ChelsDS

This happens to mine in the morning when it was below 50 (yeayea not that cold but it is!). NormallyI start up my car then put my stuff in and before I hit the freeway (5-10mins) it's fine. I figured it was a safety thing too from abusing the car when the oil isn't warmed enough to do its job.

Bennyboy

I don't think its a safety thing cause my dads 95 Sl600 does the same thing when the motor is cold. Unless its an old thing that they have been doing for a while now.

TrebleStauter

Again, I thought it would be normal at first as well. I cant say that I am thoroughly knowledgable about things going on under the hood, but it seems that a cold engine would not want to sustain rpms above 3k to "protect" itself.

This very well could be my ignorance of the issue though.

I guess I should drive around the block a couple of times before I get on the freeway. I will try it when I have time. I am taking the xD in for its 10k service tomorrow. I will talk to them about it too.

Thanks guys (and gals).

ChelsDS

Do you drive slowly till it warms up or are you gunning it? Mine only stays around 3k rpms if I try to gun the car too fast from a red light or trying to pass someone. Try using a valet key to just start the car in the morning, use your master key to lock the car then finish getting ready to go to work. That way the car is ready to go when you are. Just a thought.

midtowndesi

i duno but i always warm up my xB until the light goes off. sometimes i drive immediately after the light goes off and the idling RPM in drive is a little high - like 1k or 1100 . but it usually goes back to normal within a few seconds.

for a lot of you guys that have driveways (driveways are a dream here in nyc ;-D) , consider getting an auto start setup. i can see my car froma few hundred feet when i park and i always automatically start it. then i walk to it in about 2 or 3 minutes. makes the 'warm up' process seem much more quicker and tolerable than waiting 10 minutes for the blue light to go off.

fwiw.

SanchezHacker

They way I heard it explained was that the car works harder in 2nd gear than in 1st gear. When the engine is cold it has a hard time working in 2nd, so the ECU will make you go into some of the higher rpms before shifting into 2nd as to warm up the engine faster. I admit I'm not very smart about engine stuff, but I do know it something that the ECU is doing on purpose.

Here are some other posts that mention this:
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=157483
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23122
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=30967
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=208426

TrebleStauter

I guess I will have to just keep waiting for warmer weather (as it starts snowing here again).

I live about .1 miles from the freeway. I would literally have to drive around the block to warm it up slowly. Living downtown and working in the suburbs is great for traffic, but bad for letting a car warm up for ten minutes before getting on the freeway.

Thanks for all of the feedback everyone. Much appreciated.