Hey everyone, new to the forum as a poster. My 2000 Neon just started acting up a week ago. 53k on the car. When driving from a stop, the trans shudders and you can feel a loss of power. The fluid level looked and smelled OK, but I changed it along with the filter. I also adjusted the reverse and kickdown bands to spec. The car is still acting the same way. No codes or problems with the engine.

Here is the kicker, the problem goes away when the car reaches a good warm up, perhaps 10 to 15 miles of operation. It will be OK until the next time it is given a long time to cool down.

I have not taken it to a shop yet, but that is next on the list. I do not see anything else that I can really do in the manual. Any ideas are appreciated! Thanks all.

 

this is normal. It's winter right now, so your oil is probably pretty thick when you first start it up. If you don't have it in there, I'd recommend switching oils to a lighter oil, 10w30 is pretty good for the weather right now. Also, try plugging your car's block heater in at night or if you're going to leave the car sitting for hours on end. Your block heater will keep your oil warm enough to start without much trouble. Most cars have an optimum operating temperature that they run the best at, which gets harder and harder to reach in cold weather. Let your car warm up for a minute or two before you go bombing around town.