OK, so I have had my Nitro for about a month a and a half, and was noticing something about the transmission (possibly) and wanted to know if anyone else has any issues. My Nitro seems to have trouble kicking into gear on the highway, and seems to strain before it actually kicks in. My husband thinks i over-react, but i cant help but wonder if anyone else has this issue. Is this just how the Dodge Nitro performs, or maybe I should have it checked out? the car has less than 2000 miles. What does anyone suggest?

thanks!

 

All newer vehicles have adaptive strategy programs. This means that it learns the way that you drive. If you have babied it up to this point then it is going to be a littlereluctant to go hard like thatwhen it's notaccustomed to it. If you reset the computer and got on it pretty hard for the first 75 miles then I'm sure it would fix your problem of downshifting.

If you started to baby it again then it will learn those ways and feel sluggish again. It does this to get optimumperformance with the least amount of emissions according to your driving style.

 

i have noticed with mine.. it isnt the smoothest shifting machine...

especialy in a parking lot it seems to clunk in...

and when leaving from a traffic light,
next oil change i will be asking them about it

 

im sure you are quite right, and it seems it has been that way with other new cars, however, even my husband has finally noticed it, and it seems to almost stall, and when it does get into gear, it is a very "clunky" transition. im almost convinced that the transmission needs to be looked at - and since i am almost due for an oil change, ill be bringing that to their attention. But i see that a few others have noticed something very similar as well.

 

Yeah, that doesn't seem right now that you explain it that way. If they say that it's normal when you bring it in and they won't do anything, try disconnecting the battery for 20 minutes and see if that fixes it. If it does then it's a computer programproblem, if it doesn't then it's an internal problem. There was a TSB on my truck to reflash the tranny computer but it still didn't fix my shifting problem so theyit now and replaced an internalsolenoid plus a few other small things while they were at it. I get the truck back today and hopefully it's fixed for good. Maybe yours has a similar TSB for it.

 

well, i appreciate your advice. I will print out what you suggested and see if maybe that would help. Im really not complaining, because i love everything else about the Nitro, but it is quite concerning to think you might have transmission problems with less than 2000 miles on it. thanks for your suggestion, and ill re-post after i go and get the oil changed in a couple of weeks.

 

Sounds good. My truck acted funny on my with 1000 miles on it. I blew it off because it stopped doing it on the next ignition cycle. Everything was perfect until I hit 8,000 and it's been in the shop twice for the tranny. Good luck to you though.

 

If you're talking about how it revs up to say 6 or 7000 rpm on the hiway before grabbing that gear, then yes, mine does it too. I got the 08 with 82km on her, done it ever since (as long as a mechanic wasn't around lol) what was the verdict?

 

My Nitro does seem to shift hard into gear. Has always done that so not too worried. The wife drives the Nitro like a stock care so I do not have the acceleration or kickdown issue. I agree with the "learning" of the transmission. You also have to realize that the throttle is fly by wire not direct linkage. You will have some lag.