PSI Chick, that sounds like EXACTLY what my car is doing. I thought it was just because the car was cold at times that the shifter wouldn't move that well....but then even at operating temperature its HORRIBLE trying to get it into second, and forget first unless i jam the clutch to the floor at least twice, and third sometimes refuses to even work. I'm gonna talk to the dealer about that tomorrow.....hopefully everything goes okay, and if there is a problem it should be under warranty for me I've only got 13k miles.

The bucking is under decent acceleration, and under subtle acceleration. I dont accelerate hard at all. Again Im gonna have that checked tomorrow.

And I've never heard of the Maddog....point me in the right direction? Do you think it would be worth it to swap it out for the MD STS or just wait and see what happens?

 

i would wait and see what happens for now. you don't want to give them any excuse to not cover the tranny issues under warranty if you can help it. see what the dealer says, and if they will fix it. i hope you have better luck than i did with your dealer and they are willing to help you out. you are mostly stock, so i wouldn't think that you would have a problem, but with the way that these dealers are treating us lately you never know.

another thing to try with the tranny if they start giving you a hard time is to just change the fluid for now. i did this before i changed the tranny, and it did help quite a bit. dodge changed the specs and we should be changing it every 12k now. just get 3 quarts of atf+4 and a bottle of fm from the dealer and you can do it yourself, it's pretty simple. i wouldn't suggest going with another fluid for now, as it could cause problems with warranty work.

the maddog is made by chuck, when you are ready to order pm me and i'll give you his email address. he doesn't have a website or anything, but he is well known in the neon world. you can check out what people say about his products on .org and srtforums. he will also answer any questions that you have before ordering. he has two versions you can choose from, a 31% reduction and a 50% reduction. for comparison, the mopar is a 28% reduction. his shifters are a little more expensive than the mopar one, i paid 136 shipped for mine (50% reduction), the 31% is slightly less in cost but i don't know off hand what it goes for.

 

136 shipped isn't all that bad. I'll be sure to talk to the dealer tomorrow morning and update here when I get home. Hopefully everything goes well. They fixed the oil leak on my turbo housing even though I had a Mopar BOV Conversion plate. They've been awesome so far. Anything and everything I've needed has been replaced, no questions asked. I don't drive hard, and it shows (just looking at my tires, they have 10,000 miles on them and still look brand new (the side walls aren't cut into at all), and the engines quiet as hell.

I just happen to brake early (rotors), and I dont know what the squeak is from. I was over the 12,000 miles for the brake repair warranty when I brought it to them, but since I was only over by a couple hundred miles, they forged the mileage to help me out. I'll definitely have them look at it and see what they say.

I hope everything gets better for your skittle too, and when I've got the money up, if worse comes to worse I'll probably go with the MD 50% STS....cause thats sounds like the best deal for the money. Perrins really expensive, as are a few others Ive seen.

Thanks Guys, and again I'll update tomorrow AM. Gotta get some sleep need to be at the dealership for 8AM EST.

 

I've been having the same problem with mine, (shifting) 2nd gear and 3rd have been hard as heck to get into since i bought it.. I took it back to the dealer and they said they dont see anything wrong they cant duplicate the problem it shifts fine for them. So basicaly, they wont to fix it for me.. And my R/R Light had to be replaced due to fogging up. So I know the feeling about having to get things fixed already.. I only have 3212 miles on mine!![sm=gears.gif]

 

Yeah it definitely sucks.

So anyhow I went to the dealer at 8am this morning. The new subwoofer/enclosure/amp were put in (its a non-serviceable element it has to be replaced in its entirety) and it sounds better than it did when I GOT the car.

Brake pads were put on, FINALLY after 10,000 miles NO MORE BRAKE SQUEAK! That...kicks ***.

I asked about the shifter and he said to take it down next week and he'd take a look at it (I didn't really have the time I was there for two and a half hours as it was and needed to get to work).

As for the headlights...I'm pretty ticked. They changed both the left and right housings because they had condensation in them. Okay cool fine. Before I left I made sure to ask if they replaced the bulbs correctly (i.e. put my silverstars and 12-LED turn signals back in). They said they did. So I trusted them. Well the LEDs were in so I figured they would've switched over the headlights. I turned them on tonight after I got out of class about 40 minutes ago...and NOPE! STOCK BULBS! 43 bucks DOWN the drain because they didn't put my headlights back in. So guess where I'll be at 8AM tomorrow....oh yes....the dealer. And if they dont still have the bulbs, bet your *** they're buying me new ones.

Another halfway good note. I ordered my vinyl eyelids from Revolution Motorsports. Exactly 7 days later they pop up on my doorstep. I ordered the "Shorty" style ones, and only one pair. Somehow I ended up with two sets of S-style eyelids. At least their black but I'm kinda confused.....[>:]

About the tranny....I have 14k on the car (as of this afternoon). Should I flush the fluid out and see if that works?

 

Its getting to be the time to change the fluid anyway, so I would. But you say that you dont drive hard so... It should not be a problem. Like you have talked about, I would save and try the sts and see if that helps. They are not to much.

 

Yeah I'm gonna have the dealer check it out first, in case its something similar to PSI Chick's scenario. I plan on an STS anyhow in the future, and some booger bushings. So this may just have acclerated the process.

I'll change the fluid sometime this week or next, and talk to the dealer about the shifting. I'm also gonna have that wire relocated underneath the clutch...that may be causing some problems. I know alot of people who moved it shifted better into first gear. It still wont explain the 2nd gear downshift and 3rd gear upshift issue. Ahhh I'm driving myself nuts with this stuff.

Okay tomorrow im on a mission to re-aim my headlights, put my s-style eyelids on and GET MY DAMNED SILVERSTARS BACK! *growls*

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I believe that it is speed sensitive on the downshift, because I drove the other three on our lot and had the same issue. I am going to move the wires as well and see if that helps. As for the third gear problem i'm not sure. Mine feels like it might loosen up, I only have 130 mi. on her. My sts should be in but I am not sure, my parts manager has not said and I have been to busy to ask. When I put it in, I will let you know if it helps.

 

change the fluid, it will help quite a bit until you can get this figured out with the dealer. these cars are very hard on the tranny fluid, even if you drive normal. that's why they changed the recommended interval to 12k.

 

Are there any directions on how to change out the tranny fluid? I've never done it before. I'm at 11900 miles.