auto change down

[DRanged]

Hey folks
Just a quick one, our 06 V8 auto has a strange problem when slowing to an intersection. When you get down to around say 5kmph and decide not to stop but to go the trans seems to hesitate and then it slams itself into first gear and goes???. Only happens sometimes but makes an awfull thud when it does. As it is still under wty I thought someone else may have had this happen so it will save time at LR.

Thanks Justin

As this D3 stuff is all new to me I thought someone might know

[rmp]

The ZF auto is adaptive. It learns driving styles, and part of that is kicking down earlier if it thinks that's what the driver wants. D3s will pull away in third high if required, and easily in second, so it doesn't need to go to first but if it has been driven aggressively it may kick down. However, there shouldn't be a major thud. That said every D3 and RRS I've driven has been ultra smooth on the tranny except for 1st to 2nd. If it's a cause for concern work out how to replicate it and then take it to your dealer.

[WhiteD3]

Justin,

I wouldn't say mine "slams" into first but yes, it does that sometimes. Best way to describe what I think happens is say......when you coast around a corner at say 10-20 kph and are faced with a up slope or reason accelerate harder than if you would on the flat, it seems to drop down harder than required.

I've learnt to instinctively use a light foot when accelerating out of a low speed coast.

As rmp says, I think its the adaptive brains getting a bit confused for a moment.

[DRanged]

Thanks guys will drive it for a while longer and see what it adapts like. Its going to LR for a new steering wheel air bag next week so will talk with them as well and report back.

Justin

[Peter_OZ]

ours will quite often thud, especially when coasting in traffic and then accelerating, it will "thud" which reminds me of a diff unwinding.

Other thing ours does is when you turn into a small incline and go to accelaerate up it is like the engine has been switched off for a few seconds, does the same thing when going to nip into a gap in traffic of to zoom through a roundabout.

Most disconcerting at times:o

[Scouse]

There's been a couple of software upgrades for the transmissions recently. If it hasn't had one done for a while, then that could be the problem.

[Peter_OZ]

thaks Scott, it goes in for 48k service next week and ahve asked for latest SW to be loaded.

cheers
Peter
(http://www.petenplanes.com.au)

[incisor]

i had a hyundai accent that did exactly that.

drove me to utter distraction, after 2 years of battling the dealer they told me the only way to fix it was disconnect the battery every month so it lost what it had learnt. ;)

did that and it would be fine for 3 or 4 weeks and then it would start the slam bam thankyou mam bit again.:mad:

never again.....

[stevo68]

i had a hyundai accent that did exactly that.

drove me to utter distraction, after 2 years of battling the dealer they told me the only way to fix it was disconnect the battery every month so it lost what it had learnt. ;)

did that and it would be fine for 3 or 4 weeks and then it would start the slam bam thankyou mam bit again.:mad:

never again... .. What the Hyundai or the slam bam :p....oops I go and jump on another campfire :whistling:,

Regards

Stevo

[incisor]

might be a smart move!
;)

[AndrewM]

My MY08 TDV6 was experiencing similar behaviour as described by Peter_OZ - 1 second hesitation coming out of roundabouts or changing lanes. At the 10k service the dealer investigated and uploaded a gearbox software patch. Now it runs much better, although now often refuses to change automatically from 4th to 5th when criusing at 60kph. But it can be forced into 5th manually where it will stay quite happily until you accelerate hard.

But in the last week it has started down shifting from what feels like 2nd to 1st when braking firmly (not hard) on a steepish downhill run into one particular roundabout near home. It can be quite violent with the brakes on and then the sudden down shift. No noise or thud, just the downshift.

I also told the dealer the fuel consumption seemed be creeping up, and the dealer also found a patch for the computer. I need to run it a bit longer to see if this has changed things, although the weather has been quite hot in Perth and this is not good for fuel consumption.

[Peter_OZ]

should also improve once you have more km on the clock

[Peter_OZ]

the new transmission sw patch has certainly helped, vehicle is more responsive and the hesitation has largely gone.

The "thud" is reduced and now not as pronounced but still there from time to time. Once the adaptive memory learns bad habits it will probbly deteriorate :mad:

[alpick]

I have just acquired an 08D3 which exhibits this hard down shift when accelerating away from 5-10 Km/hr.

Does disconnecting the battery clear the ZF memory? Can I retrain it afterwards to not do this or should it attended to by a specialist.

Tranny has just been serviced with new fluid.

Don't want to cause damage if this a problem and I'm new to the beasty.

Cheers

Al

[WhiteD3]

If you train yourself to wait that "1 second 2 second" to allow the trany to drop down a gear it's no issue.

[gghaggis]

I have just acquired an 08D3 which exhibits this hard down shift when accelerating away from 5-10 Km/hr.

Does disconnecting the battery clear the ZF memory? Can I retrain it afterwards to not do this or should it attended to by a specialist.

Tranny has just been serviced with new fluid.

Don't want to cause damage if this a problem and I'm new to the beasty.

Cheers

Al

Hard reset doesn't reset the adaptive learning - needs to be done via software, or by you taking 100km or so to retrain it.

However, if the tranny was serviced by a dealer recently, they would have reset it anyway.

Cheers,

Gordon

[Rich84]

If you train yourself to wait that "1 second 2 second" to allow the trany to drop down a gear it's no issue.

08MY RRS with the same characteristic. I've been doing the same thing. Light acceleration until the gearbox works out the appropriate gear, then drive normal. Heavy acceleration at this point will give you a nice thud.

Nothing like trying to drive the car with a dead alternator and battery <10v though. 1-2 gearshift really SLAMS.