Jerky automatic transmission shifting

[I Stung U]

I'm assuming, from what you're saying and what I feel, that it's basically, a Not Well built and Not Smooth tranny.
Down shifting manually with paddles, is on rough side, especially 3rd to 2nd.. Once, just once my down shift into 2nd was a super smooth, rev match, like silk....
Even when in auto, and it downshifts itself, it's sometimes not so smooth and very noticeable.

In short, it's not good.... Anyone here mechanically inclined who can reply if by chance it actually gets better as the car breaks in and a bit of wear is on the materials involved ? I only have 5400 kms on mine and taking it for it's first oil change now.

 

[Marc Collins]

When the car shifts gears, how much of a thunk is acceptable? Depends on the throttle, but I'll hear a noise and feel it in the transmission when accelerating. It is not a problem now, but certainly not pleasant.

Depends on how frequently and under what circumstances. Read above for details.

 

[Whitt937]

ugh a lot here, and a lot of chatter...

Glad that i am not the only one with this issue and that it seems like it is NOT a sign of a larger problem. Would rather avoid dealing with the dealer for days if there is nothing they can do and trust initial assembly line more than garage guys.

My car almost never does this outside of the first few min of a start, and only about 15% of those "cold" shifts are jerky, hard, slow, laggy

 

[St1nger Guy]

I have a GT2 and up shifting and downshifting using the paddles is generally smooth. I can hear the engine rev match when downshifting, sounds really nice with my ark grip exhaust. When the tranny is cold the up shift from 2nd to 3rd sometimes slips and then engages. It doesn't do it every time though and during the summer hardly at all. It does it regularly enough in the winter that when I leave my house and I know it's going to shift, I just let off the gas and it coasts into 3rd without so much as a hiccup. It only slips under power. It seems like the gear just has a longer delay than the others (when cold) to engage so if your under power it gives the engine enough time to build RPMs and then it shifts harshly. Get rid of the RPM's for that first 2nd to 3rd shift and your golden. It only does it the first time it shifts into 3rd, if I stop and then start again it won't do it again.

I have noticed that using a pedal commander device royally screws with the transmission in this car. I have been using one for a while but recently started using Map3 on the JB4 and had 2 terribly hard up shifts under WOT. I disabled my pedal commander and it hasn't happened since. If anyone is using such a device, try disabling it and seeing if your issues go away.

 

[RVance]

I own the GT2 with electronic shifter. I have learned to live with the occasional clunky shift at low revs from first or second gear. The trans operates smoothly and intuitively otherwise. What continues to ANNOY THE SHIT OUT OF ME, however, is the stupid shifter, which often requires several futile attempts to engage Drive from Reverse. Anyone else know the drill? Step on brake, pull shifter back to D mode (do I engage release button or not?- try both ways)- try again, shift real slow, repeat, repeat until the idiot f*cking shifter can figure out what I want. I know what some of you are thinking: "Who's the real idiot here?" Well, maybe I am, but it shouldn't be this hard. I will never again attempt a J-turn in a busy intersection too narrow for a u-turn while several lanes of traffic watch the light change as I furiously row the shifter back and forth. "Look at the dumb f*ck in the cool car- what a waste, haha," I hear them saying. Damn shifter!

 

[MerlintheMad]

I will try to not yell at anymore people in "cool cars" when they impede my way. Sometimes "interfacing" with high tech stuff is too much for me. And I resolved early in this "relationship" (not even with a shift by wire trans, either) to give myself plenty of time and space to maneuver; in case I botch the obvious, aaagain.

"Look at the dumb f*ck in the cool car- what a waste, haha," I hear them saying. Damn shifter!

 

[Marc Collins]

I own the GT2 with electronic shifter. I have learned to live with the occasional clunky shift at low revs from first or second gear. The trans operates smoothly and intuitively otherwise. What continues to ANNOY THE SHIT OUT OF ME, however, is the stupid shifter, which often requires several futile attempts to engage Drive from Reverse. Anyone else know the drill? Step on brake, pull shifter back to D mode (do I engage release button or not?- try both ways)- try again, shift real slow, repeat, repeat until the idiot f*cking shifter can figure out what I want. I know what some of you are thinking: "Who's the real idiot here?" Well, maybe I am, but it shouldn't be this hard. I will never again attempt a J-turn in a busy intersection too narrow for a u-turn while several lanes of traffic watch the light change as I furiously row the shifter back and forth. "Look at the dumb f*ck in the cool car- what a waste, haha," I hear them saying. Damn shifter!

It's just overly sensitive and if you treat it like a normal mechanical shifter, you are exerting too much. Think of it as a digital switch with a big, stupid, over-sized knob handle that you barely have to breath on to get it to "click" and you'll be happier. The "ignore you unless you have your foot firmly on the brake" also messes things up, if you try to move the lever and put your foot on the brake at the same time. Not good enough. Foot on brake first, pause, then move shifter. It is a poor overall design, but we may as well learn to live with it. Every car is going down this same basic path.

 

[RVance]

It's just overly sensitive and if you treat it like a normal mechanical shifter, you are exerting too much. Think of it as a digital switch with a big, stupid, over-sized knob handle that you barely have to breath on to get it to "click" and you'll be happier. The "ignore you unless you have your foot firmly on the brake" also messes things up, if you try to move the lever and put your foot on the brake at the same time. Not good enough. Foot on brake first, pause, then move shifter. It is a poor overall design, but we may as well learn to live with it. Every car is going down this same basic path.

Before I bought the Stinger I drove a 1989 Mustang GT with a wonderfully notchy 5 speed/B&M shifter. For 30 years. Old habits die hard.

 

[St1nger Guy]

I guess I must be a one off, I've had absolutely no trouble with the GT2's shifter. I think maybe 1 time I had a hard time getting it into gear, other then that I don't even think about it. Hop in, foot on brake, push the button and tap it forward or backwards and on we go.

 

[RVance]

I guess I must be a one off, I've had absolutely no trouble with the GT2's shifter. I think maybe 1 time I had a hard time getting it into gear, other then that I don't even think about it. Hop in, foot on brake, push the button and tap it forward or backwards and on we go.

All my flubs are with the R to D transaction. 90% it works fine. But once it fails to engage, then the process becomes tedious.

 

[Buklau]

So the transmission in my Stinger has become a bit jerky while driving normally in automatic mode. Sometimes when the car upshifts gears, the RPMs jump up a bit (around 50-100rpm) and then it upshifts. Wtf? Just started to do this after hitting 50,000km...

 

[Elmo82]

Read several post about the jerky transmission shifts. I have a 2019 gts that downshifted perfectly until I changed the wheels and taller tires. So in doing that, will the taller tires rotating less trick the transmission into shifting to a lower gear before coming to a complete stop? I will change back to the stock wheels to see if I have the same problem. Hopefully someone has already tested that theory.

 

[Marc Collins]

So the transmission in my Stinger has become a bit jerky while driving normally in automatic mode. Sometimes when the car upshifts gears, the RPMs jump up a bit (around 50-100rpm) and then it upshifts. Wtf? Just started to do this after hitting 50,000km...

As soon as it does it reliably enough you can be sure it will do it for the dealer test drive, take it in for no other reason than to have the problem documented. They will undoubtedly tell you it is normal or within normal bounds.

 

[G-81087]

I've had my car for nearly 3 years and it just started jerky shifting now.
I had the vehicle tuned up but I don't think that has anything to do with it to be honest.
regardless of what the dealership tells you they are liable for a product that should be operating as promised if you need to ..demand that the transmission be changed over that's what I'm going to do when I get back from my holiday.

 

[Ohiocruiser]

I've had my car for nearly 3 years and it just started jerky shifting now.
I had the vehicle tuned up but I don't think that has anything to do with it to be honest.
regardless of what the dealership tells you they are liable for a product that should be operating as promised if you need to ..demand that the transmission be changed over that's what I'm going to do when I get back from my holiday.

You have your vehicle tuned, and honestly expecting transmission replacement under the warranty? Good luck with that.

 

[gaios1]

My Stinger has had jerky shift from 2nd to 1st only, for the past several months. All other gears are smooth. Someone else in this thread mentioned that this issue is more noticeable at low speed, or coming down to a stop with ease, and that is the case with mine also. Harder driving is no issue.

I've taken my Stinger to my dealer twice before, but they always told me it was normal.

This past week I took it in for a recall, and I took the opportunity to have a tech go for a drive with me to simulate the issue. He did notice some subtle surge from 2nd to 1st but nothing worrying. He pulled no codes, but he did "clear the values", or "reset the values". I don't exactly know what these values are, perhaps someone else here knows. I'll get the service report and let you guys know what they wrote on it. Perhaps there's a better description.

It's been a week since the last visit and it's back to silky smooth. Hopefully it will stay this way, but I will continue to monitor and report back.

 

[MerlintheMad]

My Stinger has had jerky shift from 2nd to 1st only, for the past several months. All other gears are smooth. Someone else in this thread mentioned that this issue is more noticeable at low speed, or coming down to a stop with ease, and that is the case with mine also. Harder driving is no issue.

I've taken my Stinger to my dealer twice before, but they always told me it was normal.

This past week I took it in for a recall, and I took the opportunity to have a tech go for a drive with me to simulate the issue. He did notice some subtle surge from 2nd to 1st but nothing worrying. He pulled no codes, but he did "clear the values", or "reset the values". I don't exactly know what these values are, perhaps someone else here knows. I'll get the service report and let you guys know what they wrote on it. Perhaps there's a better description.

It's been a week since the last visit and it's back to silky smooth. Hopefully it will stay this way, but I will continue to monitor and report back.

Ah, this sounds like the tranny "reflash" that my service guy offers each time I come in and he looks at my car's history, and notices that I have not had that TSB done yet; I keep telling him, "If it ain't broke, don't mess with it."

 

[TimT]

My Stinger has had jerky shift from 2nd to 1st only, for the past several months. All other gears are smooth. Someone else in this thread mentioned that this issue is more noticeable at low speed, or coming down to a stop with ease, and that is the case with mine also. Harder driving is no issue.

I've taken my Stinger to my dealer twice before, but they always told me it was normal.

This past week I took it in for a recall, and I took the opportunity to have a tech go for a drive with me to simulate the issue. He did notice some subtle surge from 2nd to 1st but nothing worrying. He pulled no codes, but he did "clear the values", or "reset the values". I don't exactly know what these values are, perhaps someone else here knows. I'll get the service report and let you guys know what they wrote on it. Perhaps there's a better description.

It's been a week since the last visit and it's back to silky smooth. Hopefully it will stay this way, but I will continue to monitor and report back.

They just reset the transmission so that it starts to re-learn your driving behaviour and adapt its speed of shifting etc based on that.
It will stay good unless you start constantly pushing it hard, then it will re-learn your agressive method of driving. Manual shifting also does not help with that.
Gone through this twice, now I have Eco for driving in the city peacefully, Comfort for slightly more spirited driving and Sport / Sport+ for very spirited driving. I also stopped using paddles actively because they do not really give any extra value but do mess up the "memory" of the gearbox.

 

[SpaceGhost]

I have two Stingers a 2019 GT1 and a 2018 GT2. The 2018 rough shifts and the 2019 shifts perfectly. Not sure if it's a software thing if so it would be nice if they would update the 2018 because it is irritating

 

[I Stung U]

mine has the following quirks
- upshifting with paddles, sometimes i have to tap it twice as it didn't work on first tap. Maybe i didn't press it hard enough ? will try and test that and see if it helped, but oddly its usually from 3 to 4th. very little bit times on 4-5 or 5-6
- downshifting with paddles.. relatively smooth and rev match happens pretty good most of the time, with only a tad downshift with wee bit less rev match.. no worries. but from 3-2 is usually a very noticeable and not so nice jerky downshift... never do a 2-1.
- upshifting in auto mode.. no worries every, really...
- downshifting in auto mode, pretty good too, except how it downshifts on aggressive side to bring you to a stop sooner than most other cars would. it doesn't coast much, but gear brakes on aggressive side, which is annoying, so I have to learn to not let go of gas pedal a bit later than my wifes Legacy. it's a good thing in slippery weather, but annoying in reg. dry roads.. why does it bring you down so fast ? I don't like it...