Okay, I've always driven where if I'm going down a long hill, I put the tranny into Neutral and just coast down. Why feather the gas when you can coast and not touch the gas pedal at all? I did this a ton while growing up in hilly Pittsburgh and traveling about the Appalachians. Now I'm in Hawaii where I can coast downhill for up to 5 minutes at a time!
I've made my daily commute, in my new 2010 R/T w/ MDS auto, over 50 times now. This is the second time this transmission lock-up event has occured...
I'm coasting down for a good three minutes in Neutral, the highway levels out and I eventually put it back into drive. I step on the gas and NOTHING. The transmission stays locked in 5th and around 2000rpm with an achingly slow drop in my speed. I push the accelerator and it's apparently not talking to the engine because I don't hear my Lil' Hemi roaring or seeing the tach or speedo positively moving. I have to put on my hazards, pull off to the side of the highway, stop, put my R/T in park, and finally back into Drive--where it resumes normal operation. (Well, besides the tach needle doing a slight up and down jiggle when cruising at a constant RPM for the next 15 minutes or so.)
I called my dealer's service department and was told, "these new auto CVT transmissions just can't be popped into neutral like manuals or older autos; you can't just coast in Neutral with them".
- Is this what's happening?
- Why exactly does it lock up the tranny?
- Why would it only happened in 2 out of 50+ downhill coasts?
I've made my daily commute, in my new 2010 R/T w/ MDS auto, over 50 times now. This is the second time this transmission lock-up event has occured...
I'm coasting down for a good three minutes in Neutral, the highway levels out and I eventually put it back into drive. I step on the gas and NOTHING. The transmission stays locked in 5th and around 2000rpm with an achingly slow drop in my speed. I push the accelerator and it's apparently not talking to the engine because I don't hear my Lil' Hemi roaring or seeing the tach or speedo positively moving. I have to put on my hazards, pull off to the side of the highway, stop, put my R/T in park, and finally back into Drive--where it resumes normal operation. (Well, besides the tach needle doing a slight up and down jiggle when cruising at a constant RPM for the next 15 minutes or so.)
I called my dealer's service department and was told, "these new auto CVT transmissions just can't be popped into neutral like manuals or older autos; you can't just coast in Neutral with them".
- Is this what's happening?
- Why exactly does it lock up the tranny?
- Why would it only happened in 2 out of 50+ downhill coasts?