My dad just got the car so we don't know if this is normal or not. Anyway I"ll put the car in 'D' and before I let off the brake, the car will start shaking, not much but enough to notice. Then when i let off the brake and step on the gas, it'll take a couple seconds before it grabs and I start to move. Is this normal? If its not then is there anything I should check out. I'm pretty sure its got fresh fluid in there and if not I'll change it. Although, I doubt that has anything to do with the hesitation. Thanks

 

Sounds like that transmission is crap. The same thing happened to my other Protege.

 

Could you give me a little more insight into that? Can I look for signs that'll tell me how much time I have left? Does the whole tranny need to be rebuilt or can I just replace a part or two? Also the previous owner said that this only happens once in a while. For instance it'll happen one day and then won't do it again for 2000 miles and then it'll happen again and go for 3500 miles. Thanks

 

It just sounds like the transmission is going bad. I would stick with it for as long as it lasts because it will cost a lot of money to repair. You would probably be better off buying another one out of a junkyard... but then again you don't really know what you're getting there either. I would go to a transmission shop and have them look at it and get their opinion.

 

On a somewhat related question...

If I come to a quick stop sometimes it seems like it'll hang in 2nd for a few seconds... also last night I did a rapid stop (I had to wake up my passenger ), after stopping the revs dropped and it felt like it almost stalled (headlights went dim too). I had the radio on so I wasn't really paying attention to how it shifted.

Am I screwed? Probaby....

I will try flushing the fluid though..