C5 Shifting weirdness
Thread Starter
1st Gear
Joined: Apr 2026
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
C5 Shifting weirdness
I was driving around town for about 30min and the car was acting fine until i got on the highway and accelerated from 20-55 mph. It’s not like the pedal was to the floor but i did give it a good amount of gas. After that, the car seemed to stay at those high rpm’s rather than shifting like usual. It seemed like the car stayed in the 1st gear the whole way home, and the rpm’s were in the 3k range going about 40mph. It did not sound normal at all. The car was just in the shop for a trans/dif leak and oilpan leak. My dad said the guy said he refilled the fluids but i’m wondering if he didn’t do the trans fluid because that seems like something that would cause this. Does anyone have this same issue and does anyone know the fix? Thanks a lot
-Today I took her out for a spin just down the road and back and it seems that it was shifting like normal again.
-sorry if i’m using this forum wrong it’s my first time 🤷
-Today I took her out for a spin just down the road and back and it seems that it was shifting like normal again.
-sorry if i’m using this forum wrong it’s my first time 🤷
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2022
Posts: 1,023
Likes: 885
From: Nappytown MD
I'd go straight to trans fluid level first. It's not a hard job to do you self.
Get the car on a lift and on level ground if you are using jack stands or Quick Jacks etc. You have to have the trans at 180-200 degrees to get an accurate level reading. I usually get it warmed up to about 160, and put it in drive/reverse/1st/park (with the brake on) to make sure all of the passages are filled with fluid, and then I lift it, then leave it idling while lifted and have the trans temp display in the DIC window. When it hits 180 ish, take out the plug on the side of the pan, if no trans fluid is dripping out, add some through that hole until it starts to drip out then replace the plug and you are done.
If the trans level is correct and it happens again, I might lean towards something with the converter since it seems fine until you get it really hot or up to op temp and get out on the highway.
Get the car on a lift and on level ground if you are using jack stands or Quick Jacks etc. You have to have the trans at 180-200 degrees to get an accurate level reading. I usually get it warmed up to about 160, and put it in drive/reverse/1st/park (with the brake on) to make sure all of the passages are filled with fluid, and then I lift it, then leave it idling while lifted and have the trans temp display in the DIC window. When it hits 180 ish, take out the plug on the side of the pan, if no trans fluid is dripping out, add some through that hole until it starts to drip out then replace the plug and you are done.
If the trans level is correct and it happens again, I might lean towards something with the converter since it seems fine until you get it really hot or up to op temp and get out on the highway.
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