My 300M almost stalls at times when either accelerating slowly after switching from reverse into drive, or reversing. It stalled twice when I was reversing fast, but I brushed this off thinking I was being too hard on the car. The car also shifts hard at times.
What could cause this?
Thanks
You don't say what year M - could be important since, for example, there was a TCM firmware upgrade after the '99 My release that helps with hard shifting - it helped with hard shifting on my '99 Concorde (same transmission). Besides having the firmware revision level checked by the dealer and having it reflashed if needed ($60 to $130 depending on the dealer), you might need to change the fluid and filter - making damn sure they use ATF+4 and ATF+4 only - no substitutes (such as "Dexron? with an additive") that are claimed to be equivalent but are not. Also you might pull the TCM fuse for a few minutes and let it reset to its defaults. All three of those things may be necessary. Fluid and filter should be changed anyway if you haven't already done it. If you plan to change fluid and filter and get the TCM flashed, do the fluid and filter first since there is a calibration process involved that is affected by the fluid properties.
For the almost-stalling, try cleaning the throttle body using throttle body cleaner per the instructions on the can - many have found this to correct such situations on the LH cars. Do NOT use carburetor cleaner - the label *must* say something to the effect that it is good for cars with fuel injection (it is claimed by some that formulations not designed for use in fuel injected engines can destroy the fuel injector o-rings).
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')
Hi Bill,
It's a 2004 with 70,000KM. I have never changed the trans fluid, I will look into it. Could the (almost) stalling be caused by this or just the hard shifting? BTW it has only happened maybe 10 times in 44,000KM.
Thanks,
Steve
Sorry Bill I did not see the bottom part of you reply. I did have the fuel injector/Throttle body cleaning at Mr. Lube.
Steve
Normally I'd say that the tranny would not cause an almost stall, but perhaps erratic torque converter operation could make it seem that way (i.e., mimick engien stumbling). I don't know enough to speculate on that - there are probably others here qualified to answer that.
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')
OK. BTW - aren't you still under warranty?
I'd get the tranny fluid and filter changed whether related to the problem or not.
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')
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