2003 Outback H-6 auto trans shifting

Our Outback H-6 with automatic trans is jerking when shifting down
from D to 3 under certain circumstances. We have been travelling in
Colorado and New Mexico. I have been driving on the Interstates in
those states at or slightly above the speed limits (70 in CO and 75 in
New Mexico).

If the Outback is on cruise control or I give it enough gas to keep
the speed up while going up steeper hills, the trans will shift from D
to 3 in the 70+ MPH range. When it does if the hill is fairly steep,
there is a nasty jerk when the shift is made. If I shift down
manually or if I take it out of cruise control and let it slow down
then there is no jerk. It seems to me that the auto trans is not
reducing engine RPM's during the shift down.

We bought this car a year ago and I never noticed the problem before.
But I never drove at this speed in a hilly/mountainous area before
either (we live in South Carolina).

Is there an adjustment that can be made to the auto trans to fix this
problem?

David wrote:

> Our Outback H-6 with automatic trans is jerking when shifting down
> from D to 3 under certain circumstances. We have been travelling in
> Colorado and New Mexico. I have been driving on the Interstates in
> those states at or slightly above the speed limits (70 in CO and 75 in
> New Mexico).
>
> If the Outback is on cruise control or I give it enough gas to keep
> the speed up while going up steeper hills, the trans will shift from D
> to 3 in the 70+ MPH range. When it does if the hill is fairly steep,
> there is a nasty jerk when the shift is made. If I shift down
> manually or if I take it out of cruise control and let it slow down
> then there is no jerk. It seems to me that the auto trans is not
> reducing engine RPM's during the shift down.
>
> We bought this car a year ago and I never noticed the problem before.
> But I never drove at this speed in a hilly/mountainous area before
> either (we live in South Carolina).
>
> Is there an adjustment that can be made to the auto trans to fix this
> problem?
>

I have lived with the EXACT, PRECISE problem since the car was new. I
have complained a coupla times and they say they cannot duplicate the
problem. It sometimes jerks so hard it is disconcerting. It CAN'T be
good for the drive train. Duplication is gonna require setting the
cruise at 75+ and either going up a grade steep enough to force a
downshift or, using the foot to simulate - what? - a 50% pedal
depression? It occasionally will work smoothly, but it SEEMS to only be
smooth with a solid flooring of the pedal. The CC seems to use less tha
full throttle - that may be key top troubleshooting - dunno. You can see
the lockup come off - that is good for about 120-180 rpm increase - then
it completely disengages - revs to maybe 5500 or so, then SLAMS back
down to 4K/w'ever in 3rd.

Being a flatlander - I can see it may be tricky to find the right
stretch of road to attempt duplication, but surely some dealerships in
mountain country have dealt with this?

thanx for posting - I just returned from a D/FW to Vegas round trip and
suffered this issue multiple times

Carl


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