CVT "Shifting" and Idiots - Help?

jsac90

jsac90

Well-Known Member
9
2
Hi all - looking for some expertise or advice. I did something fairly stupid and am pretty worried I seriously damaged my car.

Disclaimer - Please let me reiterate that I'm stupid. I realize this.

I own a 9th gen sedan with a CVT. I decided to try to race my friend (reminder - I'm stupid). I heard that if you start in S ("sport mode") It helps with acceleration and gives extra torque. I did that and got up to about 50 or so. I was going to shift in to D at that point but had a brainfart and shifted in to L.The car sounded like it was downshifting and I knew I goofed.

I immediately let off the gas, hit the brakes and shifted to drive once I got to a complete stop. The rest of the way home I faintly smelled gas but it dispersed after a bit. No Check engine light came on. Aside from that, the car seemed fine. I calmed down and ended up driving another 200 or so miles the rest of the weekend. Even got the car washed and detailed.

Fast forward to Monday. The car seems like it's vibrating a bit more than usual (I can feel vibration through the gas pedal). Something seems a bit off driving but I can't put my finger on what so I start checking anything I can think of.

The car appears to drive fine. It's not burning oil or leaking anything. I checked the radiator and the oil dipstick. I don't think I hear any grinding - been listening but there's a lot of traffic on my commute. Car seems like it accelerates a little slower than usual but not 100% sure about that. MPG has been about the same. I can get up to speed on the freeway no problem. The car doesn't jerk or buck (any more than usual anyway - always had a bit of light movement when coming to a stop. Apparently that's the CVT). I've driven it every day for the past 2 weeks and IT JUST FEELS OFF. I don't know enough about cars to properly diagnose this.

My buddy told me I did a "Money Shift" but since the CVT only emulates shift points, is this even a thing? Should I be saving for a new transmission? Am I paranoid? Or is there a potential actual problem that I'm missing?

Thanks for any help you can offer. I'm planning on taking it to the dealer later this week to get looked at but want an idea of what to expect before I go.
 
Have you gotten gas recently? Maybe a different brand? Has it been hotter in your area than it has been before the "incident"?

Maybe your AC is working a bit harder and this is where your extra vibration could be coming from. Maybe you could of gotten a bad batch of gas.
 
Low
● Used to further increase engine braking
● Used when going up or down hills

that's the whole purpose of L mode.
 
If you're still under warranty take it in and don't mention a thing about racing or shifting. It might not feel right to you because you feel like you broke something which you very well could have seeing how bad a misshift can be
 
Thanks guys for answering so far. You guys are awesome.

  • It has definitely been warm where I live but I not really warmer than usual. AC has been on the whole time as usual. I did try driving around with AC off to see if I could hear anything but noticed the same kinds of vibrations under the pedal.
  • I've gotten the same brand of gas I usually get. Filled up since then and still have the issue. No decrease in mpg though.
  • I realize that L is for higher engine braking but I assume you aren't supposed to do it at high speeds (or at the least high RPM).
  • I am under the power train warranty still but I assume that speed / over revving is stored on the ECU so they'll probably be able to see what happened.

I can't narrow down any symptoms for sure. I keep thinking I'm hearing things but can't replicate it. I'll take it to the dealer later this week when I get some time.
 
Yea, over-rev will be stored in the computer...its all about the story, say you got stuck in mud or hydroplaned to cause a slippage. Something that shy's away from user-error
 
do you know what speed/rpm you shifted into L?
 
I was in S going about 60. It was pretty high RPMS - I'd guess about 7k at least...probably higher

An update on symptoms
I drove around a bit yesterday and it seems like there's definitely a vibration issue but when at lower speeds its more apparent. For example, if I'm cruising at 20mph let off the accelerator and then hit it again after that it will jerk a bit. Once I'm up to speed, I feel minor vibrations in the gas pedal but it seems to go fine. Cruising to a stop it seems like it downshifts more aggressively when I hit the brakes.

Any ideas?
 
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