Clutch
 

When I try to accelerate from a dead stop going down a hill in 1st the tachometer "bounces", sometimes almost hitting red-line while I'm hardly moving. It's almost like the clutch is grabbing and slipping constantly. The car is lurching all the while.

It doesn't matter how nicely I ease off the clutch pedal or how much gas I give it, the car will start lurching. It's enough to get me some angry stares from neighbors.

The only remedy I've found is to let the car roll down the hill until I can safely put it in 2nd or 3rd.

(Car has 1600 miles on it so it better not be a worn clutch)

Anyone else having issues like this or have any ideas?

So how does it drive after getting into 2nd or 3rd? What happens when you go UP-hill in first? Need a little more info please..........

Going uphill is absolutely fine. 2nd and 3rd gears are normal as well. It only does this when I am going downhill in first.

hmmm.......that IS strange .. ??

I have no idea why it would do that .... mine doesn't.

You might consider paying a visit to the dealer.


humfrz

What do you mean by "safely put it in 2nd or 3rd"? Why can't you safely roll down the hill in 2nd at the top?

Try riding the brakes harder while in 1st going down the hill. Make the car go slower in 1st if you want to stay in 1st while going downhill.

The lurch sounds like engine compression/braking to me. On a steep hill I would try using 2nd gear and bypass first. We have a Saab 9-2x (made by Subaru) that initially had a behavior like this--the dealer said it was normal and indeed the car has been mostly trouble free for over 80K miles.

That's what it sounds like to me too.

ninedice, first gear in this car is geared pretty low, and the compression of this engine is high. When going down a hill with your foot off the accelerator, the weight of the car is going to pull it down the hill against the compression of the engine, and the engine is going to try to slow it down. Give it any gas at all, you're going to lurch forward. Let off the gas, you're going to be slammed against your seat belt.

If you are trying to ride that "in between" space by accelerating gently down the hill, the car will buck like you're describing because there is no in between at that gear ratio. It wants to either go or slow down, with no coasting in between. What's worse, if you try to react to the bucking, you will not be able to time it perfectly, and you will create a form of pilot-induced oscillation (or, I guess in this case it would be driver-induced oscillation). In fact, the bucking of the car can change the amount of pressure you're putting on the accelerator so that you enter a PIO condition without even trying.

It sounds like you're not shifting out of 1st soon enough. When I'm taking off downhill, I either start in 2nd or use 1st just long enough to get rolling, then immediately shift into 2nd. Use the gears you need and skip the others.

Thanks for all the tips. I've just stopped using 1st gear to take off down hills and now coast in neutral until I can put it into second. While that works, sometimes I would like to just mash the pedal to the floor and take off like a bat out of hell but oh well, I suppose I can be a responsible adult instead.