I have a Dodge vehicle that intermitently does a hard shift from 2nd to 3rd. I've reported it to the dealer and they looked at the computer and told me nothing was recorded so nothing to be done. I've asked them if the computer is even supposed to record a hard shift. They keep beating around the bush and won't say yes or no. In their latest email they said that the computer only records an event that causes a malfunction indicator. Of course they failed to comment on whether or not a hard shift would trigger a malfunction indicator. In other words, a light in the dash.
I've tried to have someone comment on this through the dodge journey forum but no luck. I'm hoping that this forum has more knowledgable members who could comment.

 

The only way the computer will log a problem is if what caused the hard shift was something that the computer saw to be out of range. I'm no expert but that is how it was explained to me before.
What ever is causing it may be borderline of being out of range and therefor not actually sett off the MIL.

 

Hard shifts and shuttle shifts generally don't cause a MIL. The only trans issue that I know of that causes a MIL is torque converter lock and unlock issues.

Good luck with getting the dealer to "see" the problem without them driving it and happening to them.

 

it will only set a light if it fails a test 2 times, then it must pass the test multiple times for the light to just "go off" by itself, then any info for that failure will be stored in the ECM. a hard shift on occasion will not set a light. if the parameters are within tolerances then they would not be able to see any "malfunction". There are many things that can cause a hard shift too. hammering it and letting go just as it is about to shift can cause it too. line pressure is ramping up and you just let off the throttle which then does not require high line pressure then the tranny shifts anyways because of speed/rpm and BANG, hard shift (using this as an example, not saying this is what is happening).

 

Thanks for the infomation. It fits what I was told just yesterday by the service manager at my dealership. I guess this finally got his attention. He says that about all we can do is hook up some monitoring equipment and go for a ride. If there is something off in the transmission that is causing this, then his technician should be able to detect it. If nothing shows up, then he hopes that I can understand that he has nothing to go to Chrysler with for a warranty claim. He just knows that my account of what's happening will carry no weight.
He also told me that there would normally be a charge for hooking up the montoring equipment and the testing.....if nothing is found. However he has promised me a freebee test, just because.

 

The purpose of OBDII and the CEL is to moniter emissions parameters. That's all it's designed to do. Some manufactureres will add a few other small items to make diagnosis easier. But it doesn't moniter everything for a malfunction. Just because you don't find a code doesn't mean everything is OK. It just means there's nothing going on that would adversly affect emissions.

For example, the ECU moniters trans temps, but I don't think it records them. If the temp goes too high, you'll get a dash light - but not the CEL. And you can't recall that high temp later.