Cold Weather + Clunk

[davmcn]

Hi all,

I know it has been very cold recently and wanted to get opinions to know if what my car is doing is normal because of the cold or something could be broken.

On most days when its cold outdoors, the car will start and then when you put it into reverse or drive it will clunk and throw you back. At most times this isn't a problem as no one is behind me, but even with my foot hard on the brake it still launches back with a hard clunk.

The days it does that, it will vibrate when idling but only when in gear.

Any suggestions?


Dave

[staax]

Hi Dave,

Does it only happen in the cold and after snowy driving conditions? Recently I experienced a similar situation eih my 2012 where it would slam into R and D.

It ended up being ice freezing up the motor mounts. One warm day and its been fine ever since even in these -25 temps.

If it happens all the time it might be a bad motor or tranny mount - notorious for going bad on our cars.

Good luck.

[Noobster12]

Do you warm up your car for 1-2 minutes? If you do, try to warm it up a little longer and see if there is any difference.

[Raxor]

I experience the same thing every morning.

But on the days when i have time to warm up my car (roughly 2-3 mins) it doesnt happen or its very minor.

[davmcn]

I'll give it a try and see what happens. The only
Thing that's bizzare to me is when the car has the vibration when idling, it doesn't go away when the car warms up. I drive roughly 150km each day highway.

[Flagrum_3]

I'll give it a try and see what happens. The only
Thing that's bizzare to me is when the car has the vibration when idling, it doesn't go away when the car warms up. I drive roughly 150km each day highway.

Like the others have said; Let it warm up! You should wait till the fast-idle drops atleast to 1000rpm or lower before attempting to put it in gear. Otherwise you will get a thump. Your rough idle could be simply due to your gas. Try putting a bottle of gas-line antifreeze in with your next fill or right away, you can buy it anywhere....See what happens.

_3

[Milan96]

I noticed the same thing last winter. I had to move my car quickly because I was blocking my moms car, so I turned it on and went right into gear. Big clunk and the car jerked. For me at least,my 2010 2.5L does that if it's cold and I dont let it warm up. Let your car drop its RPMs to around 1250 before driving off anywhere (takes about 2-3 minutes) and then let the driving warm your car up. I find in this cold weather, you can't give it 20 seconds before driving like you can in the summer.

[ricola]

I used to have this issue. Installed cpe 80 Durometer Rmm. No issues now and the car responds way better to gear changes.

[davmcn]

I tried the suggestion of letting it warm up and it did help. What I noticed this morning, with the crappy snow weather it still does it regardless of letting it warm up.

[Noobster12]

bumping this thread... just read this.. not quite sure if it's suggested..
to me I still feel the importance of letting my car run for a few minutes..


http://www.businessinsider.com/do-you-need-to-warm-up-a-car-in-winter-2015-2

[Dreamliner]

I had a similar issue with my previous car (2004 EL). When it was really cold and the car wasn't warmed up fully it would clunk when I put it into D and then would slip for a second or two when I gave it gas to move. Going into R was fine as was going into D after I reversed. It was as if the parking pawl was not disengaging smoothly and was hanging while the tranny shifted from P to D. Honda Transmission problems...