[luckycat]

I took my 09 Malibu (4/A6) to have the transmission checked. My wife was complaining about just jerky shifting, which I also noticed occasionally. They applied an update to the transmission, which helped what we experienced significantly.

However, I now notice something that is driving me nuts.

Whenever I'm slowing down to stop, at some point the car will seem to accelerate a bit and I can feel the car lurch forward (NOT huge, just a tad) so I have to really make sure I'm laying on the brakes.

I observed the tach and found that when I'm slowing down from 25-30 mph when downshifting it appears that the RPMs jump from from under 1K to 1500 or so as it is downshifting. That is when I'm feeling that "lurch".

So this is something, it seems, with the latest trans update that I got (a week ago). Anyone experience this? Maybe it's a known issue with the "new" update.

 

[Silver LTZ]

Search, it is your friend.

http://www.chevymalibuforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5154
http://www.chevymalibuforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4843

 

[Starship]

Mine's a 4-speed and thus I can't say from my personal experience. However, are you sure about this "lurch" in the forward direction? It sounds like a downshift and the resulting engine braking which could feel like the opposite due to your body's motion/momentum. You could fashion some sort of a pendulum and then observe its motion while someone else drives.

See the spec. sheet for your transaxle at http://archives.media.gm.com/us/powertrain/en/product_services/2009/Spec%20Sheet/Transmissions/2009%20Automatics/09_6T40_MH8_n.xls.

The change in RPM is consistent with either a 3-2 or 2-1 downshift (1.5:1). I suppose that's one way to fix the hunting between gears, i.e., keep the gears engaged (instead of freewheeling) for smoother transition to acceleration. If your vehicle is indeed lurching forward during these events, by all means take it back and get it checked out. It's not improbable that the update didn't make it 100%.

 

[Silver LTZ]

The updates really don't do crap. GM needs to take someone from the Corvette camp who programmed the A6 in them so good and at least try to help the autos in the Malibu.

Just one of the reasons why I am so glad my MS3 and Camaro are manuals.