[TheDog]

We did a lot of driving this week with trips from near Rochester NY to the Adirondacks then home and off to Poughkeepsie and back. Unfortunately on the way back from Poughkeepsie, near Syracuse, my car decided while cruising down I-81, to stop going into 6th gear. Surprisingly, the noise level wasn't really very high at all and for the modest amount of miles it had to drive it didn't kill my MPG. The car is now at dealership and I'm in a loaner Trax.

Surprisingly, there was no message when it happened. Also surprising to me, remote start and cruise control still work fine as does auto engine stop.I did try disabling cruise control, pulling off the freeway and driving slower a few minutes and a power cycle. None of these changed anything. Neither did sitting overnight. So at least it should be reproducible by the dealer.

 

[TDCruze]

This has been reported a lot lately with the recent colder weather. It seems so far, all have been linked to a normal ECU response to the weather conditions at the time.

The ECU commands the transmission stay in 5th gear to keep revs and airflow higher through the intake piping to prevent ice buildup at temperatures near freezing and when high humidity is detected.

 

[Ma v e n]

This is 100% normal. There's nothing wrong with your car. The Trax you've got as a rental will do it too if the conditions are correct. They tend to do it less though since they worked harder to begin with.

 

[TheDog]

Yes, the dealership said the same thing. And better yet, the car was back to normal yesterday. It is odd how specific the conditions have to be for the 6th gear lockout to engage. It wasn't especially cold here this week (20 degrees in Northern NY is hardly an arctic blast). But it was been snowy for days.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Barry Allen]

It is odd how specific the conditions have to be for the 6th gear lockout to engage.

Not odd conditions at all - anytime it's at or below freezing with high ambient humidity. This happens more often than you think.