Hello people,

I have been researching all over the net for a while to see if someone has come across my same problem, and while I found descriptions about similar issues, I haven't managed to find anyone reporting exactly the same problem, so here I am asking you for help. Thanks beforehand!

So I have a 93 1.9 TiD with 6-speed auto gearbox, registered in 2005 (not sure about the manufacturing year, though).

The issue I'm experiencing is a delay between shifts, specifically, when downshifting from 5th to 4th gear. This typically happens on highway driving, when slowing down for taking an exit and such similar scenarios.

I generally use to switch into manual mode for downshifting and therefore using the engine brake when I want to slow down, and while I would expect this practice not to damage the gearbox, it doesn't hurt to ask away. Maybe I'm doing things wrong!

Anyway, as I've said above, when shifting from 5th to 4th, the gearbox takes about 2-3 seconds before engaging the gear, remaining in a neutral-like state meanwhile (revs dropping to 800 RPM or so). Once the gear is engaged, it's done in a quite abrupt way, far from the smooth way the rest of the gears are engaged.

Now, I've been reading a lot about the gearbox suddenly jumping to another gear under hard acceleration. That's not my case at all. Still, from what I've read it seems that the jumping issue might be linked to faulty radiator O-rings leaking coolant in the gearbox, resulting in milky tranny fluid and a eventual tranny replacement.

I must say that replacing the transmission at the moment is scaring the s**t out of me. So I'm wondering whether someone has come across the same problem, and if that's the case, if a solution for it was found.

I am planning to have the O-rings and the fluid replaced soon, hoping that the problem fades away after that, or that at least, it doesn't get worse. I've also read about the throttle body being a likely cause for this issue, as well as some software update that is needed. But honestly, I haven't found any concluding root cause for this specific behavior.

Anyway, any hints on this? Your help is much appreciated!

/Fer