Thinking there is an issue with the trans. Before I go to the dealer I was hoping someone on here knows these cars. When on the freeway when you come to an incline and you depress the gas pedal slightly to keep speed it feels like the trans slips momentarily, the RPM raises a couple hundred RPM then it goes back to where it was prior. It doesn't seem like it downshifts, maybe converter unlocking not sure. If I leave the trans in manual it doesn't do it. Also in stop and go traffic seems to surge on deceleration in the lower gears. This is the 8 speed auto. The car is new, has 1200 miles on it now.
Nicely ask service write up to have the trans tech take the car for a ride with the data recorder on it and check it out on his laptop. He will quickly be able to see the events on the screen. If you make an appt. with the dealer some times the tech will have you drive the vehicle with him so he knows exactly when it happened. In the old days some dealers would let the owner drive the vehicle with a co-pilot on it to get those recordings. You would hit he trigger when you experienced your concern.
Not sure if that is available today but you can ask.
They should be able to record all the eng and trans electronics. I used to do it all the time at my dealer as the data recorder was the best tool I could use for strange problems that would not happen all the time. Heck we got the MDS (Mopar Diagnosis System) in 1992 and within a year or two it had the Data Recorder and Co-Pilot for it and it helped me fix many strange problems. One time I had a 3.0 Caravan that would start bucking and breaking down when you would nail it and it got over about 40 mph. Of course it had all the normal repairs before I got it as they had the plugs , wires and dist cap & rotor replaced already. After recording the electronics and downloading the info from the recorder to the shop computer I found the speedo sensor was bad as when the van hit about 40 to 50 mph and you stepped down on it the speed sensor reading would jump from 46 mph to as high as 504 MPH !! And it had a 118 mph PCM on it which means any mph seen over 118 it will kill fuel injectors as thats the limit for that vehicle with the tires it had. Replaced the speed sensor and all was good. And I would have had a hard time finding that without the data recorder. I did not have to take a tech with me to try and look at all the sensors while driving when the problem happened. Its a great tool but the one problem we had was I was the only tech in my dealer who took the time to learn how to use it. They even have a tool that we could put on the car and let the customer take his car and when it acted up all the customer had to do is press the button to record 35 seconds before he hit the button and 10 seconds after he hit the button. If you go to a dealer and they say they cant find a problem ask them about a data recorder as they are for problems like that where they dont act up all the time. Good luck , Ron
