2 - 3 shift really hard - hyundai transmission question

[12secondv6]

Hey,

We have a 2002 Hyundai Elantra with almost 150,000 miles.

The car runs very well except for one thing which is making me a bit nervous about its future as it may not be cost effective to replace the tranny on a 150,000 mile car.

When I get in the car in the morning (or if it has sat for several hours) and start driving it the 1 to 2 shift is completely fine.

When it goes from 2 to 3 it hits REDICULOUSLY hard. I'm not talking shift kit hard, I'm talking harder. It sounds BAD. It doesn't matter if I am part throttle or full throttle for the 2 to 3 shift, it is always hard ONCE. When the 3 to 4 shift occurs, everything is fine.

I've had several cars with either shift kits, transmission fluid pressure raised, or fully built race transmissions and it doesn't feel like any of those.

It has been doing this for the past 1.5 years and very slowly getting harder.

I could have sworn it has been doing it since 80,000 miles (3 yrs ago) but my wife says past 1.5 years or so (120,000 miles). It's her car so up until recently, she was the primary driver of the car.

Now, this will only happen ONCE, after the hard shift, it does not occur again in the drive and everything is completely fine after that.

I'm kinda stumped.

Sure, we have done regular transmission fluid flushes etc. The car still gets over 30 mpg and besides this 2-3 hard shift ONCE, it runs fantastic.

I wonder if the 2 to 3 shift band is worn, it tries to shift from 2 to 3, slips initially, and then upshifts hard.

I'm probably going to get the tranny fluid changed and get a flush done tomorrow and see how it goes.

This is kinda annoying because the car is a frigin tank - runs great, great gas mileage, parts are dirt cheap, and it is very easy to work on.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

[Triple-A]

I can tell you for sure use !ONLY! Hyundai SP-III tranny fluid. Anything else would kill the trans.
Do trans service. filter/fluid.
I heard trans flush some times can make things even worse.

Good luck.
Alex.

[12secondv6]

Just got it done at the hyundai dealer so we shall see how it goes.

Thanks for the response.