2002 elantra occasional shift problems

Hello all,
My 2002 elantra with 63000 miles has started this occasional shift
problem. When driving in "d" it will down shift to 3rd and 1st is gone.
I can quickly shut the engine off and all returns to normal.And who
knows for how long. Maybe 10min. maybe 1month. Also the check engine
comes on. And when I shut the car off engine light goes off and every
thing is normal. Check Engine light . Stays off until problem returns.
This has happened about ten times and always 1st and D is gone. Also
this happenes under any conditions (weather wise). Thanks in advance
for any information

 

This sounds very similar to ned's problem (see two posts below). Have
someone get the trouble code and diagnose. The transmission is going
into
what is called fail-safe (third gear only) because the computer detects a
transmission problem. The stored trouble code (causing your check engine
lamp to come on) will point you where to start diagnosing. The most
common problems are with the input and output speed sensors, but the
range
switch, although infrequent, fails enough to be worth a mention.

 

Thank you Hyundaitech. Just wondering which(most likely) of the 3,
input, output and range switch would effect the 1st gear. And I was
suprised to find out (here) that auto zone will do a "trouble code
diagnoses". Thank you

 

I read the post below thank you. Mine loses 1st and d. So if I do come
to a stop trany goes from second to thrid only. Thanks

 

You'll get 3rd gear only when the transmission recognizes any of the above
mentioned problems or any of a litany of other problems. You won't be
able to tell any more without at least having the code read.