05 Malibu Shifts Hard Sometimes

So this car sometimes shifts hard into drive and you can feel the transmission shifting hard when driving normally down the road. Here’s the thing, I can park it and kill it for a few minutes and turn it back on and the problem is completely gone.

It’s done this twice in the past month. The car has about 250k on it. So far as I know it has never had a transmission fluid change on it. I hope this is what the problem could be, but I’m open to any suggestions as to what the problem might be. Transmissions are important and I don’t want to neglect this and just kill the car every time it happens and then one day it becomes a bigger problem.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

Is the Check Engine light on?

Tester

No it is not.

The transmission may be going into the limp mode.

If the computer detects any problem with the transmission where the transmission is going to slip, the computer raises the line pressures within the transmission to prevent that from happening. This prevents damage to the transmission, but causes hard shifts.

What color is the transmission fluid?

Tester

I just left oreilly and I did get a code on transmission. Just had transmission checked a little over a month ago at the dealership. They said all was well. I’ll check again tomorrow at dealership.

P1811

https://www.transmissionrepaircostguide.com/p1811/

Tester

Take a 14 year old vehicle to the dealership , why. Find an independent transmission shop chances are it will be less costly.

They’re the only ones around here who will check my transmission fluid level. I’ll definitely have a look around at some local transmission shops to see what they can do. Ty for the advice.

Update.

I went to a local transmission shop. They said I was two quarts low and added more for 30 bucks. I hope this was my problem.