While driving my 2007 Aveo (48000 miles) at about 50 mph, I accelerated to pass and the hold light began blinking & the auto transmission stayed stuck in a low gear.
I had to stop, shut off the car & move the gear shift around before the hold light stopped blinking & the car returned to normal. This has happened 3 times in the past week.
Is A “Hold Light” What I’m Thinking It Is? Is This A Dumbing Down Light? What’s A “Hold Light” ?
CSA
The first step for “mefrey” is to open the glove compartment, take out the Owner’s Manual, and find out exactly what the “hold light” indicates. Once the OP has learned this for himself/herself, then I suggest that he/she come back to this thread and post the information from the manual.
While my best guess is that this indicates an electronic problem with the transmission’s controller, and that the transmission is defaulting to “limp home mode”, that can only be confirmed by consulting the ultimate source–the Owner’s Manual that is sitting about 3 feet from the driver’s seat.
As the old saying tells us, When all else fails, try reading the instructions!
The hold light goes on & stays on when one presses the hold button. This allows the driver to act like he’s driving a manual tranny. One turns off the hold button when one wants to return to automatic shifting.
My hold light started blinking on its own when I stomped on the accelerator to pass, then the transmission stuck in a lower gear.
Yep, already checked the owner’s manual; only thing it says is: if the hold light is flashing, have the vehicle checked immediately.
You have piqued my interest with the “limp home mode”-- can you elaborate?
“Limp home mode” is just what it sounds like. It’s a feature that allows you to drive the car, or “limp” it to a repair shop, rather than have the transmission fail completely and the car be stuck on the side of the road.
The car is warning you of impending disaster. Stop ignoring the warning.
Your car’s transmission needs some service. Cross your fingers and hope it’s just a fluid change.