My problem exhibits itself in two symptoms that persist until the thermostat needle rises to normal temperature. In order to avoid these issues, I purchased a remote starter so that I can let the car warm up in the morning before I get in and drive. The first symptom is a loss of acceleration power in second gear that is accompanied by a hollow crunching sound. Even if I slam on the gas, the car will accelerate at an elderly pace until the rpms pick up a bit. The second sympton arises when I have to brake. If I’m in second gear or above, pressing the brake pedal causes the same holllow crunching sound, but the sound is more intense and if I deccelerate too quickly, the car stalls. On bad days (like everyday I drive this car isn’t) my car will also stall, after exhibiting one or both of the previous symptons, when I have to put it in drive. I have found that I can avoid stalling by shifting the car into nuetral as I brake. This issue has been accompanied by two rare symptons: teetering reverse (during warm-up period) and a check engine light code indicating “2nd gear ratio incorrect.” I should note that when the car is warm, the car’s shifts are not always smooth.
I don’t know if this is related, but recently I’ve noticed that once my car is warm, if I have to apply more pressure than normal to the brake, I hear crunching (different from the hollow crunching noted before) and liquid splashing.