2005 Dodge Stratus Owner Manual Coupe - Page 161

STARTING AND DRIVING 161 CAUTION! The electronically controlled transaxle system is strictly intended to provide supplementary functions. When driving downhill under certain conditions, or immediately after starting when the automatic transaxle is cold, no automatic shift-down may be made. The driver should shift down to a low gear (3rd gear or 2nd gear), which will permit the engine to exert a braking effect. NOTE: During the brake-in period or immediately after re-connection of the battery cable, the vehicle may not shift smoothly. This does not indicate a faulty transmission. The transaxle system must have a short period to learn parameters for proper shifting. Shifting will become smooth after the transaxle has been shifted several times by the electronic control system. Selector lever operation Main gate 5 Manual gate I04B0060 The transaxle has 4 forward gears and 1 reverse gear. The individual gears are selected automatically, depending on the position of the gear selector lever, the speed of the vehicle, and the position of the accelerator pedal. The selector lever has 2 ЉgatesЉ: the main gate and the manual gate. NOTE: For information on manual gate operation, please refer to "Autostick" on page 165.