Q: My car won't shift into high gear after a series of thumping while accelerating hard check engine light blinks then stops later.

asked by on October 14, 2016

I'll be driving normally and then accelerate hard but sometimes not hard and then it won't shift gears and it will thump a lot and slow down after this it won't shift gears even if the peddle is all the way down and the check engine light will blink and the traction control light will be one. After a night of not using it or 2 nights the check engine light will turn off and it will function normally.

My car has 69000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

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Hi there. The Check Engine Light flashing is an indication the engine is misfiring. Anytime the PCM (powertrain control module) recognizes misfires, the traction control is disabled (light turns on). This would account for the thumping and lack of power. With the mileage your vehicle has, it may be due or past for a tune-up. I would not worry about the transmission not shifting until the misfires are corrected. The check engine light going off, after not using the vehicle, is unusual. The PCM usually won’t clear a code(s) until 50 ignition cycles without a malfunction. I recommend having the misfiring engineinspected and repaired first by a certified technician with YourMechanic.

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