Car Losing Power in 3rd Gear – Checking up on the Symptoms

Shifting gears manually always gives you certain control over how the vehicle goes. So, in manual transmissions, you may find a sporty feeling of driving and that's why they are still sold in the US. Although we know just a couple of cars with available manual trannies, our today's article will also tell you about manual shifting in automatic transmissions and some problems that may come with it.

Transmission shifting delay problem highlights

• Level of importance:Medium
• Reasons:Low fluid, overheating, torque converter problems
• Needed expertise:High
• Needed tools:Depends on the reason
• Time taken:1-8 hours
• Can you drive? Carefully
• Possible issues: Fatal transmission failure, torque converter damage.

1) Early shifting - a really common cause of the issue

If your car loses power in the 3rd gear, one of the most common causes is early shifting. Just have a look at the odometer. Once you shift and touch the gas pedal, it should show at least 1500 RPM. If it's lower than that, you have shifted too early.

Now, what happens when you shift to the third gear too early? Have a look:

• the third gear is made for final acceleration before you turn into the most common "city" gear - the fourth one - to maintain the speed;
• it's quite a long gear, so it's not made for accelerating from 800 RPM;
• this gear requires that the engine has its optimal power and torque when you turn the gear on;
• if you start at 1200 RPM, it's almost the same as you would start driving with the third gear.

Although diesel engines work a little differently and allow you to shift to the third gear earlier than gasoline ones, it's still always better to shift after you get over 2000-2400 RPM in the second gear. Before that, the engine is not ready.

If you shift to the 3rd gear too early, your engine will struggle to survive. Also, the power loss will significantly disturb your driving.

2) Bad transmission - what's wrong?

If you are sure you shift at the proper RPM, one more thing to check is the health of the transmission and the clutch. We won't go deep into the technical analysis and describe the process of troubleshooting because 99% of you won't do this anyway.

The best solution is to have the transmission inspected by professionals to understand what exactly may be wrong with it.

The problem may be with the gear itself or with the shifting mechanism. Also, the clutch is worth checking here because it may not allow the transmission to properly shift.

Unfortunately, transmission problems are quite expensive to solve. Even diagnosing the transmission in your car may be quite costly. But the most important thing is to find a specialist who will provide your transmission with high-quality repairs.

3) Limp mode - what's this?

If you notice a significant loss of power in the third gear, one of the possible problems is that your engine has turned to limp mode. It means that the ECU detected some problem that potentially threatens the life of the engine or some other important unit. After detecting this issue, the ECU went to limp mode.

It means that you will get limited power of the engine and limited speed. And this is actually why your vehicle may lose power in the third gear - it just meets the speed limit here.

The reasons for the limp mode are different. Here are some examples:

• problems with the transmissions;
• unstable readings of some engine sensors;
• mechanical issues with the engine;
• issues with the turbocharger;
• problems with the ECU;
• low fluid levels;
• faulty engine wiring.

This is not the full and finished list of problems in your vehicle that may cause the limp mode. In most cases, you will also have some error messages and/or lights on the dashboard to help you understand what the problem is.

To get the car out of the limp mode, you will need professional help. In most cases, after you repair the initial problem, the vehicle will go out of the limp mode immediately.

4) Engine issues that can lead to low power

If your engine is bad because of some breakdown, you are unlikely to get the full power out of it. There are literally hundreds of reasons why your engine may lose its power. You may only feel this in the third gear because this is when your engine gets some load. In the first two gears, the engine rotates to a higher RPM and it may compensate for the loss of power. But in the third gear, you feel it.

Here are just some of the common reasons for power loss in your engine:

• injection issues - one injector may be bad or the fuel pump is faulty;
• ignition problems - spark plugs and ignition coils are often out of order;
• sensor issues - fuel sensors, air sensors, throttle sensors, etc. - they all can cause power loss problems;
• bad fuel supply because of the blocked filter or fuel line;
• turbocharger failure;
• engine compression problems due to worn piston rings or other problems;
• changed engine timing because of the jumped timing belt or chain.

Again, these are just some examples of the problems with your engine that may cause power loss. Diagnosing the issue by yourself is almost impossible. You will only need to have the vehicle inspected by a professional. This will help you learn more about the condition of the engine and also find some problems that are only starting to develop and you may solve them easily.

5) One wheel is braking

One more common reason why your vehicle may lose power in the third gear is that one of the wheels is braking unintentionally. It means that in the first and the second gear, you may not feel the issue because the engine has lots of power at higher RPM. But when you turn to the longer third gear, you feel that the vehicle is hard to accelerate. Then the problem gets even worse in the fourth gear.

Also, in this case, you may notice that the vehicle loses speed pretty fast when you release the gas pedal and drive in neutral.

One wheel may be braking because of a bad brake rotor, poor brake pads, bad calipers, etc. When it comes to brakes, your best strategy is to let professionals repair your car. Never try repairing brakes by yourself unless you have good experience as a car mechanic.

6) The vehicle is overloaded

One more possible reason why you feel that the car is losing its power in the third gear is that the vehicle is overloaded. If this is the case, just drive with the understanding of your load. This may be a heavy trailer or a lot of heavy things in the bed of your truck, for example. This makes the overall weight of the vehicle much heavier and the engine needs to produce more power to accelerate the car.

The best strategy in this case is to shift at a higher RPM to let the engine get closer to its optimal power and torque. If you shift too early, the engine may just stall because of overloading.

Also, don't overload your vehicle more than is allowed by the driver's manual. If you tow a trailer that is heavier than the towing capacity of your vehicle is estimated by the manufacturer, you may get a broken engine or a dead transmission at the end of your journey.

Things you should do if your vehicle loses power in the third gear

So, now you know some of the most common reasons why your vehicle may lose power when it's in the third gear. But what should you do? Sometimes, in these situations, drivers just stop on the roadside and are afraid to drive further because they don't want to damage their cars and eventually pay loads of money for repair.

Here are some steps you should do, in this case:

• check if the load of your car is OK and the trailer is not too heavy;
• check all the units of your vehicle that you can check by yourself;
• make sure all wheels are spinning freely without braking unintentionally;
• make sure there are no error lights and warning messages on the dash;
• make sure the engine is not overheating;
• if everything is OK, drive slowly on the right side of the road;
• arrange the visit to the dealership or to the repair shop as soon as possible.

If you found a problem that actually disturbs your car from driving safely, don't drive even slowly. Better call a tow truck and let it tow your vehicle to the dealership. It's important to always stay safe on the road and never create any situations that may lead to accidents. Your car is important but your life is much more important and you should always remember that.