Transmission issues '97 LGT AT (please help)

Ok, I'm some what new to cars, so please bear with me. That being said, here's my issue, as best as I can describe it:

 

'97 Legacy GT sedan; AT; 174k miles; new transmission fluid at proper level. The following condition exist always, and are not sporadic. Just need to know if it's normal.

 

1. 2nd gear seems to engage very hard, with a heavy thud. This seems to be MORE pronounced while accelerating slowly under light load. Seems to be LESS pronounced while accelerating slowing under heavy load, i.e., while travelling up hill with people in the car.

 

2. 3rd gear kind of engages; the RPMs drop down normally, but there seems to be a second to second and a half delay before acceration recommences (if that even makes sense.)

 

The transmission seems to downshift properly, although it may be a little sticky coming down from highway speeds to a full stop, meaning a detectable disengagement as the transmission downshifts (if that's the correct terminology)

 

I remember a while back, my dad had his old Chevy van's trannie rebuilt, and it had a hard 2nd gear engagement. The guy said it was normal, and it did seem to shift/operate correctly until the motor blew up, at least!

bump...any one?

My girlfriend's old 96 LGT (she owned it from 20,000 miles to 150,000 miles) shifted very hard into second when it was cold, i.e. you just took off. The dealership kept saying it was "normal", I guess we should have pushed the point when it was under warrantee. But it never got worse or caused any problems.

 

I just got a 97 LSi and it shifts funky too, hard shift in to second and it doesn't down shift right when you come to a stop after highway speeds. These autos don't seem very reliable. I guess this is why so many guys love the 5mt for this generation Legacy. So the long and short, I don't have any answers but I have had similar issues. I bet a rebuild is the only fix but, it won't be cheep.

Thanks for the info, zep. I've talked to a few guys who have that model year, and they all experienced the hard shifting. The only issue that bothers me now is the 2nd-3rd ?slipping? Again, I'm not even sure if it can be called slipping. It engages, but it's just odd. I wish I could explain it better.