I just bought a 2007 pontiac torrent from a used car lot, its very clean inside and out we love the car and the only issue i notice with it is when you put the car into drive the D on the cluster to indicate drive never lights up instead it light up the I wich i belive is the intermediate gear? Ive never had a vehicle with this option and im just wonderi h if there is an issue or if its normal? Also what and where do i look at to start diagnosing the issue? Thanks

You have an Aisin AF33 transaxle. My guess is that the Transmission Position Sensor is going bad.

Does it shift through all five gears when you accelerate normally?

Yes, but not a "gear" per se. It changes how the transmission'* shifting is mapped. From the manual: INTERMEDIATE (I): This position is also used for normal driving. However, it reduces vehicle speed without using your brakes for slight downgrades where the vehicle would otherwise accelerate due to steepness of grade. If constant upshifting or downshifting occurs while driving up steep hills, this position can be used to prevent repetitive types of shifts. You might choose INTERMEDIATE (I) instead of DRIVE (D) when driving on hilly, winding roads and when towing a trailer, so that there is less shifting between gears.

Not normal. When you shift to "D" it should be in "D" or "Drive" and make efficient use of all forward gear ratios. The question here is: Is it making efficient use of all forward gear ratios or is it in "I" mode where it will hold each gear excessively and also provide aggressive engine braking through gear selection when driving downhill.

I'd start with shift behavior as noted above. Looking online, it appears the Transmission Position Sensor is mounted to the top of your Aisin AF33 transaxle if you want to inspect or replace it. I wouldn't get into all of that unless it is diagnosed as malfunctioning.


Depending on how it is shifting right now, it could be that all that is wrong is the "D" selection bulb is out.

The car seems to drive and shift just fine, if it was just the bulb for the d, why would the next position I light up ?

When those things get worn out, damaged, or otherwise wacky they can do things like that.

Think of it like your 3-speed plain old Lasko box fan for $16.88 at Walmart. That switch works great at first, but after enough usage the **** can spin on the shaft so it is indicating halfway between low and medium when it on low, or the guts in the switch can start coming apart and do weird things too.

In your case, that switch is out there in the heat and misery next to the engine getting occasionally tortured further by the conditions you drive through. For eleven years so far.

That having been said, keep in mind I'm diagnosing your car by way of my keyboard, and I don't know your skill level (yet) except for what I can infer from your writing. If I were sitting in your Torrent diagnosing the issue in person without my keyboard, I might turn the ignition on (with engine off), put my foot on the brake, and slowly slide the shifter back and forth from "N" to "I" to see if maybe there is a point at which "D" does light up briefly. You might want to try that.

Like that box fan when the switch starts going bad. Sometimes it looks like nothing happens exactly at a given speed, but if you slowly turn the **** back and forth you can sometimes find that spot where it makes contact.

Either way, I'm betting its the Transmission Position Sensor that is the problem.

Cathedral, I am not too familiar with this transmission.....but I think he is driving in "I", even though his shifter is in "D" position......but I agree with you, I think it is the shifter position sensor......should be very easy to diagnose with a scan tool that reads transmission data....

If indeed, he is driving in "I", this will lower his gas mileage....

That'* what I'm thinking. I think "I" is transmission logic keeping it in or near the lowest gear possible until conditions are super good . . . ? The manual didn't explain further than what I quoted, and it essentially describes "L" as [ "I" just more of it ] .

It looks like one of those deals where they don't want to waste space with the lever and prindle showing a lot of gear selections that will likely never be used but still need to give access to engine braking. I've rented a few cars like that, mostly Chrysler though. I don't care for it but I guess if you're in a bind it would help.

My concern here is:

I don't know what Ccerasani12'* experience level is. If the transaxle is acting as if it is in "I" mode and "I" mode is what I think it is, then that'* pretty hard on the transaxle. Higher-revving upshifts and forced downshifts. Even if it has rev matching to help out, it'* still a lot harder on it than "D" for normal driving. On the other hand, if the transaxle is acting as if it is in "D" mode while it is indicating "I" mode then the transaxle is fine for now but the Transmission Position Sensor is probably still going out.

It could also be that the Transmission Position Sensor is fine and they have a separate prindle-indicator module built into the shift lever, so the prindle could show whatever it wants and the transaxle would be fine as long as Ccerasani12 counts three clicks from "P" to "D" etc.

I looked around online but couldn't find a good explanation of the parts in the lever or a picture of one opened up.

Ill look into what you guys are suggesting, i can borrow a nice scanner from my dads shop, hes a pro transmission mechanic, hopefully it can give me some insight to whats going on.

Cool, let us know how it goes.