It sounds just fine, even on cold starts which is great considering the mileage. When I floor it and before the RPMs get up there it just sounds like it's either taking off in the wrong gear and lugging or that I have a cold air intake installed then all of a sudden at 3000-3500rpm it's like I hit the NOS and she flies, until it shifts and goes back below 3000-3500, then rinse and repeat. The transmission does not help this car accelerate at all, I bet if I had the 5 speed it would feel like an SS. That 2.4 sounds GREAT when it's up past 5000rpm.

 

Maybe it doesn't start in first gear?

 

Possibly the shift solenoids are headed south. Or the clutch packs.

 

Could it be the transmission running hot, transferring heat to the coolant?

 

Failing clutch pack can warm things up!
Low transmission fluid
Old transmission fluid

 

while back I found a vacuum leak (no check engine code), after fixing it, it threw a code but still had lost horse power except in the higher RPMs. Cause I thought it was another vacuum leak I was checking the fuel trims and they were way off (running rich) except when I got to a certain speed when the HP came back; it turned out it was an exhaust leak on the manifold causing the numbers to be off resulting in the loss of HP and hard shifting from time to time. maybe you have a vacuum and/or exhaust leak that isn't throwing a code but causing a issue?

 

That sounds exactly like an old air cooled VW when the valves are not adjusted too tight.

 

Funny you should say that; I was just going back to timing chains. Too much valve lash in an old VW is a virtual valve opening delay. If the timing chain on this 2.4 dropped back a tooth, perhaps only on the intake cam, it would maybe be weak until the VVT advance the camshaft at higher RPM? Being off only a tooth, maybe a P0011 is not a given.

Or maybe the exhaust cam. Or both.

 

The cam off a tooth usually throws a P0016, at least is did in my 2007 2.2 LS

 

Yeah, no such thing as P0011/14 for a non-VVT, right? Maybe it takes more than 1 tooth with VVT, because it is a servo loop that will compensate at least to a degree (sorry, didn’t plan that pun.)😂

Heck, do we even know if P0016 is applicable to VVT? I don’t know enough about this.