RE: [DML] Re: Questions on automatic transmissions

["Videobob Moseley" <videobob@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Since we are in the thick of this topic, I would like to talk about the way 
my car rides.
My automatic shifts like a mule just kicked you.
It winds way up and then jerks into gear with a slow slingshot effect.

One of my main problems is that it will not shift into 3rd until it is 
warmed up good.
If I take off on a cold day, I will have to drive in 1st gear for a while 
otherwise it
will slip gear and the motor will just spin until I put it into first and it 
will catch.
Once I get it up to a high RPM I can shift up to 2nd and it will go, but if 
I put it in
3rd it will just slip, unless I get on the highway and punch it.
Once I get going real fast, lets say 70 in 2nd gear then I can usually put 
it in 3rd
and it will catch....but sometimes it will simply drop back and forth from 
2nd to 3rd.
Once the car is warmed up and finally drives smooth in 3rd, it will stay 
like that as long
as you are driving it around.

I have had people look at the trans fluid and smell it, and although it is 
still red they tell
me it smells burned, and I have been told not to replace the fluid because 
if I do
it will melt the inside of my transmission.
Of course Stephen Wynne told me that was BS and to go ahead and do it.
So I don't know who to believe.
But as far as I know the car has never had a trans service in 35K of life, 
but I am
afraid to do it.
I just dont know what to do about it because I can not afford to send it to 
Stegar.
I have had local trans shops tell me that they can rebuild it for me for 
about $800
but of course Stegar and Grady both tell me that these trans shops only
"think they know what they are looking at" and "could not possibly do it for 
that".

All I know is that I have a serious problem with the transmission and it is 
running like crap
because of it, it is robbing me of power and making me rev the engine too 
much.
On cold mornings like we have had lately, I need to warm up the car for 
about 20
minutes before I can drive it.

So what should I do?

- Videobob

>From: "Harold McElraft" <hmcelraft@xxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>To: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [DML] Re: Questions on automatic transmissions
>Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 12:28:12 -0000
>
>
>
>
>An accurately setup auto shifts nice and smooth hot or cold - in
>really cold weather the shifts are a little smoother - almost
>unnoticeable - warmed up - noticeable but smooth - no banging or
>jerking. I notice the change in engine sound more than anything
>along with more getup, especially at WOT. Never notice down shifting
>at coasting to stops or stopping. Down shifting from throttle
>response is firm but smooth and up shift the same - I try never to
>let the trans have to go through two gear shifts at once - i.e.
>first to third or third to first (I just visualize too much stuff
>going on in there for the by-pass of gears to be good for it).
>
>To get what I consider a really smooth trans took me a few years of
>working with an auto trans that was abused in its early years and
>run for some time with the computer screwed up.
>
>Three critical adjustments: The trans throttle cable, the computer
>working correctly and the vacuum module. And, the engine has to be
>working and idling correctly. In terms of problem areas I'd say
>first computer, then engine running correctly, throttle adjustment,
>vacuum module. Last, trans internals.
>
>The whine - is it in first or at the shift 1-2 only? That sounds
>like a trans filter clogged up or air in the system. Have you
>serviced the trans lately? The harsh down shift is a symptom of a
>faulty computer but an engine with a fast idle or slow to idle
>symptom will cause a similar issue.
>
>Diagnosing a D trans is really an art as much as a science in my
>experience. But, you have to be sure you're dealing with one problem
>not two or more. That requires checking everything one at a time.
>
>Harold McElraft - 3354
>
>
>
>--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Enid/Jeremiah
><hispanicangeleyes@xxxx> wrote:
> >
> > Hey everyone,
> >
> > A couple questions.  I never really paid any attention
> > to it, but I was wondering how a ideal working
> > automatic transmission shifts.  Obviously,
> > 1st->2nd->3rd, but what is its behavior?  Is it
> > supposed to shift really hard and firmly, or does it
> > shift softly like todays modern cars where one can
> > barely feel a shift at all?  Would a change in
> > temperature (summer vs winter weather) have a effect
> > on the shifting patterns?  Also, when the automatic
> > transmission downshifts, should you be able to really
> > feel the downshifts or should it be really smooth and
> > almost unnoticeable?  My car shifts up very firmly,
> > and it downshifts from 2nd to 1st very firmly, but I
> > don't really detect any downshifting from 3rd to 2nd.
> >
> > One last thing.  Lately with the morning temperature
> > in the mid 20's, I've noticed a high-pitched whine
> > when going from first to second.  This is if the car
> > is driven with no warm-up idle time.  Today, I let it
> > warm up to about 160 degrees, and it doesn't make this
> > noise driving down the street with warm up time.  Is
> > this anything to take note about, or is this just how
> > the car behaves when driven from a dead cold start in
> > 25 degrees?
> >
> > Thank you for your time.
> >
> > Jeremiah
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________
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>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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