Ok...I hear you guys are the best so let's see if you can help...1985 wagon with 118k miles. The shifter is a tad loose in that I mean when you shift from park into drive nothing happens (neutral) unless you flick it down one more (2nd) then back into drive...that's just more annoying than anything else but it may be part of the REAL problem I'm having. Tranny shifts perfectly around town. Take it on the highway over 55-60mph cruising in overdrive...let up on the accelerator to coast and the tranny just downshifts into 2nd gear. If I'm doing over 75mph and let up it drops into 3rd. Only way to get it back into the higher gears is to floor it until the redline comes up and forces the transmission into a higher gear or let it coast down to around 55mph, give it gas again and it'll upshift, until I go to coast again and the cycle starts all over...I've had wrenches tell me eveything from it needs a new tranny, it needs a new tranny computer, it needs a new governor, it needs a throttle position sensor adjustment, I just need to d&r the battery to reset all the computers & codes(ammco transmission said that, unbelievable)...I'm not in a financial position to go on a wild goose chase here. It really seems like a computer/electric controller problem. Anyone had a similar experience? Any suggestions? BTW I'm in Fl so the temperature is always constant and the engine itself is in perfect running condition.

 

Well dealing with your shifter you need a new Shifter bushing. Its either broken or not there anymore. That will cure your not going into drive when put in drive problem. The highway thing seems like an overdrive problem. Im not too sure because Ive never had that problem before. Any you other guys comment on this. Im scratchin my head on this one. Downshifting to 2nd? Thats wayy too low.

 

Just a note...the slush boxes in our cars are not computer controlled. The tranny ECU's were not introduced until the 3rd gens. The only difference in the auto and 5-speed, electronics wise, is the auto ECU is programmed for a different idle, and with different A/F ratios, to help with emissions and fuel ecomonomy.

 

And the fact that auto's are also quite a bit heavier then the 5-speed . I'd try fixing the shift bushing first. Sometime when you have something bad like a bushing, it will cause the shifter to not be in the appropriate position, and the tranny will think that your downshifting, and give you symptoms like that. So fix that first, and see what you get. Then we will work from there.

S