Within a period of 3 weeks, I've had to replace my alternator & one of the hoses for the power steering. This is alongside all the other things I've gotten replaced within the past year (tranny, water pump, radiator, etc). Now that I have minor annoyances showing up & a nagging feeling for something else to break soon (my money's on the starter as the next big item), my parents are convinced we need a new car. I, on the other hand, rather not & I'm hoping to fix the minor annoyances so they have less reason to change.

1st problem: Rough idling while in D. At a stoplight, the car vibrates while in gear & you can hear vibrations from the hood as well (not always, though). When I throw it into Neutral, it seems to quiet down. I'm thinking it's motor mounts, but those were replaced about a year ago, & I believe the hood vibrations started when I had my radiator replaced, so I'm thinking the radiator mounts could be the culprit?

2nd problem: Tranny shifting hard AND lagging btwn 1-2 & 2-3. I just rebuilt the tranny last December & now it's lagging about 2 secs for the 1-2 & 2-3 shifts. On the highway, when I change lanes & slam on the gas, the tach will rise to ~5K, linger for 1.5-2 seconds, then shift to the next gear. Tranny fluid level is fine.

3rd problem: Rear squeaking. After I had my power steering hose replaced & the tires rotated 3 days ago, the rear has started to squeak a bit when driving. I pushed down on the car on all 4 corners & the noise I heard while driving was definitely coming from the rear.

So... anyone have any solutions I should try? I rather spend a little money on the Max now than spending a few thou on an SUV.

 

1. the rough idling is probably a low rpm miss.
2. sounds like you got a cheap rebuild, and it's failing
3. deal with #2 first, then #1 if you still want to mess with #3 then look at the bushings

 

I hate rebuilt tranny's. I just put a used tranny from Japan in my car and I could'nt be happier. My car even pulls harder than it did with the old tranny; when the older one was running good.

 

1. Low RPM miss? I did notice lately that I idle only at 600rpms rather than 650 from the past. Only things I've done is run 4ga wiring to my trunk, change the alternator & battery, & install a cone filter.

2. The company I took it to came highly recommended & if this is the case, that blows. I dropped $1400 on the rebuild w/ new TC only 9 months ago. The odd thing is that it's lagging (just STOPS around the 5K mark for 1-2 seconds before switching to the next gear) rather than slipping (where the engine would CONTINUE revving higher than usual before switching to the next gear).

3. I'm guessing dealing with #2 means another tranny rebuild or buying a used tranny? What's the best way to deal with #1 (IACV adjustment?)? Which bushings are likely to need replacing? I thought the squeaks might be the struts since I know they haven't been replaced for quite some time (at least I haven't replaced them since I've had the car for ~26K miles) & they might even be the original. It's just odd I didn't notice it until after the tires were rotated.

Any other ideas on what might be the cause?

 

Bump for any other suggestions...

One thing that came to mind is if the tranny fluid might be a culprit? Guess I'm unwilling to accept the chance that the tranny might be going again so soon, but would using an additive like Luca's or flushing / draining the tranny & replacing it with Redline be a possible (temporary or otherwise) solution?