lately my car has been acting very odd. certain days ill reverse out of the driveway fine and then when i put it into drive it will sit there with the foot off the brake and rpm running normal. i push on the gas and when it hits about 1500 rpm it will slooowly start to go. after it switches gears it is fine. i take off from another stop and its fine still. im guessing it warms up and runs ok. what could this be? also (possible stupid question) i was wondering if it is normal for the car to have 600 rpm in drive and 800 rpm in nuetral. my friends 97 does not do this, it maintains the same rpm. any ideas??

 

i dont know too much about auto tranny but it sounds like your low on tranny fluid or you need a tranny flush and filter?

 

pm streetzlegend, hes an auto tranny guy. but i wouldnt flush anything if the tranny has high mileage and it hasnt been routinely flushed bc you will need a tranny shortly there after. sounds like it can be fluid pressure issue affecting the converter slippage. kinda like having the clutch semi engaged lowering rpm..

 

ya im not sure when the previous owner changed teh fluid and i dont want to mess it up by chancing it. would this be a symptom of to much fluid? i believe it needs to be drained a bit

 

Your tranny is givng you a sign!!! bad tranny!!! **** happen to me!!!

 

you mean his tranny gave him the finger

 

Wow, theres some really awesome responses in this thread.....

To the OP, Your getting a good amount of slippage apparently... clutch packs are probably gone or one of your planets is Gonnnne.

Your RPM's however are dead on when your idleing mine sits pretty when warmed up at least; at 5-- to 600, however when in neutral its not going to have any friction being placed on it and its going to be right around 800 or so RPM or however dirty your IACV is.....

Dont flush it, if anything if you really have THAT much faith in this tranny, bleed her out or pump her out through the cooling lines to the radiator. otherwise your best bet is going to be locating yourself a new auto or 5spd tranny.

Orrr im not sure how mechanically inclined or how much money you;'d like to sink into the old girl but you could always try a rebuild with better components as well as the fabled updating shift solenoids!!

 

 

THANK YOU fallen one. unfortunately i dont have the money for the 5 spd swap...which was my original plan. used auto is around $750 and a junkyard one is about $110. i found a 5 spd setup with everything except the computer for $450....but i dont have enough :[ looks like ill be taking a trip to the junkyard this week. i would do the shift solenoids but i havnt got the time or money for it AND my camber is off in the front due to an accident so i think im just going to fix it, sell it, and then look for a 5 spd max. she just hit 180xxx the other day too

 

My auto trans is like this. It behaves like a manual when I'm stopped. It does it in reverse too. I have to feather the throttle to get it going otherwise it'll rev up and bang into gear. Also when crusing if I press on the throttle it sounds and feels sluggish. I dunno if it's the torque converter, clutches, or solenoid(s). Anyone in north NJ, NY, LI, etc. wanna help out let me know.

 

mine doesn't have that problem in drive.. it does that if i put it into 1st or 2nd.. it would slip through any time i'd give it gas but if it's back into drive it drives absolutely perfect.

i hope my tranny gives me a reason to get a 5 speed
i want a manual more than anything!

 

You could flush it but it's probably too late. I've heard of flushing a hurt tranny making it worse. Manual trans swap?

 

ok so today i just went ahead and changed the filter and pan fluid because i felt that i might as well if im going to get a new on. when i got the pan off i discovered that the pan was bent and interfering with the filter outlet, after some hammer time, i took the filter out and replaced it. the old one was bent from the dent. replaced the fluid and belive it or not ALL symptoms were completely gone. so i just saved a bunch of time and money no more slipping, no more weird lagging (more get up and go!) and no morning stalling.

 

Sounds like a miracle to me. 5spd swap would be nice but being on a sc budget means I will be getting an lsd auto unless I can figure something out by summer.

 

Great to hear everything worked out for ya buddy!

 

thank you :] mine is an LSD which i am very very happy about saving

 

I was lookin in the HAYNES and the transmission flush schedule for our cars is pretty aggressive.

 

you dont flush a tranny thats been driven on with obvious signs of damage... if anything youd bleed it out.