Hey all,

I have 95k miles on my 98 max. I've had it since 69k. Its been a little over a year since I got the car. I left my house yesterday, got to the first light. I was waiting on the light stopped and wanted to pull up. I let go of the brake and the car did not move forward. I gave it a little gas thinking I was on a hill or something and nutting. Finally after I gave it a bit more gas it kinda thumped and went forward. I had a hard time accelerating to 40mph. Worried I pulled over. It kept stop and going, and sometimes it would go fine sometimes it would like feel like it was in neutral till about ~800 rpms. After like a min I turned off the car to call a friend. About 5 min later I started the car back up and suprisingly it was fine. I drove about 10-15 miles including on the highway with absolutely no problems. It seems like it only does this after the car has been sitting around for a long time, like overnight, but not always. It did this before but it was so minor I didnt pay attention to it. I knew I needed a trans fluid change and was going to get one for a while, I guess now its too late? The fluid is pretty dark red, and does not smell bad or like burning. The level if anything is more then full. I have been driving my car pretty hard but still I cannot believe the trans may be going out already... I would love to use this as an excuse for a 5 spd swap, but any work done on my car comes out of my pocket. I don't have much money to spare, do not have tools, no place to work on the car, or the knowledge to do the swap.

Also this morning when I started the car, I warmed it up for 2 mins, and put it in drive, it immidietly died. I started it back up perfectly, put it in drive, and it drove the 3 mile trip to work perfectly, and I had stopped on every single red light. I also drove my car at lunch just an hour ago, everything ran perfect.

So my question... wtf is the problem? Is the trans really on its way out? Is there anything I can do to prolong the life of the trans? How much would it cost me to just rebuild my trans? What about a swap? Anything on this matter would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks again,

Matt.

 

thats how my dads lic was then it finally went out. you could be in D and rev it up like its in N, But now some times my R is like in my max but im getting a new trans soon...and you only have 95k miles? seems stange i have 189.33x miles and just now going out....

 

I just had these 2 problems.

The 1st one with your tranny acting as it was in neutral and you gotta give it gas to go into gear is a sign of slipping and you better start priceing another trans either another auto or 5spd. If you are gentile it MIGHT last till spring time.

2nd problem with the car shutting off after it has been sitting and then you put it in gear and it shuts off. You need to replace your coolant temp sensor.

 

damn i got 140K on mine and it still shifts like its brand new

 

I also have an auto. I want a 5spd bad but that swap is expensive and time consuming. If you have it looked at now it might save u some $$$ before it goes all the way

 

Im thinking to change the fluid, and add some of the lucas trans stuff that claims to stop slipping. Worth a try?

 

Do they make an aftermarket 5speed auto for the max?

 

Slipping can be either old fluid that need to be flushed out or the tranny slipping and it times to replace.

If the fluid is rather old a good flush hopefully can resolve the problem or atleast make it better. Should the slipper persist after the new fluid, might be time for another tranny. Auto trannies should be plentiful and easy to locate.

 

I would change the fluid too, maybe too much crap in there, and the only time the car is more fluid is after it warms up. It alsmost seems to early for it to go out. I'm at 108K, and it still feels pretty good.

 

The dealer near me does a tranny flush for a 100 bucks, I think im going to go get that done today.

 

or check the stickies in the fluid section and do it yourself

 

yeah a lot of people told me not to get a flush because it can do more harm then good if the fluid was not changed for so long. I just added 24oz thing of lucas trans stuff and well c how the car runs tommorow morning.

 

My car died again when I put it into drive this morning. What makes you say that its the coolant temp sensor thats bad? My ses light WAS on for the rear o2 cause i got no cat, but it just turned off today by itself... so i guess i got no codes now. Wouldnt a bad coolant temp sensor throw a code? And why does it only do it 1 time the first time I try to get into drive in the mornin?

Oh also after adding the lucas tranny stuff, everything seems fine so far...

 

Ok, I used to have the problem of my car stalling when i put it in D after it has been sitting a while... Its kind of odd, but have not had the problem since, but I was low on power steering fluid, Im not sure if its related or was just a coincidence. My auto has been giving me crap this week for some reason and I only have 85K