Possible Transmission Failure
Deceased
Joined: 06-30-2010
Posts: 25,739
From: Kannapolis NC
Since I "have" to go to the office in the morning Tyler, I'll grab the service manual and see what your problem looks like compared to the "fault tree" and I'll let you know what it suggests as possible solutions/failure modes.
Deceased
Joined: 06-30-2010
Posts: 25,739
From: Kannapolis NC
Well, I took it to the transmission shop on Monday, they were busy and said to come back Wednesday and they'd drive it. When I went there Wednesday, the guy drove it for about 10 minutes and said he thought the transmission was probably internally wore out. I asked him if he thought it might just be the solenoid. He said the solenoids don't normally go out and that the "Shift Solenoid B Stuck Open" was probably due to something jammed, debris in the pan, etc. I took my car home and decided to think about it awhile. They seemed "too eager" to say the transmission needed to be overhauled based on their little test drive.
I decided to take it to the dealer for a second opinion. You can never go wrong getting a second opinion. The guy drove it and I rode with him, he had his Tech 2 plugged in and was reading it. He thought it might be the valve body (I believe that's what it's called IIRC), but said he really couldn't tell. He said the transmission did not seem that bad and they might not necessarily need to overhaul it. When he drove it, it hardly displayed the symptoms from the other day. It still did not feel right, but it seemed better. The problem seems to be somewhat intermittent. My car's going in at 8:00 tomorrow morning and they're going to drop the pan and look into it further. He said if the pan is relatively clean, they might just be able to replace the solenoid, but if there's chunks of debris, etc. it'll probably have to be overhauled). I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow.
What I don't understand is, his scanner read "No 2-3 shift, No 3rd or 4th gear" When I drive it, it shifts into all gears, including 3rd and 4th unless I've been driving the car longer than an hour. It does begin to shift unpleasantly after about 20 minutes, but still will shift. If I drive it longer than 1 hour, it will not go into 3rd or 4th. However, if I hop in it after sitting overnight, I can hop on the freeway and it will go 70 mph and shift gears no problem. It's like after the engine's warm, it doesn't seem to wanna shift at higher speeds. But if the engine's cold, it will shift into all gears. Does the fact that it "can" shift all gears point to something else? I would think if it was a mechanical failure of the transmission, it would not shift into those gears at all. It will shift sometimes and other times it won't.
Any thoughts?
Thanks guys for helping me,
Tyler
I decided to take it to the dealer for a second opinion. You can never go wrong getting a second opinion. The guy drove it and I rode with him, he had his Tech 2 plugged in and was reading it. He thought it might be the valve body (I believe that's what it's called IIRC), but said he really couldn't tell. He said the transmission did not seem that bad and they might not necessarily need to overhaul it. When he drove it, it hardly displayed the symptoms from the other day. It still did not feel right, but it seemed better. The problem seems to be somewhat intermittent. My car's going in at 8:00 tomorrow morning and they're going to drop the pan and look into it further. He said if the pan is relatively clean, they might just be able to replace the solenoid, but if there's chunks of debris, etc. it'll probably have to be overhauled). I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow.
What I don't understand is, his scanner read "No 2-3 shift, No 3rd or 4th gear" When I drive it, it shifts into all gears, including 3rd and 4th unless I've been driving the car longer than an hour. It does begin to shift unpleasantly after about 20 minutes, but still will shift. If I drive it longer than 1 hour, it will not go into 3rd or 4th. However, if I hop in it after sitting overnight, I can hop on the freeway and it will go 70 mph and shift gears no problem. It's like after the engine's warm, it doesn't seem to wanna shift at higher speeds. But if the engine's cold, it will shift into all gears. Does the fact that it "can" shift all gears point to something else? I would think if it was a mechanical failure of the transmission, it would not shift into those gears at all. It will shift sometimes and other times it won't.
Any thoughts?Thanks guys for helping me,
Tyler
Well Tyler, after reading up on the transmission and the fault tree in the manual, the tech at the dealer nailed it as far as the diagnosis is concerned. As to why it behaves itself when cold, that's pretty simple, the fluid is cold and has a thicker viscosity allowing it to overcome the resistance of the sticking solenoid. Hence your usual 1-2-3-4 shifts, then the appearance of the problem as the vehicle warms up.
There is a very good chance that when they drop the pan and clean out the "goop", plus either a solenoid replacement/cleaning, you'll be back on the road for much less money than you'd feared. In the utter worst case scenario, replacing the transmission with a good unit from a salvage yard/re-builder isn't as expensive as you might think.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 02-15-2010
Posts: 1,706
From: Minneapolis, MN
Thank you for taking the time to look into it. I appreciate it! It sure would be nice if it was just the solenoid/valve body/etc. I could use a break right about now. I've not been driving my car except to the garage and dealer, but I'm kinda getting sick of walking and riding the city bus. If it's nice out, I walk to work (about 2.5 miles). However, last week we got slammed with 12-14 inches of snow and lots of people haven't shoveled their sidewalks and that makes it very hard to walk. Yesterday it was like 10 degrees and the wind was blowing 30 mph, you'd get a nice gust of wind every once in a while and your face would just sting. Then, the city bus doesn't seem so bad on a day like that, plus its only 75 cents and half the time there's only 2 other people... But I still miss my car, I'll be glad when its back. Right now, it's at the dealer, I dropped it off this morning and walked home. Too bad they wouldn't do a loaner 
, there was plenty of them sitting there... oh, well.
, there was plenty of them sitting there... oh, well.
Deceased
Joined: 06-30-2010
Posts: 25,739
From: Kannapolis NC
Keep us posted as to how you make out, can't imagine a 5 mile round trip walk in 10 degree weather, too old and too "Southern" to even be able to comprehend that.
Honestly your transmission provided the impetuous I needed this morning to overcome the grinding pain in my back and make it to the office. Now that I've just about completed the "office-y" stuff for the day, I'm heading home in the Spousemobile to a heating pad and muscle relaxers.
Honestly your transmission provided the impetuous I needed this morning to overcome the grinding pain in my back and make it to the office. Now that I've just about completed the "office-y" stuff for the day, I'm heading home in the Spousemobile to a heating pad and muscle relaxers.
)
Deceased
Joined: 06-30-2010
Posts: 25,739
From: Kannapolis NC
The process of precipitating snow is called snowfall. Snowfall tends to form within regions of upward motion of air around a type of low-pressure system known as an extratropical cyclone. Snow can fall poleward of these systems' associated warm fronts and within their comma head precipitation patterns (called such due to the comma-like shape of the cloud and precipitation pattern around the poleward and west sides of extratropical cyclones)."
Or to sum it up more succinctly, its fluffy white crap that falls out of the sky and makes life miserable.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 02-15-2010
Posts: 1,706
From: Minneapolis, MN
But last week Wednesday, we had a blizzard, 12+ inches of snow, main highways shut down because they were drifted over, the bridge was closed because the visibility was so poor at that height that you couldn't see and it was downright dangerous, the schools were closed for two days, the city buses were pulled from streets and stopped service, the Duluth airport cancelled all flights that day, the traffic lights were out cause there was no power, they were setting up shelter because the power was out=no heat. I drove my HHR to work that day, and I tell ya, I've never seen so few cars on the road. The city was just completely shut down, McDonald's was closed, Culver's was closed, gas stations were closed, the bank was closed, few people ventured out that day. That kind of a storm can be miserable, but 4 inches here or there, not a problem. Overall, I like snow, not necessarily city-paralyzing blizzards, if you know what I mean...
Ironically, this weekend it's going to be 50*, next week same thing, it may even get up to 60* next week. I'm not even kidding right now. Last week, a massive snowstorm, next week 50 degrees. Can you say "weird"?
Deceased
Joined: 06-30-2010
Posts: 25,739
From: Kannapolis NC
I wasn't trying to knock folks who like snow and winter activities, its just our ingrained "Southern" mentality towards snow/ice/cold...we don't get into such things. Kind of like how folks from Northern climates melt into miserable puddles down here when its "only 105 in the shade". 
It has certainly been a weird winter for sure, but I still think the Mayans were full of crap.
It has certainly been a weird winter for sure, but I still think the Mayans were full of crap.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 02-15-2010
Posts: 1,706
From: Minneapolis, MN
I wasn't trying to knock folks who like snow and winter activities, its just our ingrained "Southern" mentality towards snow/ice/cold...we don't get into such things. Kind of like how folks from Northern climates melt into miserable puddles down here when its "only 105 in the shade".
It has certainly been a weird winter for sure, but I still think the Mayans were full of crap.
It has certainly been a weird winter for sure, but I still think the Mayans were full of crap.
I also drive with the windows open on my car if the temperature's above 35.
