Transmission shifts funny.........

I have a 1993 Chrysler New Yorker. Every summer I seem to have problems with the transmission shifting. It seems that it doesn't know which gear it wants to go into. Sometimes it'll shift hard and won't go into last gear, shifts up then down. This problem happened last summer too, only when it get hot out. In the fall and winter, never had a problem with it shifting. Now that it's in the 80s, the transmission is acting up again. Any idea's? This is really odd.

 

My friend had the same car and had the same problem. It got so bad he had only reverse and 2nd gear.


Your tranny is doing it in the warmer weather because the tranny fluid is getting hotter and getting thinner. You may be able to make it last longer by installing a tranny cooler which is cheap.

Your tranny failing would be my first bet, but there could be electrical problems as well.

 

We just had the transmission rebuilt last summer. I told the guy we're still having problems, the transmission shop keeps telling me they can't find anything wrong with it.

 

Almost sounds like the varying temps are changing the viscosity of your tranny oil and somehow affecting your line pressures that's a new one to me and don't know anything that could be done to fix it either. I'll be watching this to see if anyone else has an idea

 

hotinokc your friends problem eventually getting down to the 2 gears sounds like clutch packs going. Not sure if it's on all cars but the GM truck trannies I'm familiar with 2nd and R are usually the last 2 holding on.

After thinking about the original problem more I'd take it to a different tranny shop that's not worried about having to pay for it under warranty. The more I think the more it sounds like any number of bad parts, the problem is I can't think of 1 bad part that would cause all the wierd problems you're experiencing. Maybe a sunshell that's missing a few teeth or a bad torque converter. Depending on the rebuild those are both parts that aren't always replaced when rebuilding so you may want to ask the tranny shop if they were replaced.

 

Trying to check the transmission fluid in a 1999 Grand Am. I looked all over and it's driving me nuts, where is the dip stick to check the tranny fluid?

 

There is no dipstick on the tranny on the GAs with the 3.4. There is a red fill cap under the airbox, but the only way to tell if there is enough fluid is to unbolt a plug on the side of the trans case while the car is on level ground.

 

Couple of random thoughts...........How well does your speedo work????.......If the trans is an electric shifter it's gonna want a sense of road speed to determine proper gear...........Temp will affect the pulse generator that induces the signal............ALSO if it's an electric shifter the TCM can be affected by temp changes.............or the solenoid pack on the front of the trans

 

maybe valve body problem. The thinner tranny fluid leaking by.

 

Is this transmission the 3-spd or the 4-spd? The 4-spd is the Ultradrive A604 transmission and requires ATF+3 fluid (regardless of the Dexron stamped on the dipstick). Many transmission shops ignore this point and simply use Dexron.

 

It is a 3 speed transmission. The problem seems to be getting worst, it's doing it from alittle to alot everyday. You seem to be driving along, say 55 mph. All of a sudden the motor is reving at 55, but the car starts to slow up. The transmission doesn't seem to know which gear it want a to go into, it wants to go into low, high, back to low again. I have to pull over to the side of the road, turn the car off, start it back up and take off again. Sometimes I have to do this once, sometimes I have to pull over and shut it off 4 times before the transmission will start working right again.