High Idle and Trans Shifting Problems
John in Chicago
07-05-2011, 08:07 PM
Hi Everyone,
I'm a newbie here and desperate for some advice. I have a 98 Chevy Malibu LS 3.1 and I am the original owner, this car has been totally great for me until the past month or so. The car has 172,000 and has been almost meticulously maintained.
A few weeks ago we had severe flooding and I was crawling through about 18 inches of water when a good ol boy in a Dodge pick up decided to have fun with me. He motioned me to go through the water in which I did then the bastard waited until I was at the deepest point and romped through the water about 20 mph, he created a tidal wave and it actually lifted my car up and moved it over a foot or two. Needless to say the car died and I was a sitting duck. The bastard in the pick up drove off laughing and pointing at me. Anyway the car sat in 18 inches of water for 2 hours until I got it towed home. My starter was trashed and had to be replaced, I jacked the car up over night to drain the water out of the tail pipe and dried out the air filter with a fan. Then I changed the oil, filter, trans and filter and I got the car running, the car has never been the same since I took it swimming. I got the iac and tps codes and replaced both sensors, even replaced the iac twice, I changed the pcv valve and cleaned the mass air flow sensor with the specially recommended spray. Coincidentally the power steering pulley bearings locked up the same week and I replaced the power steering pump and belt, not sure if this was due to the water damage or not. The car has never run correctly yet and I am at a loss of what the problem can be. I feel strongly that it's a sensor or something, I don't thing the trans is going out but I could be wrong.
Sometimes I start the car and it idles briefly at 1000 rpm then quickly drops down the way it should, when it does this the car runs and shifts fine. This is only about 10 or 20% of the time though. Most of the time I start the car and it's idling anywhere between 1500 and 1900 rpm, sometimes if I shut the car off and quickly restart the idle will drop down to 1000 rpm, then when I start driving the rpms go up again. When I get this high idle the trans shifts either late hard shifts...almost like a shift kit or it will do just the opposite and shift at very high rpms like 3000 to 3500 and it won't shift until I light let off on the throttle. When it shifts at high rpms it's very sluggish and slides into gear. When it does this I push the pedal a 1/2" and it's jumping into passing gear. Twice in the past two weeks the trans also quit shifting into 2nd gear, I pulled over and disconnected the battery for an hour and the drove the car and it shifted hard and firm but it made it home. I'm afraid I'm gonna blow the engine or trans if I don't figure this out, I need this car to get to and from work and desperately need some help. The only code the car is throwing at me now is 1635. I am more mechanically inclined than most average people but am no mechanic, I am hoping somebody has some suggestions for me. I have hundreds of dollars in this car in the last two weeks and still can't get this thing fixed. Thanks for reading.
I'm a newbie here and desperate for some advice. I have a 98 Chevy Malibu LS 3.1 and I am the original owner, this car has been totally great for me until the past month or so. The car has 172,000 and has been almost meticulously maintained.
A few weeks ago we had severe flooding and I was crawling through about 18 inches of water when a good ol boy in a Dodge pick up decided to have fun with me. He motioned me to go through the water in which I did then the bastard waited until I was at the deepest point and romped through the water about 20 mph, he created a tidal wave and it actually lifted my car up and moved it over a foot or two. Needless to say the car died and I was a sitting duck. The bastard in the pick up drove off laughing and pointing at me. Anyway the car sat in 18 inches of water for 2 hours until I got it towed home. My starter was trashed and had to be replaced, I jacked the car up over night to drain the water out of the tail pipe and dried out the air filter with a fan. Then I changed the oil, filter, trans and filter and I got the car running, the car has never been the same since I took it swimming. I got the iac and tps codes and replaced both sensors, even replaced the iac twice, I changed the pcv valve and cleaned the mass air flow sensor with the specially recommended spray. Coincidentally the power steering pulley bearings locked up the same week and I replaced the power steering pump and belt, not sure if this was due to the water damage or not. The car has never run correctly yet and I am at a loss of what the problem can be. I feel strongly that it's a sensor or something, I don't thing the trans is going out but I could be wrong.
Sometimes I start the car and it idles briefly at 1000 rpm then quickly drops down the way it should, when it does this the car runs and shifts fine. This is only about 10 or 20% of the time though. Most of the time I start the car and it's idling anywhere between 1500 and 1900 rpm, sometimes if I shut the car off and quickly restart the idle will drop down to 1000 rpm, then when I start driving the rpms go up again. When I get this high idle the trans shifts either late hard shifts...almost like a shift kit or it will do just the opposite and shift at very high rpms like 3000 to 3500 and it won't shift until I light let off on the throttle. When it shifts at high rpms it's very sluggish and slides into gear. When it does this I push the pedal a 1/2" and it's jumping into passing gear. Twice in the past two weeks the trans also quit shifting into 2nd gear, I pulled over and disconnected the battery for an hour and the drove the car and it shifted hard and firm but it made it home. I'm afraid I'm gonna blow the engine or trans if I don't figure this out, I need this car to get to and from work and desperately need some help. The only code the car is throwing at me now is 1635. I am more mechanically inclined than most average people but am no mechanic, I am hoping somebody has some suggestions for me. I have hundreds of dollars in this car in the last two weeks and still can't get this thing fixed. Thanks for reading.
rkvons
07-06-2011, 12:13 PM
Hi Everyone,
I'm a newbie here and desperate for some advice. I have a 98 Chevy Malibu LS 3.1 and I am the original owner, this car has been totally great for me until the past month or so. The car has 172,000 and has been almost meticulously maintained.
A few weeks ago we had severe flooding and I was crawling through about 18 inches of water when a good ol boy in a Dodge pick up decided to have fun with me. He motioned me to go through the water in which I did then the bastard waited until I was at the deepest point and romped through the water about 20 mph, he created a tidal wave and it actually lifted my car up and moved it over a foot or two. Needless to say the car died and I was a sitting duck. The bastard in the pick up drove off laughing and pointing at me. Anyway the car sat in 18 inches of water for 2 hours until I got it towed home. My starter was trashed and had to be replaced, I jacked the car up over night to drain the water out of the tail pipe and dried out the air filter with a fan. Then I changed the oil, filter, trans and filter and I got the car running, the car has never been the same since I took it swimming. I got the iac and tps codes and replaced both sensors, even replaced the iac twice, I changed the pcv valve and cleaned the mass air flow sensor with the specially recommended spray. Coincidentally the power steering pulley bearings locked up the same week and I replaced the power steering pump and belt, not sure if this was due to the water damage or not. The car has never run correctly yet and I am at a loss of what the problem can be. I feel strongly that it's a sensor or something, I don't thing the trans is going out but I could be wrong.
Sometimes I start the car and it idles briefly at 1000 rpm then quickly drops down the way it should, when it does this the car runs and shifts fine. This is only about 10 or 20% of the time though. Most of the time I start the car and it's idling anywhere between 1500 and 1900 rpm, sometimes if I shut the car off and quickly restart the idle will drop down to 1000 rpm, then when I start driving the rpms go up again. When I get this high idle the trans shifts either late hard shifts...almost like a shift kit or it will do just the opposite and shift at very high rpms like 3000 to 3500 and it won't shift until I light let off on the throttle. When it shifts at high rpms it's very sluggish and slides into gear. When it does this I push the pedal a 1/2" and it's jumping into passing gear. Twice in the past two weeks the trans also quit shifting into 2nd gear, I pulled over and disconnected the battery for an hour and the drove the car and it shifted hard and firm but it made it home. I'm afraid I'm gonna blow the engine or trans if I don't figure this out, I need this car to get to and from work and desperately need some help. The only code the car is throwing at me now is 1635. I am more mechanically inclined than most average people but am no mechanic, I am hoping somebody has some suggestions for me. I have hundreds of dollars in this car in the last two weeks and still can't get this thing fixed. Thanks for reading.
I guess I would disconnect the battery, pull the ECM out and make sure it is dried out. Also, spray the connectors to it with contact cleaner. Any connector that may have gotten wet needs to be examined. There is a connector on the transmission too. You have no trouble codes?
I'm a newbie here and desperate for some advice. I have a 98 Chevy Malibu LS 3.1 and I am the original owner, this car has been totally great for me until the past month or so. The car has 172,000 and has been almost meticulously maintained.
A few weeks ago we had severe flooding and I was crawling through about 18 inches of water when a good ol boy in a Dodge pick up decided to have fun with me. He motioned me to go through the water in which I did then the bastard waited until I was at the deepest point and romped through the water about 20 mph, he created a tidal wave and it actually lifted my car up and moved it over a foot or two. Needless to say the car died and I was a sitting duck. The bastard in the pick up drove off laughing and pointing at me. Anyway the car sat in 18 inches of water for 2 hours until I got it towed home. My starter was trashed and had to be replaced, I jacked the car up over night to drain the water out of the tail pipe and dried out the air filter with a fan. Then I changed the oil, filter, trans and filter and I got the car running, the car has never been the same since I took it swimming. I got the iac and tps codes and replaced both sensors, even replaced the iac twice, I changed the pcv valve and cleaned the mass air flow sensor with the specially recommended spray. Coincidentally the power steering pulley bearings locked up the same week and I replaced the power steering pump and belt, not sure if this was due to the water damage or not. The car has never run correctly yet and I am at a loss of what the problem can be. I feel strongly that it's a sensor or something, I don't thing the trans is going out but I could be wrong.
Sometimes I start the car and it idles briefly at 1000 rpm then quickly drops down the way it should, when it does this the car runs and shifts fine. This is only about 10 or 20% of the time though. Most of the time I start the car and it's idling anywhere between 1500 and 1900 rpm, sometimes if I shut the car off and quickly restart the idle will drop down to 1000 rpm, then when I start driving the rpms go up again. When I get this high idle the trans shifts either late hard shifts...almost like a shift kit or it will do just the opposite and shift at very high rpms like 3000 to 3500 and it won't shift until I light let off on the throttle. When it shifts at high rpms it's very sluggish and slides into gear. When it does this I push the pedal a 1/2" and it's jumping into passing gear. Twice in the past two weeks the trans also quit shifting into 2nd gear, I pulled over and disconnected the battery for an hour and the drove the car and it shifted hard and firm but it made it home. I'm afraid I'm gonna blow the engine or trans if I don't figure this out, I need this car to get to and from work and desperately need some help. The only code the car is throwing at me now is 1635. I am more mechanically inclined than most average people but am no mechanic, I am hoping somebody has some suggestions for me. I have hundreds of dollars in this car in the last two weeks and still can't get this thing fixed. Thanks for reading.
I guess I would disconnect the battery, pull the ECM out and make sure it is dried out. Also, spray the connectors to it with contact cleaner. Any connector that may have gotten wet needs to be examined. There is a connector on the transmission too. You have no trouble codes?
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