I have 2 1996 Lumina Sedans with the 3.1 engine and automatic trans. Car number 1 has 149k miles and car 2 has 124k miles. I've had car 1 for 9 years and car 2 for 6 months. On an 85 degree day a month ago I was driving car 2 and had to almost come to a stop on the highway for heavy traffic and I had almost rolled to a stop and then pressed the gas pedal to resume speed. The engine revved and no go. I moved the shift lever in and out of neutral several time with no response. Finally 1st gear engaged normally and all has been well since. Today my wife was driving car 1, it is also about 85 degrees today, and after she slowed down to a crawl on a curved highway exit ramp she pressed the gas and the engine revved. She pressed and released the gas pedal several times and finally it engaged and took off. A few blocks ahead the same thing happened at a traffic light. From there on and on her return trip home all was normal. I've checked the fluid levels on both cars and they are correct. Car 1 has had a filter and fluid replacement within the last year. I don't know about car 2 although the fluid color on both dipsticks look fairly good. they are reddish in color but not as red as when fluid is brand new. Any ideas?

It's funny you're asking, because I just went through the EXACT same thing. It turns out it was the TCC solenoid causing the troubles. I've always thought that a malfunctioning TCC solenoid would simply cause your car to die at low speeds from the converter not disengaging, but it turns out it can also cause those symptoms. You should still bring it to a transmission shop you can trust to verify, but it sounds very similar to my problem that I had less than 2 weeks ago.

i have a similar question that has to do with a 97 lumina 3.1 ltr with thte automatic overdrive tranny my tranny was doing similar things as this post but now it only goes in 1st gear ive replaced the modulator valve same thing only 1st gear pulls the rest just slips does my 97 lumina have the selonoid that a 98 model has?? or would you try changing the tranny filter first?

Our 96 Lumina is also acting similarly. It's primarily driven by our daughter and has only done this when she's been driving, but when she's stopped, as at a traffic light or stop sign, pressing the accelerator just causes the car to rev a bit and go nowhere. Then she presses it again, it jerks, then it goes just fine. Can anyone tell me if this is going to be another very expensive fix? We just put over $1200 into that car a couple weeks ago for other problems. This is getting really tiresome.

Thanks.