malfunctiong tranny question=-

1998 Lumina with about 166,000 miles. Transmission has never been serviced.
Now every few weeks in "od"(overdrive)when trying to take off from a stop sign the engine accelerates but the car goes no where. I slip it down into "d" (drive) and the car goes ok. Then I slip it back into "od" (overdrive) and it goes ok.

Question= Do you guys think this idea will work??==-- Assuming that the thing may blow and damage the whole tranny,how about I just drive in "d" (drive) positon from now on ?

the difference in driving in 3rd -vs-OD,,,other than not able to go to OD,,is the line pressure /control pressure is higher....damaged or worn foreward clutch will engage better because of higher pressure.......you also could try disconnecting modulator,,this will allow trans to go to full line pressure,,,see if it will work somewhat better.....don't have a flow chart in front of me ,,,but this is one scenario.......(did i spell that right?).....probably going to need some work though.....

I have 170,000 on the original and use D3 often...I like to use the cruise control to keep me from leadfooting, but we have a lot of rolling hills around here...the lower gear range helps it hold the speed down when going downhill. But this is on roads with speed limits under 50 mph. Running D3 on the highway would get you terrible gas mileage. Engine is gonna run 2800+ rpm or so at 68 mph instead of ~2200, so it's not real kind to the motor, but nothing it shouldn't be able to handle.

1998 Lumina with about 166,000 miles. Transmission has never been serviced.
Now every few weeks in "od"(overdrive)when trying to take off from a stop sign the engine accelerates but the car goes no where. I slip it down into "d" (drive) and the car goes ok. Then I slip it back into "od" (overdrive) and it goes ok.

Question= Do you guys think this idea will work??==-- Assuming that the thing may blow and damage the whole tranny,how about I just drive in "d" (drive) positon from now on ?
Does "Transmission has never been serviced." mean the filter has never been changed? If so, have you thought about a fluid/filter change?

rkvons.= there was alot of discussion about transmission service on this forum in the past. 100% agree if first tranny service is done after the lumina has about 75 k miles it,s certain death to the tranny within a month or two .
anyway,thanks for your reply.
Jim .

rkvons.= there was alot of discussion about transmission service on this forum in the past. 100% agree if first tranny service is done after the lumina has about 75 k miles it,s certain death to the tranny within a month or two .
anyway,thanks for your reply.
Jim .

I don't remember that, but my thoughts would have been that a transmission FLUSH-type service on a tranny that has been neglected and is starting to shows signs of failure is a good way to accelerate the destruction, I personally don't believe in the flush method of servicing. But as maintenance on a newer tranny with no problems, I suppose it would be acceptable. You just won't catch me having it done that way.

That said, I did first service on mine (pan drop, partial fluid change and filter) at 115,000 about 5 or 6 years ago, and it is still strong with no hint of problems.

But the rule of thumb is usually if you wait until there's trouble, it's too late. I've seen a fluid and filter change improve a misbehaving tranny maybe 5% of the time, the rest there was no change or it got exponentially worse soon after...

Good Day All! I hope you're enjoying a pleasant one. First, I hope you've done the mandatory and checked your fluid level and checked for leaks everwhere. Since the Tranny is having issues... if it was me, I'd try some Lucas Transmission Fix... you can pour it in, regardless of your fluid level.

If that didn't work... I'd change the Filter and Fluid using either A) All Lucas Products (http://www.lucasoil.com/products/display_products_overviews.sd?iid=33&catid=22)... or B) Valvoline High Mileage Transmission Fluid and Lucas Transmission Fix (http://www.lucasoil.com/products/display_products.sd?iid=29&catid=9&loc=show&headTitle=%20-%20Lucas%20Transmission%20Fix). Depending on how frugal I felt at the moment.

I did "B" on a 91 Sunbird/3.1 V6/3 speed/175k... and it did wonders for it.

I believe driving around in 3rd Gear is a bad idea.

Good Luck!

John B.

trannyman gave me an idea. = In "D" the higher pressure helps to get it outta first gear .
How about driving it around the city in "D", but when entering the interstate slip it into "OD" around 40 mph ??