Transmission problem - hesitation

Hi all,

The following problem only occurs while in overdrive with the torque converter locked up:

When I accelerate in overdrive, the car has a hesitation, and it actually "jolts" the car quite rapidly; it's a pretty decent jolt. If I'm maintaining a constant speed, it's fine, no jolt. It only happens when I'm putting a load on the engine/transmission (accelerating). If I'm accelerating in any of the other gears, or when the converter is not locked (even if in overdrive), there is no noticeable problem. This just started happening within the last couple of days, and it hadn't ever happened before. It seems to be sudden, and not a gradual buildup. If anyone knows what the problem may be, please let me know.

Thanks!

kaspr

i had that problem.. well 2 diffrent times actually...first time, it seem to happen in all gears but in first it was almost not noticeable.. and i changed the wires and plugs and it was A OK. i know this sound strange ( i did too) but it really cured the problem. it missfired under load ONLY.. i though missfire was all the time.. but it's not.

the other time ( last week) i had another hesitation around 3500 RPM in third gear ONLY.. above 4000 it was fine... i changed the oxygen sensor and it s fine now...

so to be safe, changed plugs, wires and ox sensor :)

ox sensor was 30$ CDN... real cheap compare to an import

Deadring

where is the oxygen sensor located? is it easy to change by yourself? cause i have to do that too and would like to do that soon

it depends if you have a ultra or not.. well it should be in same place anyways..

it's right beside the REAR spark plugs are..where the 2 manifolds join up.. as the car is big, you have to lean on the engine.. oh and do it when it's cold too.. its pretty hot back there hehehe

i use very common tools to unscrew it, it's rather easy to do the only problem is the fact thats it's pretty cramped up back there.

deadring

Thanks for the advice, deadring. I'll let you all know if it works. If anyone has any any other advice or experience with these issues, please let me know.

I also should note that I was mistaken about the problem only happening in overdrive. It actually happens much like deadring described, hesitation in 2nd or 3rd gear as well, but only the hard "jolting" in overdrive with the converter locked. 1st gear almost unnoticeable, with good power.

Thanks!

In your case, it sounds like a missfire, a tuneup is first step, plugs wires etc. then if it still does it, check the fuel injectors and coils. When you take out the plugs, read them carefully, if one is clean or dirty than the others you can get a indication of what is going on. as for the 02 sensor, easiest way to remove them is get a hammer, knock off the ceramic top of the old sensor, then get a regular deep socket and unscrew it out, then screw the new one in, and is a open end wrench to tighten. let us know.

Sorry for the delay - I wanted to make sure I knew what the problem was. Anyway, it was a missfire caused by bad spark plugs. I changed the plugs, and it works fine now. Thanks for the help!