97 trans HELP!

I've had my 97 Metro for 7 years. Love it. Great car. over 200,000 miles on it and never had a problem. Until now. My neighbor needed a jump. I was busy and gave him my keys. 2 hrs. later I got in and drove approx. 1 mile. I stopped to turn and trans would barely engage. I had to rev engine to move. I pulled over & shut it off, check fluid. Got in and it wouldn't turn over. Tried several times and finally it started, easily, but have to rev engine to make it barely move. After an hour I tried again. Seemed to be engaging better, drove it home but still had to increase rpms to move. put in low and it engaged normally. Moved up to 2nd, normal at first then jerked hard a couple of times. I made it home but as I applied the brake, with trans in drive, it lerched and went dead. Like a manual trans would do if the clutch wasn't pushed in. Any ideas? Cheap ideas, preferably. Thanks, Mike ( My email is [email protected] )

have you regularly changed the automatic transmission fluid?

check if your torque converter "lock-up" solenoid is stuck....never had this on a Geo, but it sounds familiar.

have you regularly changed the automatic transmission fluid?

No, never changed it. I check the fluid, often, but i was told by a mechanic not to do anything to the transmission. He said it wasn't necessary and could do more harm than good. Was he just handing me a line?

check if your torque converter "lock-up" solenoid is stuck....never had this on a Geo, but it sounds familiar.

Thanks, Doug. I had another guy on Yahoo, tell me that I could unplug the soleniod and shift manually. If not, at least I have 2 out of 3 that say that the soleniod's involved.
Do you know if I will have to get it from underneath? I traced the connection, I beleive, but can see it from under the hood. Sorry if it's a dumb question but Japanese, tranverse engines and transaxles are not my strong suit. In my younger days, I could handle a 318 or a flathead six, but I gave up after my 88 Corolla. - Mike

Thanks, Doug. I had another guy on Yahoo, tell me that I could unplug the soleniod and shift manually. If not, at least I have 2 out of 3 that say that the soleniod's involved.
Do you know if I will have to get it from underneath? I traced the connection, I beleive, but can see it from under the hood. Sorry if it's a dumb question but Japanese, tranverse engines and transaxles are not my strong suit. In my younger days, I could handle a 318 or a flathead six, but I gave up after my 88 Corolla. - Mike
Mike, I'm not sure if you can see it from the top or not...my Metro's a 5-speed. When I ran into this problem before, it was on my '91 Cavalier, & there was a plug in the harness near the top of the engine. I just un-plugged it. The trans would still shift automatically, it lust wouldn't lock the torque converter. (when the TC locks up, it feels like an extra gear) I'd say if you can find a plug, try un-plugging it & see what happens...just make sure you're in a safe area. Good Luck

No, never changed it. I check the fluid, often, but i was told by a mechanic not to do anything to the transmission. He said it wasn't necessary and could do more harm than good. Was he just handing me a line?


as far as i know, not changing it can ruin the tranny over time :-/

Transmission fluid, like any other fluid is mandatory to change. I would suggest changing it every 36k in an automatic. Sounds as though either the torque converter isn't locking properly, or one of the bands in the transmission is gone. It could be a plugged trans filter too. I would drain it, and pull the trans oil pan off, and replace the filter. Then fill it back up with new fluid. The trans takes about 12qt of fluid, and you're only gonna lose 3-5qt when you drain it. So have it flushed if the new filter helps. If the trans can't get oil pressure, the hydraulics won't work.

lol my tranny has some sort of electrical problem, so we unplugged the electrical connector on top of tranny and now drives perfect as long as i shift gears for it.....seemed to jump gears and especially jump into neutral, for a while i thought it was slipping!! whenever i hit a bump it jumped gears. unplugged right now and runs perfect as long as it is mechanically shifted. good luck