Transmission Engage problem - 94 grandam

We have a 1994 grandam. It sat around in a garage for 10 years without being driven. At that point in time it had 24000 miles. It now has 31000 miles after it was put to use again sometime last year in october. The transmission fluid was never changed, it was in terrible shape. So we had it changed about 2 weeks ago.. This is when the problems started

4 times it has been put from drive into reverse and it jsut sat there, did not engage.. putting it into park into reverse resolves this..

2 times it has off from a stop light engaged and disengaged several times before staying engaged..

What kind of problem could this be? I have herd that changing fluid can sometimes kill transmissions... is this the case?

check the fluid level, it could just be low causing it to slip. Hopfully it's something simple. Sometimes build up breakes lose after a fluid change, but this is rare, and impeeds fluid flow causeing brief slipage. Good Luck with the Reserection. \,,/

Fluid level is good.. it was just a dropped pan change.. Do you think a flush would be worth it?

a dropped pan change? you mean just the filter fluid change, not a flush was done? I've heard good things for a System Flush, but I've heard bad things happened too. My personal expereance with a full system flush has been good. I would take it to someone who specializes in this proceedure.
Even though the car sat for a long while, there shouldn't be to much really wrong with the transmission since it only has 31k miles. On all 5 GA's I've had the tranny didnt start to act up till over 100k miles. My 93' was over 400 hp, and I broke the planetary gears twice, it wasnt meant for that kind of force. Back to ur problem, Unless it was raced hard, your car shouldnt be to damaged , I'd at least have a Transmission Tech check it before I got it fully flushed. A full system flush could be around 250-300$. Get a second opinion, if you had some Tranny shop change the fluid/filter and they didnt mention any thing else wrong, try and find another shop to get a second opinion. I'd bet the car sitting just varnished up the journals in the tranny and it'll take a few thousand miles before it'll all rinse out. Hope this is helpfull, and welcome to Automotive Forums.

I am not an advocate of a transmission flush as most of you know but in this case I would probably make an exception. Since the car has been sitting for so long the fluid has probably gummed to the point that the clutches are stuck or sticking. Since the transmission has so few miles I doubt it will hurt it. I would also have the shift solenoids checked. Since they are electrical they may have an issue as well. The flush may help this problem as well.

Gummie! that was the word i was lookin for. thankx GTP D. \,,/

I am not an advocate of a transmission flush as most of you know but in this case I would probably make an exception. Since the car has been sitting for so long the fluid has probably gummed to the point that the clutches are stuck or sticking. Since the transmission has so few miles I doubt it will hurt it. I would also have the shift solenoids checked. Since they are electrical they may have an issue as well. The flush may help this problem as well.


may i ask why you are not a advocate of it?

tlgsteve , when you Flush the system, theory is that it washes away the friction material making it slip. I do know about friction material, my dad worked for Raybestos for 40yrs in the transmission Division. But generally the flush affects cars with alot of hard miles, 100k or so on the tranny. But something with low miles hasnt wore down the clutches to reall cause any problems. Any shop that does this should fully explain all of the pros and cons of this proceedure. Hope this Helps and keep us updated. \,,/

AAmco told me with my wife's f*** that if we flushed the transmission on it it would either cure it or kill it. What I ended up doing with that was installing an external filter and I also put a drain plug into the pan. I have never understood why there are not drain plugs in most automatic transmissions, but they want you to occasionally change the fluid. The drain plug makes a smaller mess 'cause you can catch the fluid in a bucket instead of wearing it.

To answer Tlgsteve's question I am not an advocate of the transmission flush due to the fact that most of the transmissions that members on this forum have been flushed go bad in less than 20K miles after the flush. As xeroinfinity said the flush washes the clutch faces to the point where the friction material is no longer an effective material and the transmission slips and often fails. In a low mileage transmission the wear isn't as severe as a high mileage one and therefore the clutches aren't as subject to the damage as higher mileage ones therefore the flush on this particular transmission is not as damaging.

When you have a transmission that has been sitting for as long as this one was the only way to remove the gum formed by the old fluid was to flush the transmission. I hope this answers your question!

You are good at explaining those details GTP Dad. :)