Re: 92 LeSabre Transmission

I have a '92 LeSabre Custom with about 235k on the clock. My battery recently started draining over-night and my mechanic traced it to the circuit with the horn, interior light etc. He pulled the fuse to stop the drain, and ever since then my transmission has started slipping, usually in overdrive when I step on the gas. I've started driving in 3rd and it seemed okay until today when I gave it gas to beat a yellow light and it started slipping. I can put the brakes on and rev in up in gear until it starts to slip. But sometimes it will drive perfectly fine under all conditions; only every now and again it will shudder and slip.
My question is, could this possibly be an electonic control problem related to that circuit being interrupted, or is it more likely than my tranny is shot and will need to be replaced or rebuilt?
Thanks for any feedback!

I have a '92 LeSabre Custom with about 235k on the clock. My battery recently started draining over-night and my mechanic traced it to the circuit with the horn, interior light etc. He pulled the fuse to stop the drain, and ever since then my transmission has started slipping, usually in overdrive when I step on the gas. I've started driving in 3rd and it seemed okay until today when I gave it gas to beat a yellow light and it started slipping. I can put the brakes on and rev in up in gear until it starts to slip. But sometimes it will drive perfectly fine under all conditions; only every now and again it will shudder and slip.
My question is, could this possibly be an electonic control problem related to that circuit being interrupted, or is it more likely than my tranny is shot and will need to be replaced or rebuilt?
Thanks for any feedback!

Did the problem with the transmission start when the fuse was pulled? If so, then I would suspect that this circuit feeds other devices (maybe the solenoids) in the transmission. Sounds like the circuit needs to be repaired...

It certainly seemed to. It definitely was not doing it prior to that. I'm going to put the fuse back in temporarily to see if it still does it.

It certainly seemed to. It definitely was not doing it prior to that. I'm going to put the fuse back in temporarily to see if it still does it.

If it turns out to be something in the circuit feeding the tranny, then it looks like it's time to pull out a set of wiring diagrams and trace down the drainage.

Well it appears that this circuit has nothing to do with my problem; slippage occurs with or without the fuse installed.
It is reasonable to assume my tranny is shot, or is it possible that it can be fixed? If not, can someone tell me which Buicks use this same transmission (for '92 LeSabre Custom) so that I can source out a used one?

Thanks!

Can anyone tell me if the courtesy light/horn circuit has anything to do with the traction control of the transmission?

Can anyone tell me if the courtesy light/horn circuit has anything to do with the traction control of the transmission?

Land Shark

I don't think there is a conection between the Light/horn and the trannie. Is your car equiped with traction control?

To answer your other question about which trannies will fit your car. I just replaced the trannie in my 97. There were about 3 different trannies for that year. Each one had differnet options. You need to start calling around and asking bone yards. They will tell you what you need to figure out.

Regards

Dan

Thanks, I'm not sure if my car has traction control. What's the easiest visual way to tell?

Thanks, I'm not sure if my car has traction control. What's the easiest visual way to tell?

You should have a button on the dash allowing you to turn it on and off.

Dan

The tranny in your car is a 4T60E (but look at the fluid pan to be sure). Note the "E" which stands for electronic. A non-electronic tranny will not work in your car. Many GM models from 92-94 used this tranny (including Lesabres and Park Avenues and I believe Delta 88s and Bonnevilles). I do not know if all the trannys are interchangeable however. Likely you will need to retain brackets and mounts and such from your old one.

Thanks for the feedback. I definitely am not able to turn traction control off or on.
I've been trying to make sense of the factory service manual I have, and it appears that slippage can be caused by the vacuum modulator. I get a shudder/slip only in drive or over-drive, usually on an incline when I accelerate to pass, etc. If I kick it down, it almost never shudders.
Seeing as how my transmission fluid looks great and doesn't smell burnt, I'm hoping if it's something as simple as the vacuum modulator.

My problem with this shudder/slipping seemed to be constant when in 3rd or 4th, almost always did it when accelerating (or trying to) up a hill in those gears. If I dropped into manual second, it never slipped, even at full throttle.

I've since replaced my 240,000km transmission with a used one with less 100,000 just yesterday.

Now, my engine is missing intermittently, and while it definitely doesn't shudder or slip nowhere near as much, it still will at the top of the same hill it always did.

While I'm obviously frustrated and ready to bail on this car, I'm wondering if it's possible that what I thought was slipping of the tranny was actually a very serious missing condition of the engine while under load in those top gears? And that now that the tranny is 'fresher', the consistent missing is much more noticeable now?

The engine ran perfectly before the tranny was replaced, lots of power and never missed at all as far as I could tell. Now it has a noticeable miss most of the time, and while that shudder or slipping doesn't happen all the time, it still will as I described before.

I would certainly appreciate any thoughts or feedback from anyone.

Right now I feel like :banghead:

I'm not a mechanic but I had a trans rebuilt and my engine now idles like crap and was wondering if the cable that connects to the throttle body has changed my tps position?

My problem with this shudder/slipping seemed to be constant when in 3rd or 4th, almost always did it when accelerating (or trying to) up a hill in those gears. If I dropped into manual second, it never slipped, even at full throttle.

I've since replaced my 240,000km transmission with a used one with less 100,000 just yesterday.

Now, my engine is missing intermittently, and while it definitely doesn't shudder or slip nowhere near as much, it still will at the top of the same hill it always did.

While I'm obviously frustrated and ready to bail on this car, I'm wondering if it's possible that what I thought was slipping of the tranny was actually a very serious missing condition of the engine while under load in those top gears? And that now that the tranny is 'fresher', the consistent missing is much more noticeable now?

The engine ran perfectly before the tranny was replaced, lots of power and never missed at all as far as I could tell. Now it has a noticeable miss most of the time, and while that shudder or slipping doesn't happen all the time, it still will as I described before.

I would certainly appreciate any thoughts or feedback from anyone.

Right now I feel like :banghead:

When is the last time you change the plugs & wires? You may have "spark scatter" under load. Put the car in drive (engine running and foot on brake) and bring the RPM up to 1500. If it is missing, you should feel it. Find a dark place and look under the hood (while doing the same load test), to see if you can see any sparking from the wires.
You may also have weak coils, or a clogged fuel filter!

Thanks very much for the input; I'll start from there!

Turns out I replaced my transmission for nothing; my problem was to do with a combination of worn wires and broken spark plugs - too bad my mechanic didn't think of this before he swapped the tranny's out.
Anyway, my 240k km tranny is replaced with a less than 100k km one so I guess it should last a while now.
Can anyone tell me the best way to check for a battery drain? Something connected to one of the 40a fuses under the hood is draining my battery dead over the course of one or two days. When I pull the fuse, I lose my power door locks, my horn and my interior lights.
I'd like to plug the fuse back in and try and find out what's draining my battery without paying my mechanic $65/hr to do it, so what's the best way to go about this?

Turns out I replaced my transmission for nothing; my problem was to do with a combination of worn wires and broken spark plugs - too bad my mechanic didn't think of this before he swapped the tranny's out.
Anyway, my 240k km tranny is replaced with a less than 100k km one so I guess it should last a while now.
Can anyone tell me the best way to check for a battery drain? Something connected to one of the 40a fuses under the hood is draining my battery dead over the course of one or two days. When I pull the fuse, I lose my power door locks, my horn and my interior lights.
I'd like to plug the fuse back in and try and find out what's draining my battery without paying my mechanic $65/hr to do it, so what's the best way to go about this?

Hello

Bummer on the trannie thing!

On the battery draw....pull the fuse and put a volt meter in it's place. Watch the meter as you pull other fuses. When the meter drops you've found the problem.

Regards

Dan