Transmission Trouble?

I have a 95 Grand Prix SE with 109,000 miles on it. Tonight i was driving and i am not going to lie i stepped on the gas a bit to pass someone and my car downshifted into second, and it felt odd like the car wasnt pulling away with as much power as it normally does but still was accelerating. Then when it shifted into 3rd it was a bit heavier than normal.

Now whenever my car shifts from first gear to second it takes it a while to shift. Then when it finally shifts it is a hard shift and the car jerks a little. It will shift perfectly fine from 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th. I checked the tranny fluid and it did not smell burnt and was not low.

I am not sure when the fluid was last changed since i boguht the car from another owner and have had it for approx. 8,000miles. Up until now the tranny has been solid. What do you think is wrong and what should i do to fix it??

thanks!

gpdriver21

Yep.....that ol' solenoid is prolly giving you trouble. Sounds like you skipped second and jumped to 1st. Tell you what you may try to do. Do a fluid and filter change....and you may prolong the inevitable by pouring a can of seafoam tranny treatment in there. It worked for me for a while. There are 2 solenoids in the tranny for shifting......a and b (by the way....I only know this from reading...I am no tranny expert) Sounds like yours is doing the same thing mine was doing(now I have NO second at all).......waiting to shift to second....and jerking when it does. Sounds like your having trouble with soleniod a. The reason it is shifting hard is because the line pressure is going way up....and thats because the computer is not digging what is going on and in it's own warped way...trying to compensate. The reason (according to the "professional" tranny guy here local) that the solenoid is failing is because metal shavings are building up on it. If you read some stuff on this in the forum....you will find that people have successfully swapped the solenoids out.....but not w/o a lot of labor....and I quote "not really a do it yourself kind of project".

Good news is....my car has been acting up for almost 2 years now.....I drive it on the hwy 90%...so I have learned to deal with it.....and NEVER use passing gear...(at least at 70-75 MPH or less) You can do this too.....for a while (I am tired as hell of it personally)

Bad news.....problem does not seem to have an easy fix. Again...according the tranny experts.....metal shavings are in the fluid....and if you swap the solenoids..metal will gather again....they will fail again...and sooner than later.

Go to Auto Zone to get your car scanned.....it should have a code to verify what I am saying. My car is a 98....and is OBDII...yours is OBDI...(On Board Diagnostic)....so I am not sure it will have the same data as mine.

Other good news is, there are some great people in this forum (NO butheads to speak of)...and they all care about Grand Prixs.....you can learn a lot(not from me....lol) by searching and reading on this and most any other subject.

Hope this helps....and good luck

Well if the labor costs are high, then maybe it is time for me to consider a new car. I do alot of driving around town and this will annoy me forever. I guess i could always use the second gear start option all the time.... lol. For how long did the sea foam treatment last you?

Thanks!

Man.....an couple of weeks...thats it. But....you are catching it before I did. I have 185k on my car.

I really would go ahead and get that fluid swapped....and filter changed...and now. You may still be able to save yourself...ar least for a while

You can get a used tranny for 250-350 generally....may be a consderation. Prolly 400-500 to R&R.

I gotta go to work.....but will be back later tonight. Others will certainly chime in on the subject and have some solid advice for you

Good luck

Is this transmission on my 95 electronicaly controled or does it use a vacuum line?

Someone else will have to chime in on this one. I know as of 97 they were controlled by cpu.....not sure on yours

Check your SPID label under the trunk lid. Look for code M13 which is the 4T60E. The "E" meaning electronic. And Ernie is right assuming the PCM controls shifting. It does so in both the 4T60E and 4T65E trannies.

I used to have a Chevy Lumina Sedan with 3.1L/4T60E so I know a little about them.

However, here is the major difference. The 4T60E has a vacuum operated modulator that helps control shifting firmness and quality, etc. A bad modulator will not cause no shifting but would be worth checking out in your case since you have erratic shifting.