Transmission Fluid down 1 qt and smells burnt. Kicks hard into drive.

cadauctions · #1 11-24-2006, 06:23 PM

I recently purchased an Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale and it has a tow hitch on it. I am assuming that this is an after market part since I have yet to see another with a tow hitch on it. Since I purchased the vehicle it has been kicking into drive very hard. So I checked the transmission fluid and it was down a quart and was brown and smelled burnt. The person who sold me the car says he serviced the transmission five times. There is 115,989 miles on the car, and somehow it does not seem feasable that he serviced the transmission five times because he purchased the car with 98,900 miles on it. Unless he does not know what servicing is, I am not sure. Anyway, does anyone what could be wrong with this transmission, or what the extent of damage could be? I am assuming he added the tow hitch to tow a camper most likely. Any help would be appreciated.
Dave

maxwedge · #2 11-24-2006, 06:33 PM

Welcome to AF, Remember to post the year of the car, it makes a difference in the diagnostic recommendations.

Alibi · #3 11-25-2006, 12:27 AM

Ouch. I say he dumped the car knowing the tranny is going south. If he towed anything heavy with it, that trans is toast.

cadauctions · #4 11-28-2006, 12:35 PM

Hello,
Sorry about that. It is a 1993. I changed the filter and fluid and now it seems to be better. The plastic ring was still inside the pan, and the bolts were so rusted that I had to force the socket onto them. I don't believe that he ever did the transmission. It still kicks into drive hard when the car is cold, but I can say there were absolutley no metal particals to speak of in the pan when I cleaned it. Ther was also no grey sludge to speak of. What does this mean? Is it good or bad? I also needed some help with another problem if someone could be so kind. The same car. The high brake light has not worked since I bought the car.... which made the cruise control not work, and made the ABS warning light come on. I changed the bulb, checked the fuses, and it still nothing. I am afraid that this is going to make me fail inspection in Mass. and was hoping that someone could help me out with some ideas of what I could do next. The car has the trailer harness connected in the trunk, and it looks cleanly installed, and the connections seem alright to me. Anyone know where I could look for a short maybe?
Any help is extremely appreciated!
Dave

maxwedge · #5 11-28-2006, 03:04 PM

Check for 12v to the bulb socket and ground in the socket first.

cadauctions · #6 11-29-2006, 02:41 AM

Maxwedge,
Please don't think me to be dumb by asking this, but could you explain a little about checking the ground and how to set the multimeter? I am new to these, and don't want to post wrong information.
By the way, thank you very much for taking time to help me. I truly appreciate this.
Dave

maxwedge · #7 11-29-2006, 03:50 PM

Basic circuit testing , due respect, for me to type this out is time consuming. Pick up a book or guide at a parts store or library, for a tutorial, difficult not being able to age your level of understanding.

cadauctions · #8 11-30-2006, 12:41 PM

I found out that changing the fluid should be done profesionally because all I suceeded in doing was mixing 7 quarts of new fluid with 13 quarts of the old burnt fluid. I guess I need to have a garage flush the transmission and completely change all 20 quarts that the tranny calls for. I will be doing this right after christmas (Since it will cost me $190.00), and I will post to let you all know how it works out.

cadauctions · #9 12-01-2006, 05:52 PM

Well, Sorry it took so long to respond again. I had to find out how to use the multimeter. Well, there is nothing. No volts going to the bulb outlet. I ordered a switch for the brake pedal, although if that was not working right, I imagine that none of the brake lights would be working. Any other ideas?

acidcrashdburnd · #10 12-02-2006, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadauctions

I found out that changing the fluid should be done profesionally because all I suceeded in doing was mixing 7 quarts of new fluid with 13 quarts of the old burnt fluid. I guess I need to have a garage flush the transmission and completely change all 20 quarts that the tranny calls for. I will be doing this right after christmas (Since it will cost me $190.00), and I will post to let you all know how it works out.

<B>DO NOT FLUSH THIS TRANN!!Y IT WILL ONLY DO MORE DAMAGE!!!!</B>

just change the fluid out about two more times you should be fine! and change the filter on the last refill

cadauctions · #11 12-02-2006, 02:57 PM

Acidcrashdburnd,
I totally agree with not having the tranny flushed, but what will happen from changing the fluid two more times? Also when I change the fluid next time do I need to buy a new gasket? Also how long do I wait inbetween changes? Will this fix the problem of my car slipping out of drive into neutral? This is something that just happened yesterday. I was slowing to stop at a red light, and when I got down to 5mph the transmission did nothing as if it was in neutral. I shifted it into reverse, and back to drive and it was fine. Then it did the same thing again at the next red light, and then it has not done it again since then. You sound like you know a lot about this stuff, so please, anything you can gove me for help is extremely appreciated.

acidcrashdburnd · #12 12-05-2006, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadauctions

Acidcrashdburnd,
I totally agree with not having the tranny flushed, but what will happen from changing the fluid two more times? Also when I change the fluid next time do I need to buy a new gasket? Also how long do I wait inbetween changes? Will this fix the problem of my car slipping out of drive into neutral? This is something that just happened yesterday. I was slowing to stop at a red light, and when I got down to 5mph the transmission did nothing as if it was in neutral. I shifted it into reverse, and back to drive and it was fine. Then it did the same thing again at the next red light, and then it has not done it again since then. You sound like you know a lot about this stuff, so please, anything you can gove me for help is extremely appreciated.

its what i was told to do (change fluid) i have no idea but i just did it anyway

acidcrashdburnd · #13 12-05-2006, 11:15 PM

if you want you should PM gtp dad or Alibi about this those guys are the car gurus around hurrrrr'

acidcrashdburnd · #14 12-05-2006, 11:17 PM

but yeah i doubt that will fix your problem i just had my trans rebuilt it was bad shifting at high rpms was like being rear ended at 15 mph

JERKING MOTION

oh and on my way to nucar to get my rear wheel hub changed out the tire locked up 1/9 mile from the dealership

lol bald spot in tire lol

Alibi · #15 12-05-2006, 11:44 PM

Why thank you for the Guru reference

I feel all warm and gooey on the inside... but I'm just a young'in who spends too much time reading the forums....and who's had too many wrecks that have forced me to become H/C-body savvy.

The point of changing the transmission fluid several times is to get all the old fluid out. With each fluid change, you only get whats in the pan and in the cooler (assuming you disconnect the cooler lines). Soo....the theory is that you eventually get the burnt fluid out after a few changes as the new fluid mixes with the old. As for the gasket, you wouldn't really need to change it either as you wouldn't need to drop the entire pan to let the fluid out until the last time (and when you do it the last time, replace the filter and get a multi-use rubber gasket, the cork ones that come with the filter are crap). Also, generously use Lucas Trans-Slip....its fairly pricey at about $10 a large bottle, but it actually works. Anything made by Lucas and Seafoam do as they say on the bottle, just FYI.

Between changes, I'd wait at least a few days to a couple weeks. As for a flush, don't. For some odd reason, flushing an older transmission (at least the 4t60 and 4t65) seems to be too hard on the internals...once you flush it, you'll have to keep flushing it on a regular basis.

However, I still think that the transmission may be beyond help... but I'm not a transmission expert. But lets assume that the previous owner did tow with the car and he never changed the fluid (its probably on its second batch of fluid from the factory, possibly the original though). This would definitely wear out the already old fluid anyway. However, the burnt smell means that internals aren't being properly lubricated so hope that it inst too burnt up. Soo...by replacing the worn out fluid and dumping in luscious quantities of Lucas Trans-Slip to revitalize the internals, you *might* be alright. But eitherway, the trans life has been shortened.

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