92 Lumina APV tranny rebuilt but wont move at all!

[mamauvfour]

My transmission was rebuilt,cost us $1,300. w/ a 1 year warranty. Well 2 months after it expired reverse would "lock up". Meaning if we drove and stopped and put into reverse it wouldnt go for a while. Only after moving the shifter back and forth while revving. It would like jolt itself back.Fast forward to 4 months later and drive locks up. Only there is no moving period. Put the van on jacks and tried to spin a tire in neutral and very hard to turn, and to boot the other tire was turning the exact opposite way! Thought changing fluid and filter might fix it but it didn't. Disconnected the TCC but it didn't help. Even reset the ECM. Nothing. When its running, at this time, when its in park runs like it has no load, but as you shift into reverse, Odrive and drive it acts like it engages tranny and engine and neutral acts like it has no load. I was wondering if anyone has had or knows about this kind of problem. I have a feeling I am going to have to rebuild it myself. But if I can be spared some grief it would be greatly appreciated. Thought it could possibly be torque converter? Thank you
It has a 3.8 and the 4T60E transmission

[jeffcoslacker]

The differential makes the wheels turn opposite when lifted, don't trip on that. It's possible that the valve body had something lodged in it, causing fluid pressure to have to be higher than normal for engagement. Or the accumulator might have blown. Or any of several other seal/valve issues. You need a tranny expert. I don't think you are gonna solve this one here. If I remember right, reverse requires the highest fluid pressure in the hydraulic circuit of all the gear ranges in that tranny, so it's not suprising that reverse was first to go if line pressure was dropping. You might be dealing with a cavitated pump that's not supplying enough pressure, if it wasn't replaced on the rebuild. People's definition of "rebuild" varies wildly. A lot of places call it that, when all they do is replace all the soft parts, and call it good. When I had my Impala's tranny done, I took it to a shop that does work for racers who won't tolerate failure. I paid $1700 for a rebuild of the that one, and along the way they found many additional hard parts that had cracks, leaking pressure, and other issues that would have seriously reduced the life of the rebuild, if it hadn't been inspected. If I were you, I'd just locate a parts vehicle with a "known good" used tranny, and use that one in yours until it goes bad.

[jeffcoslacker]

P.S. when the torque convertor lockup goes bad, the car will die abrubtly at a stop, and will violently kill the motor every time it is placed in gear, until the solenoid bleeds off pressure and releases the lockup. That doean't sound like what you've got.

[mamauvfour]

Thanks for answering. At least I have something to go on. I really appreciate it. I am sure the "repair" shop didn't do anything to the pump.I have seen a few places online that sell some trannys for around $600. Again thanks alot! I might still try to fix it myself with the help of a tech manual.

[jeffcoslacker]

More power to ya'! They aren't that hard to replace parts in, just the diagnostic procedures are lengthy and require tools that most people wouldn't have. I have also had good luck with some guys who do "bench" work on 'em, they like to rebuild them, just not R+R them. I can't blame them. Sometimes you can find one of those guys in the paper, in the auto classifieds. The best ones are retired Tranny repairmen.