Still looking for suggestions with tranny problem for 2001 Grand Prix

[Ventura77]

Still looking for a little help with the tranny problems on my 2001 Grand Prix SE. Thank you for your ideas in advance!

To anyone who can give me a heads up. My 2001 GP SE has been giving me some tranny problems over the last couple of months. It is a strange issue, it shifts fine when it is cold, but after it warms up generally with city driving (starting and stopping), it will jerk when shifting between gears. You can also hear a whining in the transmission when it starts to jerk. I had the transmission oil and filter changed, and the guy at the shop told me that it was tripping the computer with a code that stated "too long in the shift" so he told me that what was happening is because it was taking too long with the shift that is was boosting the pressure in the system to help it shift faster. We took the filter apart on it to see if there was a significant amount of debris in it, but it looked like it was just normal wear, there were only two pieces of brass material that were a little larger in size (~3mm), but nothing to get excited about. The rest of the material was just very small specks of brass. The car has about 62,000 miles on it. Do you think it is just a solenoid that helps on the up shift, and after it is getting warm, it isn't functioning properly? I don't think that it is anything too serious, the car runs fine at highway speeds even after the jerking begins, it doens't make a difference in the gas mileage at all. If it is one of the solenoids, are they hard to put in, and how much do they cost? Thanks for your help in advance!

[Jag730]

I have a 2000 Grand Prix SE with 60,100 miles and just last week I started having the same issue. When the car hasn't been running and is cold it goes into reverse with no problem. But after ts been running for a while it will whine for about 3 seconds or so before engaging. Anyone have any ideas on what is causing this? Thanks

[troy1]

they have lots of problems with those is the check engine light on if so does it have a max adapt code stored this mean the EPC (force motor) which controlls line pressure is bad

[Ventura77]

The problem with the transmission on this car was fixed by our GM dealer. They were very knowledgeable, and when I explained to the transmission expert at the garage what the car was doing, he pretty much knew what it was right away. As it turned out, the PCS (pressure control solenoid) was not functioning properly. That is why I could hear the whining sound, it was overpressurizing the system, also why the transmission was really "snapping" into the next gear. Though he informed me that it wasn't really doing any damage to the transmission, his fear was that it would go out eventually and then underpressurize the system and this is when damage can be caused because not enough fluid is being pushed through the transmission causing an overheating problem and eventually burning the transmission up. The transmission did not need to be dropped, though to access the solenoid the valve body did need to be removed, and there were some expensive gaskets that needed to be replaced. The entire job was just over $500, and I am very pleased with the way that the car is responding now. Though it still is quite a bit of money, it is much better than having to replace the entire tranny. Good luck to those with a similar problem, I hope this info helps you out!

[GTPgirl]

Originally Posted by Jag730

I have a 2000 Grand Prix SE with 60,100 miles and just last week I started having the same issue. When the car hasn't been running and is cold it goes into reverse with no problem. But after ts been running for a while it will whine for about 3 seconds or so before engaging. Anyone have any ideas on what is causing this? Thanks

The 1997 Bonneville SSE I had did that...didn't seem to want to go in reverse, and would whine a little, then took a few seconds to take off after you shifted from reverse to drive. Turned out to be the torque converter. You might want to check into that. I don't remember how much it cost to fix, that was before I had to start paying for my car repairs myself, back when my dad still paid for everything.