'94 Transmission Problems

[Wild Bow]

My transmission will not engage when the car is cold (i.e. I put it in gear and it acts like it's in Neutral), after the car warms up for about 15 min to 30 min the transmission works fine. The car is a ’94 Buick Century, 3.3L V-6. What could be the problem?

[public]

Low fluid level ?

[Billski]

Check the fluid level with the engine running, on a level surface and at normal operating temp, after it's been driven 15-20 minutes. If it reads full or near full, wipe the dipstick on a white rag or paper towel. Is the fluid color dark compared to brand-new ATF? Any signs of bubbles or foam in the fluid? ATF expands when heated, thus the need to have the car at full operating temp in order to properly determine fluid level. If it's low, top it off of course but also check the pan and whatever you can see around the axles and cooling lines leading to the radiator for signs of leakage. Dark fluid, especially at that age of a car, is an indicator that you need to drop the tranny pan, change the ATF and replace the filter. Bubbles or foaming are a sign that water (coolant) has infiltrated the ATF, likely coming from the tranny cooling lines inside the radiator, but it doesn't sound like you got a water issue. More like low fluid and/or filter getting gunked up. If all these things check out and replacing the ATF and filter don't improve the situation, a technician needs to do some tranny troubleshooting. Could be a valve stuck or something simple like a wire's off somewhere or a sensor is corrupted...

[chasfish]

Originally Posted by Wild Bow

My transmission will not engage when the car is cold (i.e. I put it in gear and it acts like it's in Neutral), after the car warms up for about 15 min to 30 min the transmission works fine. The car is a ’94 Buick Century, 3.3L V-6. What could be the problem?

Something similar has just happened to my 93 Cent. wagon (113000) last week -- just after a tranny flush, which I believe somehow caused it. Tranny guy checked it today; an internal prob of some kind. Will let me know the damage - $$.

Have you or anyone else had bad experiences with tranny flushes???????? My 88 Buick Cent (167000) got stuck in Park right after a flush and before it got our of grage. Hmmmmmmm.