2002 transmission problems

[landlord3030]

the monte is a freind of mine's car. i've searched but cant find a similer situation. all of the problems hes been having with this car started after he was driving on the highway, and his dog knocked the transmission into neutrel. when driving the car bogs down really bad when taking off, and doesnt want to shift out of any gear (although it will with some creative gas pedal movment). it will only go 50mph (at 3500 rpm) with the pedal to the floor, and will loose speed at the slightest incline. also there seems to be a wistle like sound coming from the engine compartment, like a vacume leak although i can find none. i've never seen a car do this from simply being knocked into neutrel. this freind of mine is broke, lives 200 miles away, and im hoping someone will say this is an easy fix as his car is in my driveway! the check engine light is on, and i will take it to autozone to pull the codes (if they can), a dealer is out of the question at this point as he is broke, and im not rich and dont have the money to spend on diagnosis of a car that is not mine.

please help, oh and i belive this has the 3.1 engine?

[corning_d3]

Get the codes pulled. They will give you an idea of whats wrong. You sure that "dog" didn't throw it into reverse while trying to manually shift it?

[aggydynamite]

It might also be your cat. I had a similar problem with mine. I thought it was my tranny but a friendly mechanic said it was the cat. I was so psyched. And remember, the federal government mandates it be under warrenty for 8 years 80000 miles. Hope this helps

[landlord3030]

ok i got the codes pulled, there was only one, multiple misfires. im hoping its just fowled sparkplugs, and the whole "dog knocked it into nutrel" thing is just a coincidence. but i did notice if i only give it gas at like 1/10th throttle, the thing drives like a dream .

im hoping for just spark plugs, but knowing me and my freinds luck, it wont be that easy. the car has 50,000 miles on it already, and i asked him when the last time he had a tune up was and he said "i dont know" which tells me that the poor car has probably never been touched other than oil changes.

[hec187]

Hey, can you keep me updated on this situation. I have an 01 Monte thats doing THE EXACT SAME THING as your frineds. I changed the spark plugs, wires and air filter but no luck, its actually worse. I haven't got a check engine light so I don't have codes to pull. If it was just a tune up for yours let me know. If the problem is worse than that PLEASE let me know ASAP! Thanks a lot.

[hec187]

Just wanted to update you on my issue. It turned out to be the catalytic converter. Apparantly Montes have an 8 year 80,000 mile warranty on the cat, so if your friends car has that issue and meets those requirements he can take it to any GM dealer and have the issue fixed and since he's broke he'll be all right cuz it didn't cost me a thing! good look and by the way, my car runs like new after changing the cat.