Trans shot? How hard to change?

[adams3463]

Well I assume my trans is shot, but I thought I would post just in case.

Background: 96' 230K lumina.

The trans has been getting progressively worse over the last year I'd say. It started with what I think was probably TCC shutter. After a while, shifting into OD would be delayed longer and longer. Now the car won't shift into OD until the car has been driven about 60-80 miles. Manually shifting helped for a while but now that doesn't work at all. More recently, the car won't down shift into first at all. The car always starts in second. Other gears seem to shift ok. There are no ECM codes now, but a while back there was a slip code. After resetting the ECM, and changing an O2 sensor, there has not been any codes (or at least no check engine light).

So, is there by some miracle an easy fix to this or is time for a new trans/car? How hard is it to swap the trans out and is it worth it? The engine seemed to run strong prior this, but 230K is a lot of miles.

Thanks for your help!

-Joe

[Schurkey]

When was the last time you changed fluid and filter? Was there a lot of debris in the pan?

[adams3463]

Originally Posted by Schurkey

When was the last time you changed fluid and filter? Was there a lot of debris in the pan?

Changed filter and fluid when I started noticing the TCC shutter, which was about 15K miles ago. I didn't notice any debris at that time, however the fluid was mighty dirty. It didn't look like the previous owner had ever changed it.

[Schurkey]

I think you can rule out any miracle fix.

If you can R & R the trans yourself, you might want to look into having it overhauled as a "carry in" at whatever trans shop you prefer.

You could stuff in a used transmission, and it could be a bunch less expensive...but there's the risk that the replacement trans might be on it's way out, too.