Automatic Trans Slippage

[Legacyl22]

I have a 97 passport, and lately the automatic transmission has been slipping. It causes me to loose power at low speeds, then when I get on the highway it slips even more, and doesn't want to stay in overdrive. Also, if I put it in neutral while on the highway the rpms go up to 3,500 or 4000 and stay there for about 5 seconds before dropping to normal. I brought it to pep boys today to see if I could get a transmission flush because I had to drive about an hour away later in the day, and they called me back and said that there were specs of metal in my fluid, and if they had changed it I would probably have had to have it towed back, and the transmission is pretty much junk. Do they know what they are talking about, or is there an easier fix then replacing the transmission?

[Ramblin Fever]

Putting the truck IN neutral while running down the highway is not a good thing, cause you have to put it back in gear at some point, which, in and of itself, at driving speeds could drop the transmission.

We need to find out what your maintenance history has been for the best suggestion; i..e how often have you changed transmission fluid/filter, and you didn't mention how many miles you have on the truck.

I, too have a '97 Rodeo, and I do NOT recommend a flush on a truck of this age; I have done partial fluid swaps every 15-25k miles at most, with a filter swap twice now at 174k miles.

Before we know what to tell you to do, we need to find out how frequently you've changed your ATF.

[Legacyl22]

The truck has about 140k on it, but I don't know how often the atf has been changed, because I bought it fairly recently (had 129kon it). I would assume it hasn't been changed as often as it should, or even at all.

[Ramblin Fever]

What I would do, is go buy an ATF filter/gasket kit - from Napa or Advanced Auto, along with about 6qts of ATF Maxlife transmission Dex III fluid; and either research here and follow-up on the gasket/fluid change procedure, or find a good mechanic to drop & clean the pan, replace filter/gasket and top off with 5-6qts of new fluid.

Then, if the old ATF is real bad, do a partial drain/refill again in maybe 500-1k miles; then wait about 1-2k miles, and do again.

You WILL need a fluid hand pump if you do this yourself, as to refill this transmission requires you to lay upside down and pump the fluid upwards - there is no transmission pan dipstick.

This tranny is VERY picky about fluid level amounts, and to refill it, it needs to be 100% level and at the proper temp.