Yes, twice in one day! I need opinions? My Trans is fine in the morning, But hits Hard into 3rd gear. I drive 22 miles to work then the car sits for 8 hrs. Then on the evening ride home, I get about 5 miles then it will shift into third when it should, But only stays there for a second, then shifts back into second gear and I have to let it rev up to 3500 RPMs, about 47 MPH, then it shifts into 4th gear as it should at that speed. If I let go of the gas, 35 to 45rpms , and it shifts up to third then drops to 1000 RPM. Nothing I do, flooring it or easing up on the gas, will put it into 3rd. I want to get a T.E.P. Trans But I have to wait till I get my income tax. It's $1500 plus core charge for the Trans, then another $1000 to install. In the mean time my instincts tell me to do a Filter and Fluid Change, But the Mechanics at Pepboys tell me, and I've Reed, that if it has problems, leave it alone.
I can't afford for the car to stop moving. And I can't afford to get the Trans replaced even if I bought a used one. I can't do it myself cause I don't have a garage. I'm clueless as to what to do! Should I chance the fluid and filter change. I know it would be lime flipping a coin. What do you guys think? I've Tried Lucas. That worked yesterday But not today. And I have No alternate means of getting to work! Thoughts Please!

 

JC:
IMO its a no brainer to definitely do a fluid filter change....

I know you have some serious miles on your Monte... If its never been done before... It definitely needs it now!.... It may or maynot resolve your issue...
But I believe it will help... I'm guessing when it gets hot is when it starts giving you a problem? which tells me once the fluid warmsup... It viscosity drops and gets thin/ starts to plug up the filter...(maybe residual metal shavings etc) get picked up and stuck in the filter, thus causeing the problem.... Worse case scenario, It may help preserve it long enough for you to be able to get and instahl the new trans!

Let us know if this helped.

Maybe someone else will also chime in with some other help...

 

I have been doing some research lately on the Seafoam Trans Tune. It reads well on what it does to get rid of the crud in the tranny and condition all the parts. You put 8oz in and then drive for approx 20 - 30 mins and then perform a fluid flush and filter change. The testimonials read well, and they say it gets rid of a lot of built up sludge. The downfall I can see is that it loosens up a lot of the built up sludge, so I'm not sure if a regular fluid and filter change is the best option, but possibly hooking it up and having them to a full clean and change with the machine attached may be a better method.

Something to think about.

My car is currently periodically acting up and surging from the 35mph to 45mph range and hard shifting, but it is not regular. I am going to change the TPS first and see if that makes a difference and regardless I am doing the Seafoam approach as with 260 kms on my car, I may be only the second owner, but............ you just never know how long the first owner went in between tranny check ups, so never hurts trying.

 

First question, hows your trans fluid level?? Are you dropping fluid?? If so, that is a cause right there. Low fluid, it has trouble shifting.

Next question, how many miles are on the existing fluid and filter? I do not go over 100,000 miles. I know a lot of people that claim "my trans died after I had the fluid changed, I will never change trans fluid again", those are people that waited until it was too late to change the fluid/filter and the trans was going to fail regardless.

At this point, if the trans is having problems, it's having problems. You can change the fluid in a desperate hope to remedy it (like David mentioned, it could be a viscosity issue). It may also take more then one pan drop/fluid/filter change to be of value if you are overdue (keep in mind, on these transmissions, unless you do a full rebuild, you are not changing the fluid in the torque converter).

Personally, I shy away from additives. If you are going to use a trans fluid additive, find someone who has actually used it. I would NOT get a "flush" type additive, odds are it will remove lubricant from spots that got pre-lubed during assembly and rely on that stuff.

 

Thanks Guys, I don't Know if the Trans Fluid and Filter has ever been changed. I bought the car with 163,000 miles on it. And most everything, as you can tell from all my "HELP ME" post, was neglected. In April it will be 2 yrs I've been working out the kinks so to speak.
Yes, the Trans starts acting up after it's warmed up. If the Fluid is low when I check it, I add some to it and the problem seems to go away. Also, the fluid is still Pink and no burnt smell. And it does feel more like a pressure problem then an actual slippage problem. But I also think there is a leak where the steal hoses go into the Trans Cooler. I just haven't had time to look at it with all the other things I've had to do to the car.
So it's time for me to put the Front End on the Ramps and Get under the car. I need to clean under there anyways so I can actually tell were any leaks may be coming from. I got the top of the motor looking Good! Which makes me not like the underside of my motor. Time to get the Grease out of my Monkey and Clean it Good!