Hi all,

I had searched the forum before posting and had no luck coming across a problem like this one. I have a '95 LS with 137K. I bought the car at 115k and I have no clue how well the previous owner cared for the car, but I try to keep up with problems as they arise, do a semi-synthetic oil change every 3k, and use 87 octane fuel.

Now, to my dilemma. I was driving from work two days ago and when I hit 75-80MPH I could feel that the car had not shifted into 4th gear. my RPMs were at 4k and not budging. This went on for about 10 seconds before I let off the gas to slow down and see if the tranny would engage. I got down to about 65mph and 2.5k rpm and then tried to speed up and shift gears. again no dice for about 8 seconds and then it finally shifted and returned to 2.5k RPMs.

After about 30 minutes of driving I get off the highway and stop at a light. when I attempted to accelerate, the car barely rolled forward. I was pressing the gas down as much as I normally do and the RPMs were climbing but the speed was not. to me it seemed like the tranny didnt not completely downshift and stopped in second. I have no idea what to think of this. Any advice is greatly appreciated, thank you.

 

Randy:
Welcome to the Forum!

I would recommend getting a fluid filter change on the transmission.... Since you mentioned you have no idea what kind of maintenance the previous owner did or didn't do...
That would be my recommendation... Pls keep us posted to let us know if this fixed your transmission problem!

 

As David mentioned, you can TRY a simple fluid and filter change.

Honestly, sounds like you are having some major slippage issues and it's more than likely time for a tranny rebuild.

 

I was very afraid it would come down to a complete rebuild. Ill definitely do a filter/fluid change and see how that affects the problem. I probably won't be able to get it done until the weekend so ill post again with an update when I do. thanks for the tips and welcome.

 

its a fluid change problem my tranny is fully original (put in new fluid & filter around 153k when having major downshift problems) at 174k mine does not like going back to first unless its in drive not OD i keep it in drive until cruising at or near 45 and my tranny has come back to health (makes no sense but go firgure it changes much happier. AKA doesnt rev in neutral when hammered and attempting to downshift 4-3 specifically) MAKE NOTE AT 153k MY CAR SAT IN MY UNCLES YARD NOT BEING DRIVEN FROM 2004-2011

 

well I got the pan dropped on the trans and had the fluid/filter change as we talked of. i told the mechanic about what had happened (I'm a horrible mechanic, I stay away from things that have a high potential of me messing up) and he said he'd try to look for any signs of major wear and tear.

when I picked up the car, he said there was nothing Unusal he could see. being a '95 he said there was some wear but nothing unusual for an aged vehicle. after driving it myself, the car does seem better. I have this pretty hard shift going into 2nd gear and that is now a lot smoother. also, I had no slipping occur. I haven't been on the highway yet but I am confident this will hold up so long as I go easy on the trans. however, I'm still looking into the cost of a replacement/referb trans just incase.