I am new to this forum, but can’t seem to find what I’m looking for. If it’s here please point me
In the right direction! My Monte Carlo’s transmission seems to stop working out of nowhere when I’m driving. If I drive for more than 5 minutes and I come to a full stop the car will not move unless I turn the car off and back on with in seconds and it worked again until I come to another full stop. I don’t believe it’s the transmission it’s self because when it drives it drives fine and it is a rebuilt transmission. It might be a sensor, but I’m not sure which one. Thank you

 

When you say it stops working, do you mean every gear turns into neutral? So reverse is neutral, OD is neutral, 1/2/3 are all neutral, etc?

How is the fluid level?

 

Yes that’s exactly what’s happening neutral. The fluid level is good.

 

Yes that’s exactly what’s happening neutral. The fluid level is good.

 

Sounds like its not getting fluid pressure. If you're 100% fluid level is fine, it almost sounds like the filter inlet is getting clogged, but then the blockage is settling back out after it sits only to clog it back up again.

Lots of other causes for the condition, but the rest I can think if are hard part failures that wouldnt 'reset' after sitting (broken input shaft, chain, etc).

How old is the rebuild? If its older, have you ever done a fluid swap - any notable debris in the oil?

 

it was rebuilt about a year or 2 before it started having this problems I just checked trans fluid it is low so fluids might not be the best. Car has been sitting for a year I could not figure out problem I just started looking to fix it now

 

How low? IMO step 1 is to top it off. Could just be sucking the pan dry (and letting it sit allows the fluid to drain back to the pan which restores pressure for a bit). If this fixes the issue, I'd try and figure out where its leaking from. Running that low on fluid is hard on the fluid and clutches.

If that doesn't work, I'd drop the pan and see what the fluid looks like/ if theres any debris, and Id probably stick a new filter in it too while its open. Beyond that, there isn't really much more investigation you can do externally. The downside is if this is the problem, then the rebuild has already burned up - so its just a bandaid to try and buy you a little more life.