99 Buick LeSabre Trans Question

KStromberg

KStromberg

VIII looking for 8s
Our family has inherited my grandma's LeSabre. It is a 99 with 71K miles. The transmission is the 4T65E. From the day we brought it home, it has had a slight torque converter shudder that seems to surface when the transmission is warmed up and the torque converter is going into lock. In the recent past couple weeks, it seemed to get more harsh and even shifting gears seemed a little shuddery. Imagine 1-shudder-2-3-shudder-Overdrive.

So, no more procrastination I thought.....time for a pan and filter drop with some fresh fluid. All went well, got it put back together and everything was fine for a day except for the fact that it still has the shudder. Well, I am sitting at a stoplight on the way home from work. The light turns greena nd I give it moderate throttle. Shadadadadadada!:eek: This was immediately with throttle from a dead stop. Imagine the front tires wheel-hopping like an IRS car :rolleyes: but instead this was the transmission doing this awful action. It does it whenever the transmission is warmed up and "moderate" throttle is applied. If I very easily get into the throttle it doesn't do it.

So, what the hell is going on with this car? :mad:And to be honest, the fluid looked dirty on the stick again too which is kind of weird.
 
You need to get as much NEW fluid in as you can.... now that you've driven it a bit....replace pan fluid again.... You still have mostly old fluid still in there..... OR do the GM dealers have a flush system like the Ford dealers do?
 
KStromberg said:
Just what came out of the pan. I am NOT taking the transmission out to get to the converter. No thanks. RWD is bad enough. FWD is even worse.
Click to expand...

Go to a quick lube place and get it flushed on a machine, that will get most of the old stuff out. But in the end it may not help if the trans is too far gone.
 
Kirk,

The way I flush my Taurus is through the cooler lines. Take off the return back to the radiator, attach a hose to it and put in in a container. I use a old Motorcraft coolant bottle since it's clear on the side. Start the car and let the trans pump the fluid into the container until the stream starts to slow/sputter. Then measure what you just took out and add the same back to the trans. Continue this until the fluid comes out nice and red, on my Taurus that's 12 to 14 quarts of fluid. Without a proper flush you cannot diag the trans problem. Good luck!
 
Ok here's an update. The flush never got done. My dad said the local transmission shop could diagnose it for free. Here's what they said(of course):rolleyes:

They came up with an estimate for $2300-2500 to take it apart, figure out what's wrong and to fix it and even that was a ballpark estimate. They said they were able to get the car to act up and they knew what I was talking about. According to them, their scanner came up with NO codes. The car is nice, but not alone is it even worth that in my book, so this is just absolutely out of the question, not to mention I don't always accept what a transmission shop has to say.

So, with my skepticism, I started a good old google search. TO BE NOTED: If I start the car out in 1st gear and accelerate that way, even under aggressive throttle, it will NOT shutter at all from a dead stop. I have found some information pointing to the Pressure Control Solenoid as seen here:

http://www.justanswer.com/buick/3pjz...dead-stop.html

Now this from what I have been reading is a known problem and I think there is even a TSB on it.

Also, the TCC solenoid is mentioned here:

http://www.2carpros.com/questions/bu...mission-quirky

Both solenoids as possible culprits are mentioned here:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...Number=1899844

Whitewolf says:
"I had a Buick not long ago and it shuddered on launch but it also didn't want to stop! It turned out to be the TCC solenoid. May not be related to your issue but I thought I would share."


Now, I am not trying to create any biased opinions here, but I guess I am.:rolleyes: I'm just trying to look into all possibilities(which I somewhat failed on because I never had it flushed:rolleyes:) before condemning this 71K mile transmission and when I see TSBs on valvebody components, that raises a red flag in my book, and I am trying to imagine getting one of these buggers replaced for far less money than the cost of a rebuild. Is it worth the chance to have this replacement done first? Is it possible the transmission shop is in the right church but the wrong pew, either purposely or accidentally?

Also, I know they ran a scan on it, but I do not know if they ran a pressure test while driving, which I know they are capable of. I'll have to talk to my dad who is the one that took it up there. From what I have read, a spike to about the 20 psi range can point to a faulty PCS solenoid which should typically be in the 10psi range. So maybe, putting the car in 1st gear is bypassing the solenoid in some way and is pointing towards it as the culprit?

Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks!! :)
 
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