I think my tranny is shot.

S

SleepIsTheCuzinOf

Registered
ok, let me start off by mentioning that the tranny has had a small leak that has not been taken care of for about 6 months.. I do keep the fluid levels up though..

now to the problem.

I have a 93 mark XIII, About a week ago, I noticed my car was stuck in 1st gear... being the moron I am, I floor it (probably doing more damage than good)... it eventually shifted at about 4k RPM.. doesn't take too long but I could feel that it wasn't right... anyway, the shift is really hard, and the tires spin out..

I'm no car expert (infact this is my first car) but it almost feels as if 2nd gear is skipped and it jumps from 1st to 3rd.. once in third it feels fine..

I haven't got it up to speed to check 4th..

If I'm not driving the car hard, its hardly noticeable.. but hey, I like to drive hard!

I've been driving it conservatively, but it is my only mode of transportation...

again, I am no expert, but I know how a transmission works, and thought it could possibly be the torque converter due to the abrupt jump but I am not sure...

any help would be awesome guys, I can usually lurk the forum for answers but this one has me stumped.. levels are good, fluid is not really dirty..

help?

oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I'm a starving college student that has a hard time paying rent. Tranny shop, pfft... out of the question right now, new tranny? can't do it... I really don't want to end up riding a bicycle to work and school guys.. I love this car, I don't want to lose it due to me not maintaining it as well as I should have..
 
Here are two things you should replace. The TPS and the MLPS. It's probably the TPS, I had a very similar problem to yours and a $25 TPS took care of it. It was pretty easy to replace too.

Where is the fluid leaking from? Many times it will leak from the rear seal which can be replaced, although a shop will charge probably an hour or two labor becuase the drive shaft has to be pulled back.
 
thanks guys, I'll try and knock out the TPS today. and yeah I believe the leak is coming from the rear seal. I had planned on having a shop fix it a few months ago, but he wanted 5 hours labor to do it. I just couldn't afford it, I'll have to check out some other shops, how hard would it be to do it myself?
 
To do the rear seal yourself (which I have) you need to lower the gas tank (4 bolts), remove the drive shaft loop (2 bolts), remove the rear of the drive shaft from the pinion (4 bolts) and slide the drive shaft back. Next there are two options. At this point you should decide if you want to do the forced lube mod because it would be a good time to do it. If you decide to you need to remove the tail housing to the trans. It's easy, there are a few more bolts and I believe the VSS also. It's a cast aluminum housing that you should be able to get out with the drive shaft slid back. It was a bit of a pain on my car because of the custom exhaust but I still got it out. Once it's out you can bring the tail housing to a trans shop and they can put a new seal in for you in about 30 seconds. Or you can get the seal and just press it in yourself. It's a very doable job but it can be a pain working on your back. If you gas tank is full make sure you put a jack under it when you are loosening the straps. Keep an eye on the vent hoses also, it's very easy to rip one if you lower it too much without removing them. While the tank is down you might want to think of upgrading your fuel pump too, another easy job while you are there.
 
You don't need to drop the fuel tank.

Unbolt the driveshaft at the differential and support the differential with a jack. Unbolt the front and rear of the gear housing and lower as much as practical to allow the driveshaft to slide back above and to the side of the differential housing. If you have access to a lift, this is very easily done with a tranny jack under the differential housing.

Inspect the tailshaft bushing and yoke of the driveshaft carefully for signs of wear. Usually a leaking seal is an indicator of another problem, like a worn bushing from a vibrating driveshaft. :frown:
 
Very hard 1-2 also suggests a broken 1-2 accumulator... you need the 98+ design anyways. A good time to drop the pan, filter swap to Mercon V as well.
 
JP good call. I didn't do it that way because I was doing the pump too. I didn't even think of that way.
 
SleepIsTheCuzinOf said:
ok, let me start off by mentioning that the tranny has had a small leak that has not been taken care of for about 6 months.. I do keep the fluid levels up though..

now to the problem.

I have a 93 mark XIII, About a week ago, I noticed my car was stuck in 1st gear... being the moron I am, I floor it (probably doing more damage than good)... it eventually shifted at about 4k RPM.. doesn't take too long but I could feel that it wasn't right... anyway, the shift is really hard, and the tires spin out..

I'm no car expert (infact this is my first car) but it almost feels as if 2nd gear is skipped and it jumps from 1st to 3rd.. once in third it feels fine..
Click to expand...

The same thing happened to me. Was yours leaking from the rubber plug on the bottom of the transmission by any chance? Mine had been for about 3 months. It left a spot the size of a quarter overnight; I checked the fluid regularly and it never dropped noticeably.

I posted a thread about it here: http://mark8.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=15871 ..at first I thought it was slipping, but it had actually lost 2nd. It acted OK if I ran it to 20 mph or so in first, then let off the gas so it'd jump to 3rd.

Long story short, the one-way clutch failed and the transmission had to be rebuilt. I just got it back today. I'll be posting a more detailed followup in that thread later on..
 
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