baffling tranny issue

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7 sek mark

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ok im having problems with my tranny now that kinda have me worried if i should be driving it of now right now. once in a while when i pull up to a stop light its like the tranny pops out of gear. to get it to go back into gear i have to rev it slightly like maybe 2-300 rpm over idle then it does into gear and it works fine until it feels like it wants to do it again. it also takes a while for it to go into gear when i back out of a parking spot and take off. if i don't rev it at all it would take about 30-45 sec for it to finely go into reverse and about the same to do into drive once i have backed out. only mods to the tranny are a 3500 stall, big tranny cooler, and a j-mod shift kit. i checked the fluid the other day and its a little dark but still not THAT bad and it is full. im wondering if i should start rebuilding one of my spare trannys to stick in it or if it could be as easy as maybe just a fluid change and maybe changing the valve body or some of its parts like the solenoids.

another thing i thought about from a light at part throttle right as i take off it feels kinda like the car down shifts from 1st gear kinda. im not a tranny expert here but to me it feels like the converter is not unlocking all the way when i stop. its kinda hard to explain the feeling but its been doing this for quite some time so i just thought it was something to do with having a big converter since this is the first car ive ever driven with a big converter on the road. i know the tranny is not down shifting because it does the same thing if i leave it in drive or if i pull it down to 1st when i take off. at first i was thinking maybe when i stop the tranny was not coming down out of 2nd gear until i go to take off the next time.

oh BTW i do have a tranny temp gauge and i have never seen the tranny get over about 200* its normal range is 150 to about 180 on hot days.
 
Sounds like a pressure issue. When was the last time you changed the filter? Did it start doing it first going into reverse then spread from there. could be a weak pump as well or valvle body hard to say
 
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ys its been doing it for about a month and a half going in to reverse and has just started doing it going into drive then just last night it started coming out of gear on me. first thing i thought of when it came out of gear was maybe its low on fluid so i checked it and its full so its not that. the fluid does smell a little burnt and is a little dark but its not that bad yet.
 
It didn't "come out of gear", it's slipping. More pressure (reving engine) makes it engage. You have a doner car...you get to drop the tranny out of it and use it OR find a 98 (up) tranny to purchase and replace.
 
Transmission fluid is a very picky substance. Remember that for every 10 degrees you go above the proper operating temperature, you effectively cut the life of the transmission fluid in half. When was the last time you replaced the fluid and filter? Was it just dropping the fluid or was it a transfusion?

I agree with the other guys, though. It sounds like a pressure issue to me. It could be the pump, but I had a similar issue on my Saturn. A restricted valve body was to blame. The dealer (after incorrectly diagnosing it twice) dropped a new one in and the problem was gone. Thank goodness for warranties! :D

Good luck, let us know what happens.
 
now that i think about it the trans fluid is kinda old the last time it was changed the trans was out of the car so it was a complete dump and refill. do you think its worth the time and money to do a trans flush when i have a spare trans setting here? what are the odds that a trans flush will fix the problem??

as of right now im thinking with my next pay check witch i get this week i will get the parts i need to do the j-mod to my extra trans and swap that in this weekend just to get me by untill i can save up for a full "race" rebuild for it. i have had the motor and or trans out of my car or my dads car (97 crown vic) enough that me and a buddy could have the trans swaped out in about 2-3 hours on our backs.
 
You will NOT have the swap "done in "2-3 hours". But you will have it done in the weekend. Have plenty of LONG extentions available. Be VERY careful breaking the bolts loose on the case if they haven't been out before.... Easy to snap off or tear up the aluminum on the tranny....in particular the bottom driver's side, easy to snap off the whole corner of the case. I speak from experience!!! LOL
 
Well, it depends. Do you think it's worth it? How's the spare tranny you have? How often was it serviced and how's the fluid in it?

Transmission fluid acts as a coolant, lubricant, friction modifier, detergent, and activator when pressurized. When the fluid is bad, so are all of those aspects of your transmission. As far as the fluid fixing the problem, no, I'm not very certain it would work, but you can't eliminate it. Furthermore, nothing is going to work properly in your transmission if you have crummy fluid in there, not to mention you're supposed to be changing it regularly anyway. If you were to replace something, how would you know if it were doing its job properly? It might not be THE problem, but it could be the cause for another problem inside the transmission. If a transmission has issues because the valve body fails from being clogged with dirty fluid that wrecked the check valves, is it the valve body to blame? Sure, but it was the fluid that did it in the first place.

It also may be several problems working together to exhibit several different symptoms as well. On older vehicles like ours, it can make servicing a nightmare, especially if the owner neglects their vehicle (not that you do, I'm just saying in general) because you have several different possibilities for failure and there is no one answer... Try telling that to a customer when you sold them a job and the problem still exists, only a little less severe, if at all. Routine maintenance is unavoidable, especially with variables like transmission fluid, motor oil, etc..

Anyway, transmissions are extremely complex devices and can sometimes be considered a "black art" in the automotive service world. There's no way that I (or anyone else on here) will be able to tell you what your problem is without having the transmission on a jack in front of us with a rebuild kit, an air compressor and gun, and all of our tools handy. Just remember that when or if you find the faulty part, you should ask yourself, "Why did it fail in the first place? Was it age? Was it owner abuse or neglect? What exactly happened here?"

Good luck, keep us posted.
 
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true it was said that 10* over normal temp on the fluid cuts its life in half. well what is the normal range for the fluid?? i have a temp gauge but im not sure how hot is to hot or how cold is to cold?? i was told by my automotive teacher in school that some trannys will not lock the converter if its to cool.

as far as the trans in and out quick me and a buddy did a clutch on a s10 in and out in about 4 hours or so. so i think 2-3 hours could be done 4 hours at the most i mean its only 16-17 bolts 4 nuts a plug or 2 and 2 line fittings for the cooler. just drop the y-pipe off the exhaust, take drive shaft off of the diff and slide it back, take cooler lines off, pull dip stick tube out, pull starter off, converter nuts off, pull cross member out, then 6 or 7 bell housing bolts. its all pretty easy when i can use a impact for most of it only thing i can use the impact on is the drive shaft, converter, and starter.
 
leaving the motor in the car and only pulling the trans is a long and tedious job in very cramped quarters.

it took us 8 hours (4 hours one day and 4 hours) the next day to R&R the trans with the motor in place.

The time before, we pulled the Kmember, and sat the engine and trans on the ground, put another engine and trans on the Kmember and put it back up in the car.. in 4 hours.

pulling the engine and the trans out the bottom is FAR EASIER than just pulling the trans alone out the bottom.

now I know, your not gonna believe this, but it's true.. and no this was not my first tranny job.. I've done MANY on many various platforms, none were the PITA that the Mark 8 was.
 
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