Possible Tranny Problem?

[moneyshotz]

Hey Guys,
I just noticed this today and I'm not sure what it is. When I was leaving my home today I was wanted to drivee hard so I floored my car. Then when it hit 5500 I was expecting for a hard shift because of my transgo and vette servo. But for some reason it kept going up. It was over 6000 and I was still in first gear so I decided to pull over.

So now, it will shift at a little over 6000 but now I dont feel my firm shifts from my shiftkit and servo. It shifts normally. Any ideas what can be going wrong?

Ryan

[southern94]

kit may be installed wrong i am not sure

[moneyshotz]

Kit has been installed for a couple months now. Nothing has happened until now.

[DominusEtDeusNatus]

It's starting to slip. If changing the fluid doesn't help then it's rebuild time.

[moneyshotz]

how much u think its gonna cost to rebuild it if its slipping? and u think changing tranny fluid can fix it?

[DominusEtDeusNatus]

Changing the fluid is just something you should do to check the condition of the old one. If it's real dark and muddy then you know you got a problem. Check the magnet for metal fragments. You should be throwing slipping codes. I had my trans slip for the longest time. I know how it feels like. It hesitates then very slowly shifts. When I had 3.42s it was still shifting at 6K without programming my 3.08 pcm. It wanted to shift early, but took so long it just did it at the redline. Normal driving you couldn't really notice. Only WOT and downshifts. Rebuilds are around $1200 so you might want to make sure it needs one. Unfortunately whether they change 1 band or every little piece it's always the same price since most of it is labor. I think the parts add up to only $100 for OEM rebuild. Rest is labor. It takes a professional a few hours, but I would not attempt it myself. Probably the hardest thing to do on a car is to rebuild a trans.

[moneyshotz]

Thats SO much money!!! I don't think I'd be able to afford it if thats how much its going to cost to rebuild a tranny. Can that really happen even though my car is kinda new? 1999.

What can be the cause for a tranny slip? I kinda have the same symptons DOM was saying.

No idea if this relates to it but, for some reason my Coolant level is twice the amount it used to be. And now its a milky pink color. Is that normal?

[DominusEtDeusNatus]

You might have a leak in your radiator. Tranny fluid also goes through there. If they mix, not good. Check you tranny fluid ASAP. And drain your coolant and check if the fluid is ok in there. Clean that reservoir tank. My tank sometimes get muddy also.

[ March 29, 2002: Message edited by: Dom ]</p>

[moneyshotz]

Is there a way that I can find out if I really do have a radiator leak? That kind of makes sense why I have a lot of coolant now and why its milky pink. And would that be why my tranny aint shifting well also?

Would my car be safe to drive?

[viper98885]

Ryan, after thinking about what we were talking about last night regarding this problem and making a few calls this afternoon, I am almost positive that the tank holding the tranny fluid has either ruptured or a seal has blown. A guy that I used to work with at the dealership parts dept. said that he has seen this before. The two fluids have mixed. When you installed the shift kit and the vette servo, the heat and pressure in your tranny became much higher than before and you stock seals and fluid tank cannot hold the combination. This is why a remote tranny oil cooler is highly recommended with the setup that you are running. The supplemental oil cooler will help to keep the seals intact and keep everything in working condition. I would also suggest a tranny temp guage so that you can monitor under hard driving the condition of your tranny fluid. The tranny cooler only runs about $30-$40 and the guage is in the $50 range. I would strongly suggest these mods to anyone with this combination so that you don't run into the same luck as Ryan.

Ryan, if you have any more questions or need a new radiator, lemme know...I checked on a price of a new one for you and it's not too bad.

Talk to you all soon....

[moneyshotz]

Thanks Josh,
I just dropped my car off at the mechanic today. He told me the exact same thing that you told me last night. So, tomorrow I'm going to have a whole new GM radiator installed. I also already have my BM tranny cooler but I left it in my apartment in LA. I'm probably going to install it when I have my torque converter installed.

As for the transmission temperature gauge, I never looked into one before. Do you have any suggestions on what should I get? Because I might as well install it when I get the converter and the cooler installed. Also, where would I have that gauge mounted? Please let me know some products that you would recommened that is reasonably priced.

Ryan [img]graemlins/toto.gif[/img]

[viper98885]

I have an Autometer Ultra-Lite trany temp guage. It is an electric guage and measures 2 1/16" diameter. It usually sells for around $50 and is very simple to install. As for guage mounting, it's all about being creative and finding a spot for it to fit, or, you could get a guage pillar and mount it there like most people do. Whatever floats your boat.