RPMs getting stuck...

[Firebird1055]

This is really killing the performance of my car, so I'm finally ready to fix this problem once I find out what it is. When I press the accelerator, it'll start climbing RPMs like normally until it hits about 2500, then it'll jump right down to about 1500. I can tell by the sound of my exhaust that it's actually going 1500 because it's a very deep and low tone that I only get when I'm idling. I press harder on the gas, and it doesn't go anywhere. I can still "accelerate", but of course only at a very slow rate. I can go as fast as I want in this state, I've been up to 90 MPH just going about 1500 RPM. But then, if I floor it, meaning touch the pedal almost to the floor, it'll suddenly jump up to about 5K in one swift move, and of course with my loud exhaust it's incredibly embarassing because it sounds like I'm gunning it for a race or to speed up, only I don't go anywhere. But anyway, it's killed my entire low end and high end, and I'm wondering what exactly this could be. Injectors, fuel pump, throttle body lever thing? Any help is much appreciated.

[Jason McCallister]

Auto or Stick?

[John D.]

I'm calling tranny.

[camaro_speedemon]

If you have an auto, I would say it sounds like a trnny problem.

[Firebird1055]

Hmm, yeah I forgot to include that one because my friend recently had a bad transmission fluid leak on his automatic, and had similar RPM-related problems, so I guess I sorta forgot about that one. Yes it's an auto, so I guess now the question is how much is it going to cost. I'll probably bring it to the tran shop later on, but I'd like to have an idea of what it could be before I go. Also, it doesn't happen all the time, only sometimes. It'll usually be alright for the first 5 minutes of driving, then it starts. Sometimes it'll just fix itself right in mid-trip. I'm just hoping it's nothing too serious though... :(

[John D.]

Park the car on a flat surface and start it. Let it warm up, apply the parking brake, shift it into neutral and check the tranny fluid. You could just be low on fluid.

If it's not just low on fluid you could be looking at anywhere from 250$ to 1000$ depending on what's wrong with it.

edit: It just hit me that it could be your converter going out as well.

[ September 15, 2003: Message edited by: John D. ]</p>

[3.4 slow to go]

tcc & clutch paks. When the tranny died on my 93 Bonnie, the tach would be bouncing between drive & over drive rpms, towards the end, it didn't even want to move, even at 1/2 throttle. F-bodies rebuild should cost a heluvalot cheaper than mine did ($1800, had to split it w/dude I was buying car from)

[ideutsch]

Well, I'm not an expert, but I just had a very similar problem in my car, which turned out to be the cat. It might be worth a shot to just drop off the exhaust at the manifold and see if the problem goes away.