elumina Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 Wondering if anyone can help me out with my problem. went to go to the store yesterday and the Lumina wouldn't go into Drive. I went into Reverse no problem and would also shift into 1 and 2 manually. I tried several times to get it to go into Drive with no luck. Car has 200000miles on just went over yesterday as well. Must have tripped a switch or something. Ha. Check the fluid it is fine. Any ideas would be appreciated. Also if someone could tell me what kind of tranny it has that would be great because im not sure. 1999 Lumina 3.8 Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 200k miles on a 4t65-E is a good life. Sounds like its time for a rebuild. and by 'tried to shift into drive' do you mean you shifted it into drive, but the engine revved like in neutral? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elumina Posted June 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 Yeah when I shift from neutral to Drive there is no change in engine speed also when I shift from overdrive D to D there is still no change. But if I shift to either 1 or 2 manual the transmission kicks in no problem. Same with Reverse no problem there. Just wondering why all of a sudden. Cant really afford a rebuild it looks like people say between 1500 and 2000 on here. I'm changing the filter and fluid to see if that helps at all not sure if it will do anything but its worth a try i figured, but I'm having trouble getting the filter seal out of the transmission. I got the filter off with a bit of pulling but I'm at a loss as to how to remove the seal without doing any damage. Any ideas? Thanks again for the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 if the seal looks good, you can re-use it... but I'm afraid that the inevitable has happened, and you need a new tranny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfewtrail Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 Does it actually change out from 1st to 2nd gear with the gear selector in 2nd or do you only have first gear in manual 2nd? If it doesn't change out to 2nd gear, it could just be a sticking shift solenoid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regal_GS_1989 Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 If there are no metal shavings in the pan, and the fluid looks healthy, then you don't necessarily need a rebuild. It is probably something fairly small and relatively cheap compared to a rebuilt. I've worked at a very reputable trans shop and I can't begin to tell you how many customers we would gain from other shops simply because all the other shops would tell them the only solution was a rebuild, when in fact it was something much simpler. One was even something as simple as a collapsed filter. The owner had gone to another shop for a fluid/filter change and shortly thereafter they started having issues. Brought it back to that shop, they took it for a drive and told them that the only solution would be a rebuild. They came to us for a second opinion and after asking a few questions, we dropped the pan and found the issue. $85 dollar trans service much cheaper than a rebuild. If it does shift into first and second on its own, and the fluid looks healthy, then I would start looking for something electrical/sensor/solenoid related. Generally, a trans will not totally fail without some type of sign. If a hard piece grenades, then you will usually have metal shavings in the pan/filter/fluid. If the trans burns up, the fluid is generally dark and smells burnt. Especially if one day your driving it and it's fine and the next it is acting up. I would suggest finding a reputable independent trans shop and get their opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elumina Posted June 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 Im glad to hear a couple of less dire posts. I was thinking that it cold be something smaller since there were no warning signs and not noises coming from the tranny in the few days leading up to it no problems with an metal shavings or bad fluid. I was going to just take it up and see what a tranny shop says there is one fairly close to my house and tell them what my problem is. I can handle fixing something small even removing and reinstalling the tranny myself it comes to a rebuild which would hopefully save some cash. Before I do that I need to check on the shifting from first to second when in Manual Second gear I didn't pay attention to that one. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elumina Posted June 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 ok I took it out for a drive today. I started out in 1 manual no problem. Put it into 2 manual shifted from 1 to 2 with a little hesitation. But when I got up to speed and shifted into Drive it drove without a problem, when i came to a stop though i had to shift back into 2 manual to get moving again. When I got back to the house I checked the fluid and I'm still a quart low so I'm going to get some fluid and see what happens. Wondering if anyone can tell me if the transmission would show any codes on a scanner if the check engine light is NOT on. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elumina Posted July 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2009 UPDATE: Been a few days I've decided to go ahead a replace the thing myself and maybe just fix it myself or just take it somewhere to be rebuilt. I'm searching all of Saint Louis for an engine support, with no luck, so I can take out the tranny. Anyone got any other ideas for supporting the engine from above. I was hoping to get a few pointers I've been looking around the site and getting some. Also can anyone tell me if its possible to pull the engine and tranny as a whole unit out of the top I've been considering doing this instead of dropping the sub-frame but want to check that it would actually be possible and not just a waste of time. Thanks again for all of the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89SupremeCutty Posted July 7, 2009 Report Share Posted July 7, 2009 UPDATE: Been a few days I've decided to go ahead a replace the thing myself and maybe just fix it myself or just take it somewhere to be rebuilt. I'm searching all of Saint Louis for an engine support, with no luck, so I can take out the tranny. Anyone got any other ideas for supporting the engine from above. I was hoping to get a few pointers I've been looking around the site and getting some. Also can anyone tell me if its possible to pull the engine and tranny as a whole unit out of the top I've been considering doing this instead of dropping the sub-frame but want to check that it would actually be possible and not just a waste of time. Thanks again for all of the help. you can make an engine support out of some 2x6's on the sides of the fenders and a heavy duty rope or chain attached to where you would normally attach a cherry picker to the engine and a jack under the oil pan with a block of wood on it just in case. i used this method to pull a tranny out of a '95 caravan i once owned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elumina Posted July 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 That sounds like a good idea I'll keep it in mind for next time. I ended up just renting a cherry picker over the weekend only 25.00. I decided to just go a head and drop the whole entire cradle engine and tranny as a whole. Got it all out not much of a big deal a lot of work though. Engine needs new oil pan gasket and a new motor mount. Oh and a good cleaning. All thats left to do is to figure out what to do about the busted transmission. Try and fix it myself or just bite the bullet and call around to few shops. Leaning towards having someone else handle the rebuild that way it will be good to go with no worries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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