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tranny issues. don't know what's wrong!


blackbeauty89

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tonight i'm driving around with my buddy. nothin else really to do so we just do some in town driving. couple days ago i just did a quick fluids inspection checkin oil, trans etc. and tonight as i'm driving around all of a sudden i feel a very firm shift. i thought nothin of it at first cause every now and then it'll have a little hiccup. taking off from a stop, firm shift to 2nd and firm to 3rd. and it kept doing that. decided to park it at the buddy's place and have him run me to get some dexronIII trans fluid because it turned out i was below the hatch marks but it wasn't black or smelly or nothin. fill it up to where it needs to be, take it around the block and it's back to normal. great! driving around some more afterwards, cruising at about 45 it upshifts and it feels like it was slipping a little bit. a little while later accelerating from a stop sign, i felt a slip and a pretty firm jerk. what's going on here? is my trans on the fritz? here are a couple factors to keep in mind:

 

the car is an 05 with 94,000 miles

4T65E

trans was just flushed back in december

i baby this car and it hardly ever sees WOT

no visible leaks on the ground or around the trans cover or cooling lines

very rarely have i ever spun the wheels

started happening out of no where.

i just spent 5g's on it in december! ugh!

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Does the 4t65 have a vacuum modular? If so, check the vacuum line. That would do it for sure.

 

Also, you will cause more damage babying the car. My regal with 213k miles has seen wot runs to redline every day since I bought it. Ever heard of the Italian TuneUp?

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Does the 4t65 have a vacuum modular? If so, check the vacuum line. That would do it for sure.

 

Also, you will cause more damage babying the car. My regal with 213k miles has seen wot runs to redline every day since I bought it. Ever heard of the Italian TuneUp?

I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a vacuum modular.

 

and how would it cause more damage? it's not like my car never sees WOT just not very often. i would think that would just increase the wear if you do it everyday.

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Does the 4t65 have a vacuum modular? If so, check the vacuum line. That would do it for sure.

 

Also, you will cause more damage babying the car. My regal with 213k miles has seen wot runs to redline every day since I bought it. Ever heard of the Italian TuneUp?

Not to the trans. Thats just stupid.

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I think his logic was that when you drive soft, the 4T65-e will decrease line pressure to keep the shifts smooth and soft, which over time can degrade the clutches. When you to WOT runs the line pressure is bumped up and the clutches don't wear as much.

 

However, I doubt that is the case here. I would tend to agree with the PCS going out. It's a common issue with the -65, it's talked about quite a bit on the aurora forums. It's characteristics are a hard shift cold though, and it sounds like you didn't have the problem until it was warm.

 

Try disconnecting the battery for a few minutes, maybe even both cables and touch them together. This will clear out the memory and learned shift patterns for the trans. Take it for a drive after that and see what happens.

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I think his logic was that when you drive soft, the 4T65-e will decrease line pressure to keep the shifts smooth and soft, which over time can degrade the clutches. When you to WOT runs the line pressure is bumped up and the clutches don't wear as much.

 

However, I doubt that is the case here. I would tend to agree with the PCS going out. It's a common issue with the -65, it's talked about quite a bit on the aurora forums. It's characteristics are a hard shift cold though, and it sounds like you didn't have the problem until it was warm.

 

Try disconnecting the battery for a few minutes, maybe even both cables and touch them together. This will clear out the memory and learned shift patterns for the trans. Take it for a drive after that and see what happens.

i just got back a little while ago from driving it for about an hour. and actually everything seemed to be working fine tonight. i drove it both in town and on the interstate. babyed it and gave it some nuts and i didn't feel anything abnormal. no jerks or slips or clunks! i'm a bit confused haha

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Here's some food for thought which while referring mostly to the Northstar engines, also applies to any engine ever made. This is a post I made in another thread:

 

WOT runs are not abuse. WOT runs are "italian tune-ups."

 

When the driver of a motor vehicle runs the engine up to near full load and speed for an extended period of time to burn off built-up carbon in the combustion chamber. The term originates from Ferrari mechanics who would drive cars around a race track several times after a tune up to get the engine hot enough and subsequently burn off the carbon. Many Mercedes-Benz Diesel owners also use this same technique, too.

 

In honest defense of the Northstar, I did read an online article yesterday by a mechanic in which he stated that the engine's worst enemy were owners who puttered around town and made tons of short trips without ever revving the engine. He mentioned this caused a problem with ring wear, which in turn lead to oil consumption and ultimately death. So it seems the engine will live longer with the occasional trip to redline. If this is all it takes to make the engine live longer, there would no shortage of that with me...I do love a good blast up an interstate on-ramp :)

 

The two quotes above should say enough. WOT runs if anything will make your car last longer, and will only hurt your fuel economy. Given the number of WOT runs I make with my Regal, I can see why it has absolutely no engine problems at 213k miles.

 

 

 

Not relevant to transmissions in regard to your problem, but you get the idea. This does seem like a common problem and I will agree with checking the PCS.

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My 03 does this from time to time where it decides to slam every shift... After letting it sit and cool for 24 hours, it was fine, then a month later or so, ill start it up and it will do it again... But it doesnt happen enough to worry me

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well don't get me wrong, i'm not a grandma in training, i just don't drive with lead on my foot all around town. that's what the interstate is for. and yes, i'd say most of the time i accelerate on the on ramp i run it 3/4s to full throttle. and i've heard about burning off carbon and whatnot, but in town isn't the best place to do it lol for where i live anyway. yea sure maybe through 1st gear but that's about when i hit the speed limit lol.

 

but like you said, that has nothing really to do with the trans issues.

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My 03 does this from time to time where it decides to slam every shift... After letting it sit and cool for 24 hours, it was fine

 

Yeah mine does the same thing, slams into every gear. Mine seems to do it annually, usually around July :lol: it's happened the past 2 years in July.

 

What did you have done to it in December that cost $5k!?

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Whereabouts in Chicago are you located?

sorry i forgot to change it. i just moved back to minnesota a month ago. but i lived in the Glendale Heights area. i was at the Wbody fudruckers meet lol pretty sure you were there.

 

What did you have done to it in December that cost $5k!?

a whole mess of things. brakes, intake and oil pan gaskets, front wheel bearing, instrument cluster, steering rack, plugs and wires, valve guide replacement, and all the fluid changes..

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Whereabouts in Chicago are you located?

sorry i forgot to change it. i just moved back to minnesota a month ago. but i lived in the Glendale Heights area. i was at the Wbody fudruckers meet lol pretty sure you were there.

 

What did you have done to it in December that cost $5k!?

a whole mess of things. brakes, intake and oil pan gaskets, front wheel bearing, instrument cluster, steering rack, plugs and wires, valve guide replacement, and all the fluid changes..

 

Valve guide replacement? wtf?!?! How did that one happen?

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Dare I suggest a tranny cooler?

 

My dad putters his car all the time. It runs consistently like dog shit. and it is a 3100 ciera. Then he dares bitch at me when I go WOT.... after which doing a few times makes it run fine.

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ok it was valve guide seals and they said it was a TSB because i originally brought it in because i was losing oil with no visible leaks. second of all, i got the car at a damn good deal. 7grand for an 05 a year ago with 70,000 on it comepletely loaded. i was looking at other monte ss's between 8 and 9 and they were older with more miles. so i assume the dealership knew what it needed and just marked it down accordingly. yea i'm pretty sure i got raped in more than one way there, but that's what dealerships do. that was my only choice cause i was going to school full time in chicago and also working full time otherwise i would have done a majority of the work myself. not to mention my plugs were good because i changed them 4 months prior. and secondly i didn't even need a new rack because it was the pump that was toast and it clearly was seeing that you could hear the bearings squeak. it was a stupid kid that had no idea what he was doing that worked on my car.

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ok it was valve guide seals and they said it was a TSB because i originally brought it in because i was losing oil with no visible leaks. second of all, i got the car at a damn good deal. 7grand for an 05 a year ago with 70,000 on it comepletely loaded. i was looking at other monte ss's between 8 and 9 and they were older with more miles. so i assume the dealership knew what it needed and just marked it down accordingly. yea i'm pretty sure i got raped in more than one way there, but that's what dealerships do. that was my only choice cause i was going to school full time in chicago and also working full time otherwise i would have done a majority of the work myself. not to mention my plugs were good because i changed them 4 months prior. and secondly i didn't even need a new rack because it was the pump that was toast and it clearly was seeing that you could hear the bearings squeak. it was a stupid kid that had no idea what he was doing that worked on my car.

 

We've all been there at one point or another. At least you know now though. :high5:

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so for the past couple days it's been acting up again. but it only seems to do it when accelerating from a stop or a roll and only 1st gear. it feels like a slip and a jerk or maybe it's just a hard downshift from second. i'm not sure what's going on with it but i know it isn't normal. UUUGGHHH!!!!

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