signs of a bad trans

[jake91]

okay so lately mine seems to be acting

 

it seems to not want to downshift sometimes if i floor it at 45 it will stay in the gear and then it will downshift a bit later but to many gears and bounce off the limiter then shift back up this happens around once a week

 

im going to have my neighbor (gm mechanic for 30 years) flush it and see if that helps

 

but what do you think am i fuxored

[RobertISaar]

45MPH is a bad spot... you can go from 4th with the TCC locked to 2nd(possibly 1st, not sure about the settings on a LQ1 vert) pretty quickly. the PCM doesn't like to constantly be shifting, and there is code in there to wait so many seconds to allow another up/downshift...

 

try a 10MPH higher or lower speed. if it does it then, you're probably looking at something being wrong...

[xtremerevolution]

Jake and I talked over chat. It happened once in the winter, and never again until now.

 

He has a heavy vert with an LQ1 and a lead foot, and lives in Arizona where its now getting into the 80's and 90's, without a transmission cooler.

 

He has 80k miles and 10k miles ago he did a pan drop and fluid change. His oil is already browning. I'm going to say heat related transmission problems. I told him to go out and buy an RV sized trans cooler like mine and go from there. No point in changing the fluid if its going to keep happening.

[RobertISaar]

sound advice.

[White93z34]

still what he is experiencing should not be happening regardless of climate or where he wants to floor it. A pan drop generally does not get all the fluid out so if it was dirty before hand its still going to be dirty afterwords.

 

You are on the right track though, put a big trans cooler on it, get the fluid flushed and pray. I won't sugarcoat it, your trans may be making a departure from this world. but this should at best put that time off for awhile. Why they stopped putting a aux trans cooler on the LQ1 for 94-97 is beyond me

[xtremerevolution]

still what he is experiencing should not be happening regardless of climate or where he wants to floor it. A pan drop generally does not get all the fluid out so if it was dirty before hand its still going to be dirty afterwords.

 

You are on the right track though, put a big trans cooler on it, get the fluid flushed and pray. I won't sugarcoat it, your trans may be making a departure from this world. but this should at best put that time off for awhile. Why they stopped putting a aux trans cooler on the LQ1 for 94-97 is beyond me

 

Just a thought. My trans was fine with a lot of abuse till 144k when I did too many burnouts and the clutch plates went. No slipping, just a delayed and hard 1-2 shift. Can't say I've seen an 80k trans go bad on a 1st gen, but I also haven't been on the 1st gen scene as long as some of you have.

[GOT2B GM]

God I hate automatic transmissions

[xtremerevolution]

God I hate automatic transmissions

 

I'm almost ashamed to say I've never owned or driven a manual car for more than a few miles. The next car I buy will be a manual.

[RobertISaar]

God I hate automatic transmissions

 

don't we all....

[White93z34]

the auto trans in my new z34 was toasted at 85k miles. What his is doing sounds similar to what my old z34s auto did about 60 miles before it died and that was with regular fluid changes and the factory AUX cooler.

 

My turbo GP had the trans replaced sometime before 110k miles. and the replacement is bad too. I don't have much faith in my "good used" one either after finding parts of something in the pan.

 

Ugh. I hate 4T6x transmissions.

[xtremerevolution]

the auto trans in my new z34 was toasted at 85k miles. What his is doing sounds similar to what my old z34s auto did about 60 miles before it died and that was with regular fluid changes and the factory AUX cooler.

 

My turbo GP had the trans replaced sometime before 110k miles. and the replacement is bad too. I don't have much faith in my "good used" one either after finding parts of something in the pan.

 

Ugh. I hate 4T6x transmissions.

 

I'd love to know what the typical reasons are that transmissions fail. I'm disgusted that it woudl fail by 85k. That's something you'd expect out of a Chrysler. How do people with 3.1's go into 280k with the same transmission, and how did I manage 144k under abuse. What's different between these cars and your z34 and his cutlass? I'm thoroughly stumped.

[RobertISaar]

4T60E does NOT like to shift above 6250RPM.... kills stuff fast. which incidentally is where LQ1s make power...

[tornado_735]

I'd love to know what the typical reasons are that transmissions fail. I'm disgusted that it woudl fail by 85k. That's something you'd expect out of a Chrysler. How do people with 3.1's go into 280k with the same transmission, and how did I manage 144k under abuse. What's different between these cars and your z34 and his cutlass? I'm thoroughly stumped.

 

I have 186K miles on mine, and about the only thing I can notice is under WOT the 1-2 shift is a little soft.

[xtremerevolution]

I have 186K miles on mine, and about the only thing I can notice is under WOT the 1-2 shift is a little soft.

 

4T60E does NOT like to shift above 6250RPM.... kills stuff fast. which incidentally is where LQ1s make power...

 

Well then, I suppose that makes sense. Just another way that the LQ1 gives you herpes, and another reason not to want one if its mated to an auto trans.

 

Jake, let us know how this turns out.

[GOT2B GM]

Yeah my old white 93 z34 has over 300k kms on it now and just recently roasted its 3rd 4T60e. WOT runs shifting at redline > 4T60e

[White93z34]

I'd love to know what the typical reasons are that transmissions fail. I'm disgusted that it woudl fail by 85k.

 

It worked out pretty good for me! Got the car for dirt cheap because of it, then ripped it out!

 

My old 3.4 euro is still going fine at 150k with its auto though. *knocks on wood*

 

In all fairness though my old z34 didn't blow its trans till around 170k miles with me romping on it for 70k of that.

[xtremerevolution]

Yeah my old white 93 z34 has over 300k kms on it now and just recently roasted its 3rd 4T60e. WOT runs shifting at redline > 4T60e

 

At that point it would be cheaper to drop in an L67 and matching trans than to keep rebuilding them every 60-80k miles.

[White93z34]

but the earlier (pre-00) 4t65-Es are almost just as bad as they seem to be plagued with valve body and TCC issues.

[GOT2B GM]

Protip: stay the fuck away frm gm fwd slushboxes

 

 

$$$$$$$$$$$$

[RobertISaar]

GM manual transmissions hold up SO much better than anything coming out of hydramatic... be they FWD/RWD... yet that's nearly the only option for most GM cars from the early 90s until now. you had to get some shitbox j or n-car or smaller or a vette to have a clutch... at least the new regal w/6speed should be interesting.

[xtremerevolution]

Protip: stay the fuck away frm gm fwd slushboxes

 

 

$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

I like your sig.

[jake91]

i will be ordering this thursday

http://www.amazon.com/70268-SuperCooler-Automatic-Transmission-Cooler/dp/B000CIGE9G

 

 

and i will update if it keeps happening though i will probably be keeping my foot out of it

 

if it blows that will suck but we all know what that means 5 SPEED TIME!!!

[xtremerevolution]

That cooler should do the trick.

Edited April 27, 2010 by xtremerevolution

[jake91]

Ok i think andrei is right i beat the shit out of my car just now trying to make the trans slip and i couldnt i tried everything i could throught at it minus a neutral drop lol and it just wouldnt slip i did this all while the trans was cool

[xtremerevolution]

Ok i think andrei is right i beat the shit out of my car just now trying to make the trans slip and i couldnt i tried everything i could throught at it minus a neutral drop lol and it just wouldnt slip i did this all while the trans was cool

 

ZING! Another 4T60E fixed with a transmisison cooler.

 

Don't forget to top off the fluid level after you install it.