Breakdown Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 I had every intention of driving lil' Amy down to Pittsburgh in a few weeks, but those plans are now done. Aside from being amazingly fun to drive, honest to God, this is the absolute worst car that I've ever owned. In my time I've put an incredibly harsh 150,000km on the original AJAM, 105,000km on AJAMII and somewhere in the neighbourhood of 80,000km on AMY and incredibly, I think that she easily leads the pack in repairs. TCC issues again, this time, torque converter will NOT engage, and no overdrive. After a flawless ride from Detroit on Sunday, started up and went lame immediately on Monday morning, complete limp mode. When I stopped in at the transmission place to axe about the car on the way home at least she finally left limp mode. That was getting really annoying for takeoffs. Leaving me with four options: 1.) Drive as is next summer (limited mileage - let's face it the fuel economy is going to be atrocious given the mileage that I run) 2.) Repair/replace transmission 3.) Replace powertrain with 3500/3800 (many will be surprised that I'd consider 3800 N/A), I just want the car to operate, obviously if I've driven it as a 3100, I can deal with the lack of power. I also seem very capable of getting speeding tickets with a 3100/3800 already. I don't need to get better at that aspect of my driving. 4.) Light car on fire and roll down hill. I don't consider selling AMY to be an option . . . at all. Its a philosophical issue. Let's say that I was able to get $300-$400 (on a good day), well . . . . eventually I would spend that money or perhaps in one weekend like I did the last trip to Erie/Pittsburgh on that camera and then I have nothing, to be honest lighting the car on fire and rolling down a hill is something that I could enjoy for the rest of my life . . . . or at least until the alzheimer's kicks in. If I had to make a decision today it, would be option #4. Going into next spring, I'm sure that I'll have a change of heart and lean more towards a decision that is unfortunately all heart and no brain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 So wait, she left limp mode? So it was working normal when you left the trans shop? What all did they say other than its in limp mode? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breakdown Posted November 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 So wait, she left limp mode? So it was working normal when you left the trans shop? What all did they say other than its in limp mode? Trans-shop didn't have time to look her over, just talked. They said limp mode, like you take off at a light and you press the gas, rev up high RPM's but the car doesn't go anywhere. The car stopped doing that when I stopped there (coincidence they didn't touch it), but then on the way back from there, still no torque converter engaging, but at least the car had power when it came to a stop with minimal effort - like normal. Limp mode leaves the car in 2nd or 3rd or something stupid, so from a stop, you really have to gun the engine to get it to do anything. I had to do a difficult left into the trans shop (lots of traffic heading in the opposite direction) and it was hard to find a gap big enough. Trans fluids weren't 100% clean, but they were at optimum levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Try pulling up on the brake pedal when you get on an open road where the torque converter would normally engage... Also, limp mode is second, which at 100 km/hr should be turning 4k-4500 rpms... In third I think it will be closer to 3200 at that speed... 4th would be 2200-2300 without torque converter lockup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skitchin Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Sorry to hear about her problems. Would be nice if it's just a brake switch but I think we all know the truth... Lack of overdrive is just going to lead to a blown motor somewhere down the road, and that limp mode just isn't safe from the sounds of things. Might even grenade a gear sooner or later. Whatever you chose to do, enjoy the car man. I'm with ya - you could sell it for a few measly hundred dollars and be done, or light her up and have some memories. I love my car, and I'll be damned if I let someone else kill her off! Really don't care what my car's valued at - it's priceless to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White93z34 Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Lack of overdrive is just going to lead to a blown motor somewhere down the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breakdown Posted November 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 (edited) Try pulling up on the brake pedal when you get on an open road where the torque converter would normally engage... Also, limp mode is second, which at 100 km/hr should be turning 4k-4500 rpms... In third I think it will be closer to 3200 at that speed... 4th would be 2200-2300 without torque converter lockup This is what was happening in limp mode: @100kph it's about 3000 RPM It was shifting alright . . . just not using 4th, but I wasn't hitting any torque powerbands at all. You know when you jam the pedal down to pass someone, and it pulls, it wasn't doing that. The most annoying thing was that when starting from a stop at lights, you'd be at 3,000RPM (gradually or otherwise) and the car would barely be moving, once it got going it stayed going. Also thought she was idling really, really, really low. After it stopped being in retard mode, it was idling really low 600RPM but the powerbands at higher RPM's were there, and none of this non-sense about starting in second from stop signs and lights. Edited November 22, 2011 by Breakdown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skitchin Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Didn't think there was that big of a leap in my logic... High rpm's = the death of motors I only say so because it's what the original owner of my car did. Overdrive went, they kept driving it, motor went. The motor will have to deal with an increased average load, which can only shorten it's lifespan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breakdown Posted November 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Didn't think there was that big of a leap in my logic...High rpm's = the death of motors I only say so because it's what the original owner of my car did. Overdrive went, they kept driving it, motor went. The motor will have to deal with an increased average load, which can only shorten it's lifespan. Some of these cars didn't come with overdrive from the factory though - I know it's different gearing, but it's the same as running the Iron Duke or something in a W-body, the engine is going to determine the engine's life as much as anything. Riding without a torque-converter working is going to be much harder on the engine than lack of 4th speed in the long run IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White93z34 Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Didn't think there was that big of a leap in my logic...High rpm's = the death of motors I only say so because it's what the original owner of my car did. Overdrive went, they kept driving it, motor went. The motor will have to deal with an increased average load, which can only shorten it's lifespan. If this is your car I'm guessing something about the 260,000miles had more to do with the engine going then revving a little higher. lets not forget how many 3.1 cars came with 3 speed automatics that revved higher on the highway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 had the PWM wire by shipped on this car? had a transmission cooler been added? I would do both before resorting to anything harsher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skitchin Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 If this is your car I'm guessing something about the 260,000miles had more to do with the engine going then revving a little higher. lets not forget how many 3.1 cars came with 3 speed automatics that revved higher on the highway. Didn't have 260,000 miles 10 years ago... Ya know, I didn't meant to get into a technical debate so I'll just go ahead and fuck off now thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tornado_735 Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Yeah, I would try Kens suggestion. Might as well try out the free fixes first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOT2B GM Posted November 23, 2011 Report Share Posted November 23, 2011 I thought limp mode was 2nd and 3rd? Notice any weird / erratic speedometer readings? Could be a VSS signal issue.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkwolf45 Posted November 23, 2011 Report Share Posted November 23, 2011 Really dumb question, and I doubt I can contribute much but here goes... What is "limp mode?" Secondly, it's my understanding that several things can go wrong if the OD won't engage. Last winter the issue with my Cutlass was two of the connections in the PRNDL switch had given out. Took the shop some 9-10 hours to diagnose and $250 for the part. Again, sorry if it's a dumb suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breakdown Posted December 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2011 Really dumb question, and I doubt I can contribute much but here goes... What is "limp mode?" Secondly, it's my understanding that several things can go wrong if the OD won't engage. Last winter the issue with my Cutlass was two of the connections in the PRNDL switch had given out. Took the shop some 9-10 hours to diagnose and $250 for the part. Again, sorry if it's a dumb suggestion. When things are not going well for the tranny (it senses problems) it goes into something called limp-mode, which is really akin to you hobbling on a bad knee. By restraining the car to 2nd & 3rd it limits shifts and may allow the driver to get back home/to the dealer for diagnosis etc. The car is incredibly slow and non-fuel efficient in this mode! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breakdown Posted December 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2011 Leaving me with four options: 1.) Drive as is next summer (limited mileage - let's face it the fuel economy is going to be atrocious given the mileage that I run) 2.) Repair/replace transmission 3.) Replace powertrain with 3500/3800 (many will be surprised that I'd consider 3800 N/A), I just want the car to operate, obviously if I've driven it as a 3100, I can deal with the lack of power. I also seem very capable of getting speeding tickets with a 3100/3800 already. I don't need to get better at that aspect of my driving. 4.) Light car on fire and roll down hill. I ended up going with option four. Except . . . . I fired up the engine and drove it down the hill from my house and then another 300 more miles to Nunzi's house. AMY seems happy enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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