Hey guys, I have a 92 RSw/ a 3.1 V6 linked to a 700-R4, and I was going down I-95 last night, and it was randomly shifting in and out of overdrive. I would keep my foot steady, so it should have stayed in overdrive, and I wasn't going up and down any hills, I was constantly doing 70. A few hours before this trip down I -95, I was going another route, with the same speed, and the car was warmed up and overdrive was working properly. It seems to act up and/or not work when its been sitting to cool for a while, any suggestions? By the way, my trans fluid and filter were changed not even 1k ago, and the car has 70k on the clock.

 

Are you sure it was switching in and out of overdrive or was it the converter locking and unlocking? Alot of people mistake the two.

 

how did the tranny look when you changed the fluids? Metal in the pan?

 

I'm sure the mechanic would have said something if he saw it funny, as for the locking and unlocking of the torque converter, I was thinking of that as I was typing the last post, but was in a rush. If I was still in third, I would have been pushing 3230 rpms (3.23 rear end), because I was doing 70, but instead I was doing about 2500 and it would go up and down depending on throttle, so I know that it wasnt locked, then all of a sudden the dang thing would lock, and unlock randomly, please, PLEASE dont tell me its time for a new one.

 

Did it start right after it was serviced? Putting the clues together is important. 70k is fairly young to have major problems. Proper fluid level is important, follow book procedures to check it. TCC lock will give a small drop in RPM's, not so much as would a gear change. The other guy pointed out it could just be the normal lock/unlock as load conditions change and I would agree. The only other thing a service might screw up would be not removing the old filter seal and having 2 seals in. That causes it to suck air, but normally you would see that in all gears.

 

I was traveling at a constant rate (about 70) and I was goin on a flat section of the highway and it would randomly do this. There should be no reason for the TC to be unlocked while doing 1/3 throttle at 70 mph. Instead, I'm doing 70 @ 3k and the rpms are not uniform when I hit the gas, so I know it was unlocked. Also, it will not go into lockdown at 48 like it is supposed to, sometimes it will go in at 40 when going on a slower road, or it won't kick in until 65. I spun a tad in snow if that has anything to do with it, and I do not abuse my car by doing burnouts because I know my car is a P.O.S. and will not handle it, problem after problem guys, I cannot stress it enough.

 

good chance something went wrong with the fluid / filter change. Perhaps something got knocked loose, or something simple like that. I'd start there. The only other thing I could suggest is making sure the T.V. cable is properly adjusted. I know it made my 700r4 do some wacky stuff...

 

So your saying that if the car runs fine in the other three gears, it is not going bad and is most likely a small problem?

 

My gut tells me that its nothing major. If it is doing well in the other 3 gears and no more miles that you have on it, I would bet that it is most likeley something that went wrong when it was serviced. Have you tried driving it in 3rd gear and leaving it out of overdrive? If memory serves me, I'm sure it should lock up in 3rd too. If it does the same thing, then you just have a problem with it locking up, and not nessicarily a mechanical problem. Another thing you can try is checking the codes. Sometimes tranny problems will show a code.