Hello! I have been a member since '07 and the thirdgen has been the only car I've ever owned! I've been faithful to utilize advice on this board, but I've never needed to post, until now...

I'm driving a 1990 'bird w/ the 3.1V6 in it. It WAS running fine as of last week. Only noticeable problems were #1) One leaky frost/core/exchange plug in the front requiring I add coolant every so often. (I replaced the 3 on the back of the block when the bottom one went and left me stranded in another town. I had no clue those were also leaking until it was too late and the block wouldn't hold ANY water; That's where I used the forums last thanks guys!) At this time, while the trans was out, I changed the gasket and filter out as well as used fresh fluid. I replaced the fluid in the torque converter as well since all of that came out too...

and #2) slight loss of power / lack of acceleration. I honestly say slight. However, as of last week, that has become an understatement. From a dead stop to climbing a little hill, the car won't get over 30mph. I can remember INCREASING speed climbing WV mountains on I-77... It's as if the vehicle doesn't want to, or know when, to shift. However, I feel even if it did shift properly, there's still NO power. I'm running 25-2800 RPMs and crawling off the line... After I get on the high way the car will eventually get through all the gears (but not overdrive. maybe once out of the 4 days driving like this). This makes me believe I burnt up that 3/4 pack... There is also a RECENT added sound like air coming from around the passenger kick panel (or perhaps behind the "glove box/sleeve") That sound is in proportion to my stepping on the gas. The final death rattle has been an extra hiss which I believe triggered the Check Engine Light... I never have CEL issues.

So, I'm confident my trans has subtly shot itself. Fluid is now super dark, probably from burnup ...bands? Whatever can burn up in a trans, I think I have. Insult to injury, I can't smell properly so I can't tell if the fluid smelled burnt, haha;

If someone can "diagnose" likely problems from my symptoms, amen! I feel like somehow when I dropped the trans to replace the core plugs between the trans/engine I didn't put it back on properly? I DO know that that LAST retaining clip on the engine side of the trans was NOT put back on when we bolted the transmission back in. From that point on I never drove the car hard for fear of blowing that seal out. (a healthy paranoia imo). Either way, I really don't think that's why my tranny has done what it's done... btw, this replacement was a good 3 months ago and initially I had been checking fluid levels every week just in case I screwed up. Was red, no immediate issues, and my trans always held proper level...

SECONDLY,

I've found a 91 'bird that has been sitting 2 years because of a fuel pump problem. (I'm thinking the trans and engine are SOLID! Hate that it's sat because of a simple fuel pump... Either way, their loss MIGHT be my gain)

Could there be issues with this transmission having sat for 2 years unused? Dry rotting seals? Contaminated fluid? I'm not exactly a novice mechnically speaking, but it's not my trade. I don't mind taking it apart and replacing potentially problematic pieces before putting it into my vehicle.

I apologize for the novel, but I try to be descriptive. Thank you for your input my friends!

 

What codes is it giving?

The biggest issue with TH700R4's is the TV cable. It MUST be properly adjusted.

 

Code 45. oxygen sensor rich...

seems unrelated but should I tackle that code first?

 

Yep, EFI systems no-likey the bad censor readings.

 

Well, just for an update/aside. In transit to an autozone, my car choked out at a stop light, started her up and managed to get her to a friends house. And there she remains, lol. Flooded the engine. Plugs reek of gasoline and I left them sitting out to dry (and hopefully the extra fuel in the cylinders will evaporate as well...

Is Murphy upset with me? or do all of these things tie together, by the way I discovered my exhaust is dangling from the tailpipe and catalytic... the sensor is on the other side of the catalytic though... could that still be vomiting trouble code 45?

 

You need to get a scantool or datalogger. I fought a code 45 on my TBI Caprice for a few months only guessing what may be wrong. Once I was able to datalog I found that the ECU was pulling max fuel (>108 BLM). After fiddling with fuel pressure and finally replacing the injectors with some units from the junkyard I got the BLM inline (128 +/- 5). I also found even with a 3 wire O2 it was going in and out of closed loop on the colder evenings. Ended up being a poor ground fir the heater circuit. All of this was fixed in half day and took the car through emissions testing that afternoon and passed.