keepemrunning

Now, I'm going to show my true ignorance. Do I check the fluid level with the car idling in neutral/park or turned off. If I check my level when the car is off it looks ok. When running, warmed up and in neutral it doesn't show except at the very bottom of the dip stick. I changed the fluid out and put in 3.5 qts plus trans-x and it grabbed in drive but popped out. Reverse is still clicking like it's not fully engaging. If this is a fluid level issue I'll be banging my head against the wall.

Something new when I started it up today. The speedometer moved when I put it into gear.

Well, I finally got out to chatge the battery and start the car checking for any flashing lights and status of the transmission once again. Hmm, No flashing AT or power5 lights. It does have the check engine illuminated. Worse was the noise when putting it into gear... clicking like it was trying but wouldn't engage. I did it a couple of times running through 1-D and reverse. Once, when I put it into Park it continued to click. I haven't gotten under it yet to check the linkage or actuators. After the rain and gets a little warmer out (this weekend).

If it's a sensor usually the AT or POWER light will blink 16 times at start up. No flashing but it's been a while so I need to check. 1. does the light blink at start up? I don't think so but I will have to check again 2. what is the fluid level sitting at? At the proper level, I had changed it out a few months before it stopped and was at the right level last time I checked 3. is the fluid nice, new, bright pink or something else? I was surprised the first time I swapped it out. It had not been changed and was still nice and red when I first changed it 4. if you move the shifter lever in the cabin - does the corresponding cabling on the passengers side of the transmission move properly too? Hmm, good question, I'll have to check 5. does the inhibitor switch seem to be switching properly? Another item I'll have to look at 6. are there any check engine lights? I believe there was a check engine light. I need to it on and start it up to see what is on or flashing. 7. is the transmission pan dented? I actually know this answer, no. 8. any prior trans work or accidents? No 9. if you leave it in drive and rev the RPM's a small amount and leave it in drive for 1 minutes - does it eventually go into gear? It used to, This all started about a year ago with a little hesitation and kept getting worse. I replaced the fluid 3 time over about 3 months using high mileage trans fluid and sea foam. It worked great for a while then came back. I replaced the fluid again and didn't help as much as the first series. Eventually, everything stopped. Reverse worked fine up to the final outage. It never smelled hot. I did have to replace the HG's and the AT light came on when the engine overheated. That happened about 3 times. The radiator and water pump have been replaced just prior to having the HG's replaced. 10. if you turn the car on and off a few time and keep moving the selector - will it go into gear? Not repeatedly. I was afraid of making things worse. I'll give it a shot. 11. when you move the selector by hand - does hte corresponding selector range on the instrument cluster change? This model/year doesn't have it on the dash, always frustrated me to have to look down at the console. The Trans-X sounds pretty potent, Towards the end I tried some other stuff which was pretty thick. Now I'm thinking it may have aggrevated the situation. Thanks everyone!

Tex and GrossGary, like you said, it can't hurt to try and a heck of a lot cheaper. I used SeaFoam and that helped initially but lost effectiveness after several fluid changes. Love the Car-part web site, I found several transmissions within a few hours driving distance if that's the way I go. Upnorth Guy and John, I thought that's what was meant by ratio but thought I may have missed something. Thanks. I'll have to check what I have. Could I be barking up the wrong tree and have a selinoid or sensor issue?

Tex, I'll look into it but I can't even get it to go into reverse. I assumed that wasn't an option at this point. I was surprised that the trans fluid was not black when I first changed it. John, I'm not sure what the ratio variance would mean in performance and if it's been sitting for 10 years would I still need to replace all the seals? But I'm interested. Thanks

This is a love/hate relationship. Love driving it but I've got all the major issues of this era. Had the head gaskets replaced about 3 years back and then the trans began the trouble of not wanting to go into gear. I replaced the fluid and filter several times and that fixed it for a while. Now it won't go into any gear. I really don't/can't pay the $3k for a rebuilt trans. What are the odds of rebuilding it myself? I thought I found a used one online but I got the same quote for the same transmission from 3 different websites so I backed away from that. Any thoughts? Thanks!