Legacy 4EAT transmission - weak 2nd gear

[wtdash]

My '91 Turbo 4EAT appears to be on its way out. Using the Manual button it works fine in Reverse, 1st, 3rd and D, but in 2nd it barely accelerates and has hard time shifting to 3rd.

 

EDIT: Just found THIS post w/the exact same issue - changed fluid and it would work OK but then start slipping again.....so, I'm in for some trans work, regardless. :-(

 

The car had about 30K miles since I originally swapped in the transmission and shifting didn't seem as crisp as it was originally.

 

So, about 1 month ago, I changed the fluid doing the Drain/Refill, repeat 3X job, w/some regular ATF fluid. I didn't think the fluid looked too bad.

But no real improvement in the shifting and it actually started getting worse this last couple of weeks. Car would over-rev while shifting, and would kind of 'hang' between shifts when getting on it (see below).

 

I decided to try the Red Line D4 ATF fluid as it's supposedly the 'good stuff'. This time around I pulled the line off the AT cooler, ran it into a gallon jug, filled it about 3/4's and then added 3 quarts and repeated twice.

 

Here's a pic of the new Red Line on the left and what came out on the right:

 

As stated, the 'old' fluid has less than a 1K miles on it....

 

I checked the fluid level, and took it for a drive, and it ran a bit better.....for about 10 miles. When I was returning to home, it started over-revving in 2nd again and then barely shifted into 3rd. Reverse works fine.

 

No POWER Light blinking indication of a stored Code.

 

 

History: The transmission was rebuilt prior to when I installed it back in 7/2007, per the PO, but no paperwork to confirm and unknown miles since rebuild, so I took the chance.

 

I added an AT cooler and transmission filter, too.

 

This trans has had a HARD LIFE. It's regularly been subjected to 17-19 psi of boost - double-what the stock turbo engine puts out.

 

Thanks,

Td

 

key: Automatic, AT, Auto

Edited August 9, 2011 by wtdash

[bstone]

try a bottle of Lucas Trans Stop Slip?