'00 lego auto trans, unneeded downshifting, flashing AT Temp light

[johnceggleston]

00 lego L w/ auto trans, 85k miles.

i bought it about 1500 miles ago with the ''slow to engage'' issue. i aded some trans-x and it cleared it right up.

about 500 miles after purchase, it got rod knock the engine quit. i bought a replacement 01 engine and used my heads and intake on the short block.

back on the road with no issues until now. 

 

last week i repalced the RF axle and on start up i had 4 cels. i checked the main connectors on the rear of the engine and sprayed them with MAF claener. its all i had. reseated the connector and all was well.

 

a few days later on the hiway the car suddenly downshifts to 3 for no apparent reason while running at 60 - 65mph.

then up to 4 then down to 3. and then a flashing AT Temp light.

 

get to the store , turn it off and back on expecting a flashing AT Templight at start up, but NO. NO flashing lights and NO CEL.

 

i was hopping for it to be the trans connector on the rear of the engine , but i reseated it and there was no ''apparent'' contamination and no improvement afterwards. it was not completely seated but it is now. the car drove the same on the test drive. so it does not seem that was the issue. just a coincedence.

 

fluid is good color and level. i was thinking i might do a drain and fill with some trans-x, just for grins.

no CELs, no flashing ATTemp light at start up.

it will down shift with the least bit of throttle.

occasionally it feels as though it is in FWD, other times i THINK i feel a little binding.

sometimes it will hold a gear too long before shifting. and it has a harder than normal 1-2 shift. 

 

 if i shift into 2, it will not down shift. and of course in 1 it can't, there is nowhere to go. but in 4 or 3 it will down shift any time it likes. it usually upsifts pretty quickly afterward, but not always.

 

the ATTemp light is not always flashing when it is acting up, and turning it off and back on will usually clear the flashing.

 

help me please, i'm beginnig to think about a trip to the dealer.

 

i did find one thread with a flashing AT Temp light on a 96 while driving. but there wasn't really any conclusive solution reported back. he took it to the dealer and they ''said it was a ground wire''.

 

thanks,

john

Edited March 5, 2013 by johnceggleston

[nipper]

Did it flare at all or just shift up and down. Usually when a transmission is dying you will loose the upper gears first. The TCU may have dropped it a gear because something failed, or s solenoid got stuck. Hard to tell without it happening again.

 

You have the delated shift again? 

 

TransX will fix it, but if it is beyond daving (bad seal) even TransX wont help.

[johnceggleston]

 

i did find one thread with a flashing AT Temp light on a 96 while

driving. but there wasn't really any conclusive solution reported back.

he took it to the dealer and they ''said it was a ground wire''.

 

well it was in fact a loose ground wire. the one on rthe intake right next to the coil pack.

the bolt was lose. i swapped in the engine last summer and i guess i was just lucky for the last 6- 8 months.

but messing around in there working with the axle must have knocked loose.

 

i had checked for both engine and trans codes and got neither. but almost every time i drove it the AT Temp light would flash.

 

i'm just glad i don't have to take it to AAMCO transmissions.

[nipper]

I the son of the devil still in business? they have all closed in my area. Chain muffler shops are going that way too (thank goodness).

Edited March 22, 2013 by nipper

[Rooster2]

Glad you found a fix with that loose ground wire. Hope all stays well.

[johnceggleston]

 

Chain muffler shops are going that way too (thank goodness).

i was at Merchants Tire today getting my state inspetion done. and the manager told me that the mother company, NTB or Tire Kingdom has just bought Midas Muffler, and a few others.

 

oh well.