90 Loyale shifting issue

[turboloyale]

Well here is the deal I have had the car for a couple of months now but due to some medical issues I have only put 20-30mils on it, I went out for a drive to day to see a friend, went 27.6 miles,and shut it off at his house for about 10 min or so. We were going to run to the store for beer but when I pulled out it would not shift into any gear past 2nd.

 

I let it sit and cool down for a few hours at his house and then fired it up and drove home with no problems, got home and let it sit for about 10-15 min and went t drive it and it wont shift past 2nd gear, I don't know what it is that is wrong with it but I would like to drive it more than my Durango just because of the fuel cost alone.

 

Any help would be VERY helpful, forgot to say the car is, 1990 Loyale Turbo with an Auto only has 155,650 on it now after todays trip. THANKS for Reading,

[john in KY]

Very odd. This model has the 4EAT. You didn't mention a light in the dash flashing 16 times so it appears the electronics/solenoids aren't the problem. Get under the car and with someone working the shifter verify everything is lining up on that fan-shaped whatever on the passenger side of the transmission. This part has I believe 4 indents. Too difficult to explain but once you see it it should be obvious. Each indent equals a gear. 

[rain_man_rich]

Simple thing first.  Fluid level?  Mine had similiar problems once and it turned out the fluid level was low.

[turboloyale]

Thanks for the reply John, the power light is Blinking now that you mention it I dident pay attention before but it is blinking when I turn he key on. The Neutral Safety switch has been replaced by the previous owner, Have the po on it.

[turboloyale]

I have added more fluid than I would like to admit, almost 2 quarts to it but it is still doing the same thing. There is NO leak at all.

Here Is a Question; If the PO had replaced the tranny and did not prime the torque converter could that be why I have put so much fluid into it?

 

I bought it from a guy that was a little off it seemed, said he was going to put a Cummins into one of these little cars but he was stopped by SUBARU for taking there Idea after he had contacted them to see if they would supply the adapter for the transmission, like I said A LITTLE OFF.

[turboloyale]

So update-- I went out and drove for about 15 miles came home and drained all the fluid out of the transmission, I had a old 5qt oil jug that got filled up and part of another 1qt bottle. So I am figuring that it only had 6qts total in the system. My CHILTONS manual says that it requires 6.9-7.1 , I'm figuring that because of the difference in fluid that it is causing the problem. I have put in 6qs of new fluid and am waiting for morning to got to the parts store for another Qt. to top it off. fingers crossed that this is it.

 

NOTE: The fluid level on the dipstick was always hard to see if it was full or not and so I figured that this was the best way to know how much fluid was truly in there.

[rain_man_rich]

Dont forget there is still fluid in the torque converter.  Be careful not to overfill the transmission.

[turboloyale]

Well I DON'T KNOW I have come to the end of my rope so I have posted the darn thing to Craigslist, I cant put any more money it just can't afford it. I wish I could. I'm asking 750 for it, I will be putting it in the Ads on this site to, Wish I had the Answer for the issue.

[NorthWet]

You should only need to add 3-4 qts of ATF; the rest is retained in the Torque Converter. 

 

The blinking power light is the Transmission control unit (TCU) telling you that there is a problem in the electronic controls (typically solenoids), and that it is probably in "limp mode" (remains in 3rd gear).  There is a procedure to "pull" the error code. Sounds like you are more interested in getting rid of it, though.

[turboloyale]

gone to a guy that has a tranny for it thanks for all the input, now looking for another wagon just not the turbo.