jamlegend Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 I have a 1991 Cutlass Supreme with the 3.1 L engine. When I start it up cold, I have to wait approx 2 minutes before it will go into gear. First, I'd like to know what is causing this and second, how can I fix it as cheaply as possible. I want the car to last one more year. It has approx 200,000 miles on it. When it does shift into gear (drive or reverse) it runs great and shifts great. This started after I changed the fluids even though the old fluid was not terribly bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuwaitliberation Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 I will ask anyway. Did you check the fluid level after driving for about 15 minutes? Doing the whole shift through all gears and then pulling the dipstick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamlegend Posted May 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 yep. Someone told me to use Lucas Transmission treatment....the thicks stuff. Any thoughts on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Cutlass Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 yep. Someone told me to use Lucas Transmission treatment....the thicks stuff. Any thoughts on this? bad idea, unless your tranny is in major trouble don't do it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuwaitliberation Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 yep. Someone told me to use Lucas Transmission treatment....the thicks stuff. Any thoughts on this? bad idea, unless your tranny is in major trouble don't do it Ditto. If you were planning on selling it by ripping someone off, it makes your trans work smoother for a short period of time, but that's it. I have actually seen someone do this to a car I sold them for really cheap so they just did the things to cover up symptoms and sold it for 10x what he bought it from me for. He wanted to show me how to do it. Just a bit too dishonest for me. There is no way I could do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 MY 91 did that. thats why the tranny is sitting loose in the garage. something is simply worn out in the tranny were it doesn't develop enough line pressure for the valves to engage most likely. I would replace the tranny with a junkyard unit. better yet, how about selling me the car for a box of pizza rolls? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuwaitliberation Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 better yet, how about selling me the car for a box of pizza rolls? You need the pizza rolls more than you need another car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamlegend Posted May 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2007 I've found another tranny with less miles to put into it. Today I started it up and the tranny shifted into reverse and drive without any problems. I guess I'll keep driving it for a while. How hard is it to replace the tranny in this car anyways? I've done one on a 94 tercel but not on the w-body as yet. Thanks for all the replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuwaitliberation Posted May 7, 2007 Report Share Posted May 7, 2007 Not entirely sure. I'm lookin in my service manual right now realizing that the only transaxle transmissions I have ever worked on are standards. Someone else is going to have to pipe up on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted May 7, 2007 Report Share Posted May 7, 2007 You can lower the cradle and pull it from the bottom. Might be the easiest way. BTW, I see you made it over from the legend forum. Did you resolve your idling problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamlegend Posted May 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2007 You can lower the cradle and pull it from the bottom. Might be the easiest way. BTW, I see you made it over from the legend forum. Did you resolve your idling problem? Not quite yet. This problem just came up recently. I just don't want to be stranded by a bad tranny. I believe the problem with my idle problem is vacuum related. I just have to find out where it's leaking. Thanks for letting me know about this site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted May 7, 2007 Report Share Posted May 7, 2007 I dropped the frame and pulled the tranny out the drivers side. I still have not installed it's replacement, a 282 manual! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamlegend Posted May 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2007 I dropped the frame and pulled the tranny out the drivers side. I still have not installed it's replacement, a 282 manual! How long did it take you to take it out and how many helped? Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted May 7, 2007 Report Share Posted May 7, 2007 about 5-7 hours? i did it by myself, and trust me it was not fun. but then... I was doing it in a mud pit. keep in mind, I have only removed it. I have NOT reinstalled a transmission yet. I've decided to buy an engine lift, and couple the engine and tranny together, and drop them into the car. right now the engine it supported by the lower engine mount, dogbones, and RACHET STRAPS webbed accross the frame beneath the motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamlegend Posted May 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 You can lower the cradle and pull it from the bottom. Might be the easiest way. BTW, I see you made it over from the legend forum. Did you resolve your idling problem? Not quite yet. This problem just came up recently. I just don't want to be stranded by a bad tranny. I believe the problem with my idle problem is vacuum related. I just have to find out where it's leaking. Thanks for letting me know about this site. I fixed the idling problem. It was a bad ECM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamlegend Posted May 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2007 Ok. The tranny problems seem to be getting worse. It will not take drive or reverse for approx. 5 minutes when the car is cold. I have to leave it running for a while. Also, it sometimes will not shift down to 1st gear when stopping. It will go into neutral and sit there until I put it into neutral and then back into drive. What can I do to fix this? Also, I just replaced the ECM and now I notice the speedometer is showing 10 MPH lower than what I am actually going. I didn't notice this before replacing the ECM. I did do the relearn on the ECM. Any ideas on this. The cluster is digital. Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAMDIT Posted May 18, 2007 Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 about 5-7 hours? i did it by myself, and trust me it was not fun. but then... I was doing it in a mud pit. keep in mind, I have only removed it. I have NOT reinstalled a transmission yet. I've decided to buy an engine lift, and couple the engine and tranny together, and drop them into the car. right now the engine it supported by the lower engine mount, dogbones, and RACHET STRAPS webbed accross the frame beneath the motor. I have an engine hoist if you need to borrow one. Not sure how you would get it to where the car is but you are welcome to it if ya need it. -Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted May 18, 2007 Report Share Posted May 18, 2007 Your transmission is toast. Time to replace or rebuild. It is the same thing my 91 vert tranny did. a good tip: get the tranny to go engage post-haste by: A pushing the car and engaging the gear while rolling, or B raise one front wheel and putting the car in gear so the transsmision runs for a moment. once I did this to my car, the tranny ran fine (except 3rd gear/regular drive clutch was gone) until it cooled off again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamlegend Posted May 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2007 Ok. The tranny problems seem to be getting worse. It will not take drive or reverse for approx. 5 minutes when the car is cold. I have to leave it running for a while. Also, it sometimes will not shift down to 1st gear when stopping. It will go into neutral and sit there until I put it into neutral and then back into drive. What can I do to fix this? Also, I just replaced the ECM and now I notice the speedometer is showing 10 MPH lower than what I am actually going. I didn't notice this before replacing the ECM. I did do the relearn on the ECM. Any ideas on this. The cluster is digital. Thanks, Speedometer problem is fixed. I had to swap the eprom with the one from the old ECU. I called the dealer and they told me to do this. It displays the right speed now. The tranny issue seems to be getting a little better. I put in some lube guard (red bottle) and it seems to be getting better. We'll see if it fixes it entirely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.