voltar Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Hi. 1996 Lumina 6 cyl auto. Problem started a few weeks ago. Hard to find reverse. I had to go through all the gears and it would go into reverse eventually if I went down a hair from park. Now it takes 5 to 10 minutes to get it into any gear. In neutral, I can rev the motor. I reverse or any forward gear, I can feel the motor drag and the car moves in the proper direction about 1/2 inch and stops dead like it is in park. Almost like it is in reverse and forward at the same time. Once it goes into gear, I can drive the car all day with correct shifting, no noises or slipping. Local trans shop said I need a new trans. The fact that they took 2 minutes to come up with that statement and that it shifts and operates perfect once it goes into gear make me wonder if it is a popular problem and if it is an easy fix. Thanks.....Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 how old is the fluid/filter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voltar Posted February 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Hi. I just bought the car a few months ago and the trans fluid is full, clean and has no bad smell. I do not know how old it is or if the filter was ever serviced. I would be glad to have them both changed if there was a chance it would correct the problem. I am not a trans expert but am I wrong in thinking that since it shift so well once I get it into gear, the fluid & filter are ok? Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldscsc Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Fluid and filter changes don't (for the most part) fix internal issues. Wild guess, but it sounds like you have a seal that has gone bad -- upon startup, the seal is cold and has contracted doesn't seal properly. Once warmed up, the seal expands and seals. A traditional automatic transmission uses hydraulic pressure to apply clutch packs that control gearsets. What I'm getting at here is that if you have internal fluid leaks, your trans won't work right, as the pressure you are losing to a bad seal is the same pressure you need to apply to clutch packs to get movement out of the trans. Like I said, you can't really diagnose something like this over the internet. General rule of thumb, though, is that problems such as taking long amounts of time to drop into gear usually require a rebuild to correct. Edit: How many miles does the car have on it? A typical auto trans will last anywhere from 120k to 200k if you're lucky, so if its getting up there in mileage it probably needs rebuilt anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voltar Posted February 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Thank you for the reply. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchill07 Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 I had a problem to where it took a few minutes to go into reverse. It turned out to be the The pump for the transmission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich17 Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Dont rule out the filter either. Could be clogged or separated internally and not allowing it to suck the proper amount of fluid up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voltar Posted February 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Thank you to all that replied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 pan drop and new filter is the first thing I recommend, I have a suction kit to evacuate the fluid then I pull the pan and replace the fluid. I have heard of this fixing the issue in some cases, most likely due to a restricted filter, but it could be a bad seal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted February 23, 2013 Report Share Posted February 23, 2013 I wonder if the parking pin is sticking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virtuetovice Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 I tend to stay far away from a trans shop that will immediately say "needs new trans". I had a similar issue with my 89 Cutlass a few years back. From a cold start it would go into drive and reverse fine and move fine. Once it ran through first gear and attempted to shift into 2nd, it just went neutral. If I let it warm up first it did fine. After almost two years of that going on, the trans decided it was done with life and there was nothing but brown fluid and metal chunks left of its insides. That being said, a fluid/filter change is messy but inexpensive. It may help to take your trans dipstick out, wipe it with a clean paper towel and compare it to this image: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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