I was helping grandson change his trans fluid and filter because it slips. The old fluid was brown, kinda carmel color. is that normal? Also I could not get the pan off because the dipstick tube nut only unscrewed a few turns then got real tight. real tight. is that normal? 1989 with 220,000 miles. so I put bolts back in and put in about 4 qts. and it still only goes a couple blocks then stops. also the kickdown cable was not hooked up so I hooked it up and it binds, does not retract. help, or should we junk the car?

 

You should definitely junk the transmission. Hard to say about the rest of the car without seeing it.

 

Most likely the trans is shot. You could try to do a proper flush on it but I doubt that it would help. These trans usually last upwards of 250 k if reasonably maintained. If abused (oil not changed at regular intervals), it is more around 225k.

You could shop around the junkyards to pick up a replacement for decent price, but as Lev said, what kind of condition is the rest of the car? The engine will probably last quite a while yet.

 

Thanks for the replys. Here is more information on car and more questions. Replaced fluid 3 times to get most burned fluid out. Car drove good for 10 blocks then the trans quit. turning off car and restarting makes it go again. It acts like it is hunting for a gear not slipping. power braking throws gravel. maybe a relay of some sort. could it be the throttle position sensor? I'm thinking it's electrical. had a similar problem on grand cherokee and it was the throttle position sensor. thanks again for any help!

 

there's no throttle position sensor on these cars, just a idle switch (and on some versions a full throttle switch).

the AW7x transmissions (and the ZF trannies used before that) are purely hydro-mechanicla, that 'kickdown' cable is the ONLY input to the transmission from the throttle, and its NOT just a kickdown cable, it modulates the band pressure and shift points. if its jammed, something is broken inside the transmission and the tranny will NOT work right without it.

 

So what you are saying is that what is called a tps on the throttle body is an idle switch and the parts suppliers have mis named it?

 

yup.

now, if your car has regina/rex injection, I'll have to look that up, I'm mostly familiar with LH2.x systems (afaik, Regina was never sold in California).