So last few weeks, the Northeast has received bountiful amounts of snow and i think it killed my car! I'm riding along in the wet snow and all the sudden my transmission starts slipping like mad in maybe 3rd (its and auto) and the trans warning lights were flashing. It continued to do this untill I parked it. When i started it back up, no lights were flashing and the trans acted fine. Now, a week later, I've noticed that it holds it's gears too long, like its hard to get it to shift if you're getting into the trottle. I'm worried that I may have shorted something or even worse: my trans is shot. Any ideas??

 

First thing you need to do is get the transmission codes pulled then go from there.

 

Ok, so i got my codes pulled today. I have a P0734 (incorrect 4th gear ratio caused by poor connection to trans or internal failure) and a P0732 which is the same code but for 2nd gear. Do these transmissions use solenoids or vaccum to change gears?

 

My trans did exactly that, but only once, over a year ago. It drove fine; parked it, got in a few hours later and it was like in limp home mode or something; think the UP arrow light was on too.

Then i noticed something had bumped the Sport/Econ trans switch; might have been in an indeterminate position. I toggled it several times (i should just hard wire it to Sport..); turned the engine off, then back on, then all was good. Never had any trans issues since.

Not saying that's your issue for sure, but something to ck for..

Beyond that, clear your codes and see if they come back. To answer your other question, I think all the trans controls are solenoids, but Tech would know for sure. Good luck.

 

I will pull the codes again in a day or two. I know it's still acting up though. When she's cold, it doesnt want to shift outta second and when you floor it in second, it will go through the gear strongly and then start redlining and won't shift till you let off the gas

 

So, I just went out for a ride. Before I left, i made sure all codes were cleared. first thing it did was not wanting to shift into second untill you let off the gas and it switches gears. Then once it warmed up, I got into it a little bit and it didn't want to shift into second again. Get home, pull codes; no codes? Repeat process, still no codes.

 

it uses solenoids for shifting gears. They might be going bad.

 

Update: So it has warmed up here in the Northeast and my trans seems to be doing better. Once in a while it still holds the gears too long (second gear in particular). But for the most part it's better. My theory is that the cold weather made my trans fluid too thick to run properly. I am still considering a trans flush but some people have warned against doing that as it could Make my trans worse. I looked at Fluid and it looks old. I don't think it's ever been changed. It doesn't look burnt though. What do you guys think?

 

Just do the drain and refill method, not the flush and your fluid should be fine. Not saying it will fix your problem, but it won't hurt like a flush might.

Jack it up with the wheels off the ground. Drain as much fluid as possible. Refill, start the car and run it through the gears. Drain it again and do the same thing. When the fluid coming out looks almost like what is going in, you are done. The first time I did mine I drained and refilled three times. Now every 20K I just do a drain and refill once or twice. Make sure you use Dexron III!

 

incorrect gear ratio /gas mix too lean/gas mix too rich!
my check engine light is on an steady but my upshift light is blinking now

what should I do?

 

Best to start a new post with your question, but it sounds like you have two seperate problems. For the gas mix issues, there's plenty of posts so do some searching - they'll tell you to try cleaning a few bits under the hood. Clear your codes and see if they come back.