Hello

I have a 1997 2.2 CL with 156k on it with the original automatic transmission.

The problem is that when cruising from about 2k RPM's and shifting into 2nd, the car makes an extremely loud and annoying pinging noise for about a second before shifting, sometimes even longer. It also does this when going into 3rd. The car only does this when its cruising from a stop, but if I floor it from a stop it doesn't repeat this problem and shifts rather fastly. The problem is worst when the car is cold. The tranny fluid is a very pink color with EXTREMELY light hint of brown. The noise can be heard when not in the car, the noise is also pretty loud too, it can be heard probably about 30 feet away

Could it also be non-transmission related? This car also makes knocking noise from the lower part of the engine at idle, it can be easily heard when you bring your head to bumper level.

could it be impending transmission failure?

-thanks

 

It could be a loose connecting rod. Worn bearing allows enough slack to cause the rod to rattle w/ high frequency ping on the crankshaft under high load. At idle, the sound would be lower pitched, more of a knocking sound.

It could also be spark knock. Spark knock is high pitched pinging due to piston slap against the cylinder wall under uneven combustion. It usally occurs under initial acceleration and not just before shifting.

You need some professional help to diagnose the problem and possibly prevent severe damage.

good luck

 

Thanks for the advice.

I actually had posted this eight months ago and got no response, and I actually copied and pasted my old post into this one making small changes, heh.

The problem since then has not gotten worse or any better, but I will definitely get these checked by my friend.

Again, thanks for the response.

 

sounds like the tranny is starting to slip. happened to my g/f's 97 auto also, replaced the trans a week later