so it all started a few weeks ago. i was at school and trying to drive my 97 3.0cl (auto). winter in chicago means i would let it run for about 10 minutes before driving. i noticed it slipping out of gear often but when it would warm up everything would go back to normal. it would occasionally also have the "D4" light flash until i turned it off and back on. and the check engine light has been on since.

i figured it was just the cold affecting the transmission. it's springtime now and much nicer and i've noticed that it's not slipping anymore.

last night after driving to the city after exiting the expressway the car would hardly stay in gear. when i tap on the gas it is very jerky and hesitant. i basically had to push it to the parking spot it was in.

i figured it probably just needed some time to cool down. so a night's rest and i was hoping everything would be ok. i let it warm up a few minutes, shift into reverse, everything is fine and smooth. then shift into D4, nothing, D3, nothing. have to shift to 1st gear to get it to hardly move. i barely got 3 blocks away before realizing that something was very wrong.

the car only has 89k on it and the previous (original) owner treated it very gently and never had any problems.

so as of now, i'm trapped in chicago, 2 and a half hours late for work, and with a car that doesn't shift into gear.

any ideas???? i checked the fluid and it's a little bit over the top dot which i doubt could cause the problems i'm having.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!

 

Time for a tranny rebuild tranny

 

didnt want to start a new thread but i think my tranny is also heading out it has started shifting harder in every gear and also each gear stays in too long before shifting normally it shifts around 2600-2900rpm now its around 3200-3500. Is that whats goin out or do i just need to do a cleaning mind you i did one only like 9-10000 miles ago or last summer.

 

Heres what you do, put the car in neutral rev to 5500 rpm, keep the rpms there, and shift into drive. If after this your transmission is still working you are ready to go. Honestly, why do we see these, is my tranny going out in my 3.0 every other day posts? Seriously, if you think it is going out then it probably is. If I owned a 3.0 I would baby the poo out of it and get a hayden tranny cooler. Even then it will still probably go out 1-3 times before 200k.

 

well the ur comment was useless in helping me but at least i got a bump.
anybody with sum usefull info?
i have the original tranny wit almost 150000 on it so i was thinking maybe its going out or maaybe all the cleanling i did to the throttle body and the egr valve somehow is messing with the ecu?

 

The egr valve and tb cleaning won't affect your ecu. unless you accidently displaced some components while taking them apart. Reset your ecu if you think something's wrong with it.

Your tranny IS GOING OUT sooner or later. I am in the same boat, i'm at 147893, almost 148k. Get a tranny cooler if you haven't done so.

The higher shift point may be because of mods ? when i added the cai, pulleys etc, i notice that under normal acceleration the car shifts at a higher rpm. But i'm not sure because my car shifts at ~6K rpm usually...

Start saving around 2 grands for a rebuilt soon.

 

well im in the same boat im at 102,000 miles and my tranny is starting to slip...gunna cost me some bills to rebuild

 

well i havent really modded anything other than takin intake resonator off. did seafoam as well with that but i didnt notice any of those things affect the shift point till i did the cleaning. so idk a guy quoted me 2200 to do a complete rebuild. so im startin to save already until the nfortuanate happens.