transmission or torque converter die? please help me.

I took a short road trip to Indiana this weekend. On the way back to wv I started to have some problems. My car is a 90 auto with 120k miles. The transmission was rebuilt by the previous owner. The problem: on the interstate when I would try to accelerate, the rpms would shoot up, but no more speed. I cruised along at 80 or so the whole way (until all of the hills anyway) and the tranny was not slipping at all. The acceleration thing would happen mainly when I was into the supercharger. When not on the interstate, the transmission would not accelerate very well. It would rush to get to the top gear, whether it be in drive or overdrive, and the the problem described above would happen some more. A friend told me it may be the torque converter rather than the transmission. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks for any help.

Well....

Well my first thoughts on this would be that it is your OD band. My car is a 1991 Auto with 120K on it and when I would cruise along at any speed (above 45 so OD would be on) and would accelerate even slowly going into boost the RPMs would wind out. When I let off the gas it would fall right back in and be fine. The problem was intermittent for a while but then it became worse and worse. Until finnally I have no more OD band. I can't even get it to go in anymore. So now I drive along in drive. The only problem I see with this is that fact that you said it happens even when you have it in drive ( D )? If thats true then OD is not your problem. But the problem I have sounds so similiar to yours. Just my 2 cents.

here we go

We need more to help you figure this out. Like does it slip at lower speeds like in 1st or 2nd gear?

when you take off did you notice that your rpms seem to be higher?

Did you check the fluid level while being warmed up?
Did the fluid look clean or dirty?

After a rebuild you are supposed to change the fluid and filter after the first 100 miles because of all the material settling in just like a rebuild on a engine.

If you can think of anything else post it what its doing?

Raymond

Sounds like your clutch's are worn out. From the sound of it the tranny does'nt really slip until you apply boost. Am I right? If so it sounds like the clutch's have worn enough that they cannot hold the extra torque the blower boost is creating. Take it easy on it and get it rebuilt as soon as you can, or you could have alot more things to fix.[extra money$$$$$$$]

more details...

I drove the car to work today, noticed some other bad signs. It is now hesitant to shift from first. The rpms do seem to be a little higher when I take off. It does eventually shift, but I have to get to the redline and then let off the gas for it to shift sometimes.

I did check the fluid the yesterday while it was warm and it was to the correct level and clean. I am going to have the fluid and filter changed sometime today while I am at work.

Things are starting to look bad, but thanks for your help everyone.

Check the TV cable


Aaron

TV cable??

What is that and where is it located? Thanks.

Re: Well....

91BLOWNSC said:

Well my first thoughts on this would be that it is your OD band. My car is a 1991 Auto with 120K on it and when I would cruise along at any speed (above 45 so OD would be on) and would accelerate even slowly going into boost the RPMs would wind out. When I let off the gas it would fall right back in and be fine. The problem was intermittent for a while but then it became worse and worse. Until finnally I have no more OD band. I can't even get it to go in anymore. So now I drive along in drive. The only problem I see with this is that fact that you said it happens even when you have it in drive ( D )? If thats true then OD is not your problem. But the problem I have sounds so similiar to yours. Just my 2 cents.

Click to expand...

91BLOWNSC
I have a 1990 Auto with about 108K on it. I just started having almost the exact problem you described. When going up an incline on the highway even at 70-75 it will rev without increasing speed, but only in OD. It acts like it's hunting between 3rd and 4th, but I don't let it slip long enough to see if it finds 3rd. I have had a stage 1 TransGo shift kit and B&M Quick silver installed about a year and a half ago and it's felt pretty solid till now. About the only thing I've had happen to the tranny was I blew a line on the way to Carlisle this year and hence had to show up with no car. Bob Simpson (NJTACC) really helped me out giving me a ride there and fixing my car quickly. The fluid had a slight burnt smell, but not too bad. I had the fluid and filter changed soon after getting it fixed. I know I'm well on my way to a rebuild, but how long did your's last before it was rebuild or park? Even if I lose OD completely, will it still be drivable (ignoring mileage) till I can afford a rebuild or upgrade? My budget and I aren't exactly on speaking terms. I'm still paying off the loan from having to put in an engine 20K ago.

same thing happened to me on the way TO florida from PA. I would have to punch the gas till it got to 3k untill it would finally catch in first gear. The rest of the gears were fine for a short while then they would start slipping under boost. My tranny fluid came out straight black by the time it went kaput. First thing I would do is get a tranny flush, around 70 bucks but it could end up saving you alot more than that in the long run. When mine went though, all I had was reverse, and I drove it about 3k miles with those symptoms, I would take care of it ASAP.

Tony8470 said:

same thing happened to me on the way TO florida from PA. I would have to punch the gas till it got to 3k untill it would finally catch in first gear. The rest of the gears were fine for a short while then they would start slipping under boost. My tranny fluid came out straight black by the time it went kaput. First thing I would do is get a tranny flush, around 70 bucks but it could end up saving you alot more than that in the long run. When mine went though, all I had was reverse, and I drove it about 3k miles with those symptoms, I would take care of it ASAP.

Click to expand...

I would love to Tony8470, but at the moment I'm still at a budget deficit. The fluid was just changed in June after getting the car back from Bob and has about 6 months and maybe 10 or 12K on it at the most. The fluid still looks like it is in good shape (proper color and no noticable smell) and is at the proper level. Once the stores reopen after today, it has a bottle of TransMedic in it's future. Hopefully that will limp it along till I can afford to do it right. If it weren't for labor costs, I'm torn between a properly built AOD and a 5-speed conversion(not that there's a preference question here. 5-speed of course) as materials wise there's not a huge cost difference. I'm not a mechanic, so labor costs are the major factor. Properly rebuilding mine or an aftermarket drop in would cost the least to install. The thing that REALLY gets me is that I JUST got the exhaust done.

The TV cable is attached to your throttle body right below the throttle cable. I've seen weird stuff like that if the cable comes loose....

Though that sounds like an Exploder we used to own that went to some "idiots" my mom's ex-boyfriend used to deal with for transmissions for a rebuild. Never did end up finding out what was wrong but we had trouble getting it to shift a lot of the times, had to redline it before it would and the acceleration was horrid. Had it throw up the fluid all over the ground once... Anyway I hope it something simple for ya but from the sound of it, it's probably not