1992 Calais VP Auto transmission problem

[miholden]

Hi all,

I'm guessing that my tranny is about to pack up but i hope someone out there can tell me why it will not change gears until it is close to 4K revs.
I have topped up the tranny oil but it is not making any difference.

In driving, it feels like it jumps to 4th or 5th gear and misses 1,2 & 3 because once it changes at the 4k mark my speedo can go from 60 to over 100kph without any further gear changes.

Is this simply due to the oil level or something more serious?

cheers
mh

[dodgy]

when was the tranny last serviced? kick down cable adjusted?

[miholden]

Sorry, i bought the car 2 yrs ago. Dont know if its ever been serviced.

[fazz1977]

Sounds like it needs a good service. I'd call the trans place. Usually costs around $100 unless there is repairs to be made.

[PaRaDoX]

In driving, it feels like it jumps to 4th or 5th gear

they'res your problem :P the auto's didnt have 5 gears unless you include reverse

sounds like its slipping to me man, go get it serviced, might just need some ajusting, but please dont drive it too much before u get it fixed, seen it end badly when people do that (my mate had a cracked radiator and blew his head.. )

[miholden]

well spotted Paradox.....

anyway....sounds like i do need a service badly.

cheers mh

[PaRaDoX]

yeah, mine was slipping untill i got a service, something with the gear band tension or something... i dont know much about transmissions except they have gears and chew kw if crappy

come to think of it, take the car to a transmission specialist, take them for a drive (let them drive) and see what they think, usually they can spot the EXACT problem, for free... rather than get it serviced for them to get it half apart, and say "your gears are fked" and charge you for the service anyway...

and a tranny specialist wont tell you that somehow your steering rack is broken and they replaced it along with the tyres because they're undersized and the brake pads meanwhile your like huh ??? i wanted the transmission done!!!!!!!

(i hate mechanics that fit the part then tell you... GRRRR, or dont tell u the cost of a part before u install it)

[FXST01]

I would start by checking the fluid level and colour and adjusting the kick down cable, do you have a cooler ?

[savage1987]

Mine was holding gears for far too long, as yours is. Got the transmission serviced and it was perfect. They tell me I have a good 100,000 km left in my gearbox !!
It's playing up again a little bit now, because when I changed the radiator I didn't top up the auto trans fluid that was lost in the cooler . . .
The original problem had something to do with valves I think, but again I have no idea when it comes to a slushbox . . .

[lilredwagon]

Have a look at:
http://ftech.hypermobile.pl/index.ph...at=trans/trans
The site is Polish I think, and you have to be a member to get at some the info on the main page, can't for the life of me interpret it, but the page listed above has English instructions and has a large amount of info on known problems and fixes (lotsa pics too).
Usual argument of course - if you don't understand it - don't stuff with it!
Some of the info may get you into a whole lot of difficulty, but if your trannie is cactus, you may not make it any worse?

[jules]

there's very little a transmission service can achieve other than change the oil and filter. the box is fairly inaccessible unless you rip it out of the car, and you are looking at big bucks for that.

reluctance to change gear can be a few things. if a seal has gone there may not be sufficient oil pressure to effect the gear change. the bad news is there are a lot of seals and they're all deep inside..

thanks for that site lilredwagon, i'm (trying to) rebuild my TH700.

[Full Spectrum]

Thats the problem with these VN-VP trannys, You really can only maintain them you really cant adjust them,
It's how good you keep them going is how long they will last.
Myn went almost a day after it hit 300,000km. But it had a hard life.
Even my new tranny was having shift problems because the kick down cable popped out it must be that.

[jules]

mine went after about 160,000 km, but it was caused by a misfire i took too long to diagnose overloading the transmission.

one small thing, when you say VN/VP trannies, they are still going to use essentially the same box in the VE!

[Full Spectrum]

They have come along way since our cars Our trannys don't even have electronics in them

[jules]

yeah that's true but as i understand it the electronics are just a few bolt on solenoids that manage the shift strategy to replace some of the valve body components. the guts of it remain the same as back in the VN

[Full Spectrum]

With many many upgrades.
Be like a VT to a VZ

[PaRaDoX]

actually... i beg to differ,

in the VS onwards the gear box was controlled by the ecu, so... esentially its not the same box, alot of changes in it, like the gear selecting, 1-2-3-D w/ ecconomy, diffrent gear ratio's i believe... completely diffrent where we have 1-2-D-PD, our PD has shorter gear radio's (shifts earlier) where the economy button shifts earlier aswell or later, i cant remember... all i know is they are not the same box.. not by a long shot, similar yes...

[jules]

it's obviously not identical but it's based on the same box.

a transmission is broadly made up of two parts - the valve body which is located in the pan, and the gearsets which are inside the box.

the 4L60 box has been used from the VN right up to the new VE.

you can see from here that the VS has the same gear ratios, as will the VE.

the main difference is that instead of using hydraulic accumulators and modulators to judge when to shift gear, it's now done electronically. this actually doens't change the box that much, it just means swapping a few hydraulic bits on the underside (in the pan area) for solenoids.

but the internals of the box (where the gearsets and shift pistons and clutchpacks are) is still mostly the same.

[Full Spectrum]

Like a Buick V6 to a Ecotec V6