VN 5L Transmission issues

[FrangaVP]

Hello all,
The Auto in my 5L decided today that it wont go into 4th gear, which on the highway where you need to drive 110 is a big big issue, taxing the motor big time.
Also a few other things the shifts between 1st and 2nd are very slow and quite harsh unless I drive the car flat to the boards. There also feels like quite a lot of vibration coming from the box, I can feel the vibration through both the left hand side of the drivers chair and the centre console. The vibration is especially bad when you've just taken your foot off the accelerator pedal.

All fluids including the transmission are all sweet and to there is no overheating issue.
Any help you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated as I need to drive back to Melbourne from Sydney on Thursday.

Edit: According to a website with a list of symptoms and causes of issues with the Commodore Auto apparently it might be the TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) " 1-2 shift is delayed and harsh, may not shift into OD: Check TPS for smooth and linear electrical response over the entire range of motion. If not, replace."

So I will do the yee-old paperclip diagnostic tommorow and hopefully that will give me some info.

 

[WazzaVN]

I had a few of my auto's in my vp acting almost the same as yours is. Eventually they only went from 1st to 2nd and 3rd and 4th ceased to exist anymore. I cracked it with auto's and did a t5 conversion lol. But it was most likely something I did wrong while I was trying to fix them. I'd say your auto's on the way out by the sound of it dude. See if you can fix it or maybe get it reco'd or put a reco'd auto in it.

 

[Circlotron]

Definitely not the TPS, assuming you have the Turbo 700 tranny. These use a pull cable to tell the tranny what the throttle position is. I expect the information you read is for the VR onward 4L60E that is controlled by the computer, so for that the TPS stuff would make sense.

 

[FrangaVP]

Definitely not the TPS, assuming you have the Turbo 700 tranny. These use a pull cable to tell the tranny what the throttle position is. I expect the information you read is for the VR onward 4L60E that is controlled by the computer, so for that the TPS stuff would make sense.

Yeah I've got the standard VN 5L Auto, I was hoping it would be a cheap electronic fix, so I'm guessing its more likely a mechanical issue. Thanks for the info.

 

[STEALTHY™]

I had a few of my auto's in my vp acting almost the same as yours is. Eventually they only went from 1st to 2nd and 3rd and 4th ceased to exist anymore. I cracked it with auto's and did a t5 conversion lol. But it was most likely something I did wrong while I was trying to fix them. I'd say your auto's on the way out by the sound of it dude. See if you can fix it or maybe get it reco'd or put a reco'd auto in it.

My auto did the same thing (lost 3 and 4) so i did the same, comverted to manual.

Whilst it doesn't answer the question, it does solve the problem.

 

[FrangaVP]

I did the paperclip diagnostic code 12, all is apparently well according to the computer.

Personally I still need the auto, so i'm off to the Auto mechanics tommorow to see whats what.

I'll let you guys know what the problem was once its fixed and we work out what was wrong

 

[FrangaVP]

I just remembered I didn't update this thread with what the problem actually was.

I took it to an auto specialist and it turned out the gear linkage wasn't properly alligned and thats why the car wasn't going into 4th gear. The mechanic alligned it and it was all sweet.

 

[Circlotron]

Sounds like the guy who did the job is honest! Some people would have told you it was some complex, expensive problem and charged you a buttload for five minutes work. Maybe you should give him some free advertising here.

 

[FrangaVP]

Sounds like the guy who did the job is honest! Some people would have told you it was some complex, expensive problem and charged you a buttload for five minutes work. Maybe you should give him some free advertising here.

Good idea, it was the good people at Col Voss Automatics in Brookvale, NSW who helped me out.