Transmission Slipping?

[lovefrom1977]

With my 2000 alero, it seems like the transmission will randomly slip. The rpms will go up but you wont go any faster until it decides to kick in a few seconds later. Is my transmission failing or do you think i might need to change the filter and fluid in it. The car has about 80,000 miles on it and that has never been changed/replaced. What should I do?

[xXManwhoreXx]

Yea! You should get both changed, I never had mine changed and at 69,000 my tranny gave out. Ask them about the fluid, if there are chunks of metal in the tranny fluid than you have a problem like I did.

[zzyzzx]

Check the fluid level first. It could be low.

for comparison purposes, my 1995 Ford Escort, at > 167,000 miles still has the original transmission fluid in it, and I've never had to add any either.

:eek:

[Spilner521]

I have 99,000 miles on my car with the original transmission fluid and filter and I've been boosted for about 2 and a half years, plus I have the B&M Shiftplus set to shift the hardest. Not one problem.

Check the fluid level and if it looks ok, it may be time for a new transmission.

[lovefrom1977]

how do i check the transmission fluid level? Can i also check how the fluid looks?

[Spilner521]

It's kind of a stupid design actually. Instead of a dipstick (which would've made sense) you have to jack the car and pull a plug on the transmission case that you can only get to from under the car. If fluid comes out of the hole, there's enough. If no fluid comes out, there's not enough.

[[ion] C2]

I have 99,000 miles on my car with the original transmission fluid and filter and I've been boosted for about 2 and a half years, plus I have the B&M Shiftplus set to shift the hardest. Not one problem.
Heheh 185,000 here all stock, transmission will be HPTuned to shift quicker soon.

[zzyzzx]

C2;370426']Heheh 185,000 here all stock, transmission will be HPTuned to shift quicker soon.

Does that include the original transmission fluid?

[[ion] C2]

As far as I know.

[lovefrom1977]

has anyone else here ever have this problem where the transmission randomly slips? Would low fluid cause it to do this? Im going to check the level soon.

[lovefrom1977]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me where that plug is and or have a picture of it? It would be greatly appreciated.

[kniedelm9490]

mine slips randomly .. all the time. dont have the extra money to fix it right now so i just deal with it

[zzyzzx]

Anybody have any experience what that "high mileage" transmission fluid I see in the stores. I'm thinking of using it in my Escort (~167,000 miles).

[CiscoPath]

All of a sudden, my tranny slipped a couple of days ago. The first day, even when mildly pressing the gas, it subtly, hesitantly jerked until I reached my speed. The next day, it ran ok so I give it a little more gas, and it started jerking erratically. When I stopped at the next light, it was jerking even while sitting still. I put it in neutral and the car revs fine. Taking it to get the transmission fluid changed next week. It sux because if it's something really major, it's gonna cut into my honeymoon budget. Talk about bad timing

[mitchell72]

okay this may sound dumb but i have never had a car without a tranny dipstick so my question is. if you have to jack it up and pull the plug then is there any way this can be over filled because if so then you would have to have the car jacked up at a certain angle right?

[kniedelm9490]

All of a sudden, my tranny slipped a couple of days ago. The first day, even when mildly pressing the gas, it subtly, hesitantly jerked until I reached my speed. The next day, it ran ok so I give it a little more gas, and it started jerking erratically. When I stopped at the next light, it was jerking even while sitting still. I put it in neutral and the car revs fine. Taking it to get the transmission fluid changed next week. It sux because if it's something really major, it's gonna cut into my honeymoon budget. Talk about bad timing

when i shift it in to gears it jumps.......... it sucks ass i feel the jerk every day

[jaxalero]

My car did this for about a year and finally I found this site and the answer. It is quite possibly the air intake sensor, and the connector plug. My plug wires were jacked up, $16 dollars and it was fixed!

You can buy this part at just about any parts place. Hope this helps

[JOEY GLADSTONE]

Yea! You should get both changed, I never had mine changed and at 69,000 my tranny gave out. Ask them about the fluid, if there are chunks of metal in the tranny fluid than you have a problem like I did.

thats what happens when you beat on your car, if you want it to last longer then a couple of months i suggest you not treat your next car like you did to your alero

[CiscoPath]

^^geez, Joey. I don't even think the guy's been back in weeks. Leave him alone...roflmao

[01oldsgls]

eh he kind of deserves it, especialyl after his sequal to fast and the furious : alero drift

[-Alero-]

mine also does this herky jerky heartbeat skip thing in the higher RPMs and i took it to a shop my dad takes his vette, and they kept my car for 2 weeks and then ended up saying this "your hitting your rev eliminator in your ECM and thats something we dont touch"

my car is under warrenty and they just dont feel like hooking up thier 9,000$ master OBD reader to my car because the warrenty company i have wont pay nearly enough to meet what they would normally qoute.

it took them 2 weeks to basically shoo me off to tell me they dont want to work on it............i argued with them for 30 minutes and said i dont have a ecm i have a pcm and there is no rev eliminator the redline on the car is 6,250! not 4,500 and they just tried to fucking tell me my gauge needles are reading incorrectly.........god damn it! what a waste of time...so still no answer

[Midgear]

126k on my car with original fluid was a bad idea.. the crap looked like someone grinded down a block of aluminum and dumped it into chocolate milk.

or brown metallic paint.. either one- tranny was slipping alot, so 25 quarts of tranny fluid later- the tranny still slips a bit when I give it hell, but not near as much.

[zzyzzx]

okay this may sound dumb but i have never had a car without a tranny dipstick

Automatic transmission = dipstick
Manual transmission = may or may not have a dipstick. You pull the speed sensor to get to the fluid.

The no dipstick method does not make any sense to me.

[Cliff8928]

Automatic transmission = dipstick
Manual transmission = may or may not have a dipstick. You pull the speed sensor to get to the fluid.

The no dipstick method does not make any sense to me.

:wtf2: On the manual, there is a fill plug and a drain plug.

the automatic has a fill and and a plug to check the level.

[Midgear]

:wtf2: On the manual, there is a fill plug and a drain plug.

the automatic has a fill and and a plug to check the level.


yar.. the alero doesn't have a dipstick-

[mitchell72]

i was having this problem also. took it to the shop and it ended up being a pressure control silinoyd (im sure thats not spelled right, but you get the idea) it lets enough pressure build up to change gears. driving with this bad for too long will cause the transmission to fail. ended up being around 600

[Justin081]

mine was taking kinda long to shift from 1st to 2nd like it wouldnt shift when it should it would take a few seconds then kick in. i got my fluid and filter changed and it was fine for a couple days and now it does it again. it seems like it does it more in the morning when its cold ... not as bad when warmed up. could this be because its low?

[undecided02]

just change em and see if that cures it. either way it couldnt make things worse

[zzyzzx]

If this car is anything like my Escort, slippage can be caused by:

1. Old fluid. It can get thicker with age and particularly on a cold start it can slip at first startup of the day and maybe while it's warming up

2. Clogged (or partially colgged) filter. Has the same effect as #1, since it prevents fluid from getting where it is supposed to.

3. Weak transmission oil pump. Also has the same effect as #1, since it prevents fluid from getting where it is supposed to. This can be tested via a gauge connected to a port on the transmission on my Escort, and presumably on most or all cars.

mitchell72's circumatances should be considered quite unique in that he was actually able to take his car someplace for a transmission repair as opposed to the usual complete rebuild that is the only thing that most places will do. I'll have to reasearch the whole pressure control solenoid thing, since it's probably worthwhile.

And any of you who have read enough of my posts should know that my Alero is a "new" car (~22,200 miles) and the bulk of my automotive experience is with Ford Escorts that I use as my commuter car, but most of the advice here is generic anyway. One important difference might be that the Escort has a TSB for a weak transmission oil pump (complete with parts kit ro upgrade an existing oil pump) and that IMO people are more willing to try things like rebuilding an Escort transmission by themselves (for obvious reasons).

[zzyzzx]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmission_control_unit

Pressure control solenoids
Modern electronic automatic transmissions are still fundamentally hydraulic. This requires precise pressure control. Older automatic transmission designs only use a single line pressure control solenoid which modifies pressure across the entire transmission. Newer automatic transmission designs often use many pressure control solenoids, and sometimes allow the shift solenoids themselves to provide precise pressure control during shifts by ramping the solenoid on and off. The shift pressure affects the shift quality (too high a pressure will result in rough shifting; too low a pressure will cause the clutches to overheat) and shift speed.

[zzyzzx]

YouTube video of someone changing their solenoid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUSSj_2eHUY

Interesting but I'd like to see more on how to diagnose said solenoid.

In my Escort Factory service manual, it recommends the stall test then the pressure test that I mentioned before.

It would also be interesting to see how many of these solenoids that the ATX has.

[zzyzzx]

Also interesting reading:
http://autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl024g.htm

Interesting in that I had no idea that the transmission used the MAF sensor.