Transmission Issue Help!

[phild1087]

Hey everyone! I'm new here, but I promise I've tried to search through the forums already, and I haven't quite found anything that syncs up to the issues I'm experiencing.

So, my girlfriend's 2001 Alero with the V6 is in question. Automatic. The car has roughly 225,000 miles on it. Obviously with that kind of mileage on it, you aren't expecting it to perform like a new car, but this seems like something is wrong.

Background: not long ago (within the past couple months) my girlfriend noticed that the car would not shift past 2nd gear one day on the way to work. She wisely pulled off and turned it off and had her car towed to her mechanic. He said that a line carrying transmission fluid had broken open/rusted out (don't remember which) and had leaked most of the fluid out. As far as they could tell, the transmission didn't suffer much damage, so they patched/replaced the line, filled it back up with fluid, and sent her on her way.

Now, though, the car is verrryyyyy reluctant when accelerating onto highways to shift from 2nd into 3rd and then 3rd into 4th. Again, this is only when you're trying to give it some gas, but when you do so, the RPMs will climb and climb and climb (I'm talking getting up to around 5000 RPMs) and the car will NOT shift. It will only shift if you back off the accelerator a bit, almost like you have to trick the car into shifting. And once it does shift, I don't hear anything, but there's a lurch and it does not feel like a smooth shift.

As far as we can tell, the car isn't leaking any fluid, and the engine still has plenty of power when it needs to. There's also no hesitation when down shifting if you need to accelerate, but it won't want to shift back up into the original gear.

We took the car back to the mechanic, and he said that he didn't notice anything that was out of the ordinary, but I've driven this car dozens of times over the past 2 years, and there IS something very different about how the transmission behaves. The car is old and has a ton of miles, and we're reluctant to have the whole transmission either replaced or re-done. So we're hoping this might not require anything super intensive to repair. The car is in pretty darn good shape otherwise.

I'm very sorry if this IS a common problem and my search skills are completely inept, but I would appreciate any and all help troubleshooting!

Thanks all!

[sleepyalero]

Sounds like you have a transmission issue but its hard to tell.

I have never had an issue like that (nor heard of it) but it could be as simple as a sensor, or the major issue - a transmission.

Hopefully someone else chimes in on this, i cant help you much


Also, welcome to the forum. Sorry it had you come here on possible bad terms, but we are all here to give a helping hand.

[Babyblue]

The only problem I had with my trans was when overdrive(4th gear)solenoids was going out. At that point I already was driving it to get a six speed dropped in it. Wish I could have more information for you. Good luck on finding out what's wrong and welcome!

[falloutboy]

Hi,
before I can help further, what kind of things are you able to check or do yourself?

e.g.
Are you able to put the whole car safely on jackstands?
Do you have a big pan to catch fluids?
Do you have a voltmeter, and are more or less technically inclined?

If all this is true, I can try to sort out a few possible reasons and maybe get an idea what is really wrong.

(keep in mind I live in Germany, so my answer are way out of your normal timezones )

[phild1087]

Originally Posted by sleepyalero

Sounds like you have a transmission issue but its hard to tell.

I have never had an issue like that (nor heard of it) but it could be as simple as a sensor, or the major issue - a transmission.

Hopefully someone else chimes in on this, i cant help you much


Also, welcome to the forum. Sorry it had you come here on possible bad terms, but we are all here to give a helping hand.

Hey no worries, thanks for the reply and the welcome! Appreciate it!

[phild1087]

Originally Posted by Babyblue

The only problem I had with my trans was when overdrive(4th gear)solenoids was going out. At that point I already was driving it to get a six speed dropped in it. Wish I could have more information for you. Good luck on finding out what's wrong and welcome!

What kinds of things would it do when that solenoid was going bad?

Also, didn't know 6-speeds could be dropped into these... 6-speed auto or manual? I've driven stick myself all my life, one of these days I'll convince my girlfriend to let me teach her, haha.

[phild1087]

Originally Posted by falloutboy

Hi,
before I can help further, what kind of things are you able to check or do yourself?

e.g.
Are you able to put the whole car safely on jackstands?
Do you have a big pan to catch fluids?
Do you have a voltmeter, and are more or less technically inclined?

If all this is true, I can try to sort out a few possible reasons and maybe get an idea what is really wrong.

(keep in mind I live in Germany, so my answer are way out of your normal timezones )

I'm not sure if I can get the whole car on jackstands, but I should be able to at least get her car up on to ramps at her place. I'll have to double check on the stands... I know I have two, but I'm not sure if she has any.

I do have a pan to catch fluids.

I don't have a voltmeter, but I can borrow one pretty easily. My roommate was raised by an electrician and I think has one, and some engineers at work may be willing to let me borrow one. I've never done any serious repairs in my life, but I've done little stuff like changing oil, support struts for the hood, swapping wheels for winter/summer tires twice a year. Basic things. But I'll always give anything a go if I can!

No worries about timeliness of replies, my work schedule is odd anyway! Thanks for the reply!

[Redog]

First thing I would do, is check that fluid level like fallout boy said. Sometimes, it's low of fluid and it acts up


When my car was having a hard time shifting into 4th (overdrive) it was because of the solenoid. I would be on the highway and it would be bucking between 1900 and 2200 RPM's until I slapped the gas pedal and it would fully engage into overdrive. I also had no 2nd gear.

The fix is not what you want to hear though.

When the solenoid is shot on these cars, it's easily a $1000 job to fix. It's so deep inside the transmission and is not really servicible (sp) at that point, it's better in the long run to get a new transmission.

My clutches for 2nd gear were totally wiped out. There was nothing left.

I bought a used transmission from a 2003 Grand Am GT (I wanted a better FDR in the car) with 21,300 miles for $250 and my mech installed it for another $1200. This was in December 2012. I just bought my house in Sept 2012 so it's not like I was swimming in money either, then again, I'm still not.

[phild1087]

Originally Posted by Redog

First thing I would do, is check that fluid level like fallout boy said. Sometimes, it's low of fluid and it acts up


When my car was having a hard time shifting into 4th (overdrive) it was because of the solenoid. I would be on the highway and it would be bucking between 1900 and 2200 RPM's until I slapped the gas pedal and it would fully engage into overdrive. I also had no 2nd gear.

The fix is not what you want to hear though.

When the solenoid is shot on these cars, it's easily a $1000 job to fix. It's so deep inside the transmission and is not really servicible (sp) at that point, it's better in the long run to get a new transmission.

My clutches for 2nd gear were totally wiped out. There was nothing left.

I bought a used transmission from a 2003 Grand Am GT (I wanted a better FDR in the car) with 21,300 miles for $250 and my mech installed it for another $1200. This was in December 2012. I just bought my house in Sept 2012 so it's not like I was swimming in money either, then again, I'm still not.

I did a little reading on solenoids after the previous post, and yeah, that's the feeling I was getting-- given the miles that are on this one and the wear and tear, she might as well get a new tranny if not just a new car.

Are the transmissions from the Grand Am the same ones? Are there any other cars with compatible transmissions?

[falloutboy]

As Reddog said,
check the fluid level and how the fluid itself looks and smells.

• It is vital, that the car is at operating temperature, that is the temp gauge is at least in the middle or higher.
• Make sure the car sits level, whether on jackstands or on the ground.
• leave the car running and the brakes applied, while shifting through all the gears and remain in gear for about 5 - 10 sec.
• feel how the car rocks if you change gear (compare this feeling to other modern automatic cars my may have driven with in the last couple years)
• put it back into drive
• get under the car and put a big catch can under the check plug
• carefully unscrew / remove the check plug
• fluid should be dripping out

• No fluid? -> refill in 0,5L increments with Dexron III / IV
• a lot of fluid comming out? -> either wrong screw (BAD) or leave it drip till nothing comes out.

Afterwards, test drive again.

A good way to get the car and transmission warm is to test the shiftspeeds (see pdf)

Btw, you can get your pinky finger in the hole a bit and get a bit of the fluid out. Clean finger with a clean white hanky and see how the fluid moves and colors the hanky.
Maybe take a pic if it has multiple color, or is not pinkish/reddish

[falloutboy]

Originally Posted by phild1087

Are the transmissions from the Grand Am the same ones? Are there any other cars with compatible transmissions?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_4T40_transmission

[Redog]

Grand Am SE and Alero, both with V6 engine do share the same transmission, the Grand Am GT has a different final drive ratio. It's a direct swap, but you will need programming to make it work.

As for other cars, unless you want to do programming, which is not hard, but you need the tuner to change the gear ratio in the car's computer.

The wiki link fallout boy posted is good. It does leave out 2 important notes. 1 is kinda important, the other is majorly important

The minor. 99-00 has a different axle seal than 01-03. nothing else is different

The major. starting in 04, GM starting using a different transmission pump. It is unknown if this pump will work in an 03 and older car. Nobody knows if the it's just the tuning, or even if the correct wiring exists in an 03 & down car

[phild1087]

Hey everyone! So, I realize I disappeared for a few days there, but here's a good but odd update...

About a week ago, my girlfriend was driving her car around and the "low oil" "change oil" and "service engine soon" light all popped on. She took her car right into the mechanic at that point, which I think was a good move.

They checked the trans and, again, found everything to be okay. But what they found this time was that apparently catalytic converter was clogged up, nearly completely but not quite. So they replaced the cat, and... everything appears to be fine now. Runs strong. The gears appear to be shifting better.

Maybe it's just the placebo effect, but for whatever reason, that appears to have done the trick.

My best guess is maybe the car couldn't breathe very well, and was throwing off the sensors that detect how hard you were accelerating, and so it was messing with the shifting. IDK.

But thanks to all of you for all of the help and ideas! I'll definitely be coming back here if we have any more head-scratchers!!!! You guys rock!

[falloutboy]

Hmm good point.
But admitably a clogged cat. converter also feels a bit sluggish or it gets hard passing a certain speed.
Albeit, I only experienced this once in a stickshift.

Good to know, it feels way better now.
Non the less, check what we recommended and see if the shiftpoints are correct.
May you clarify what and how he checked and deemed the trans to be ok?

[phild1087]

Originally Posted by falloutboy

Hmm good point.
But admitably a clogged cat. converter also feels a bit sluggish or it gets hard passing a certain speed.
Albeit, I only experienced this once in a stickshift.

Good to know, it feels way better now.
Non the less, check what we recommended and see if the shiftpoints are correct.
May you clarify what and how he checked and deemed the trans to be ok?

I'm not sure how he checked, that's just the words my girlfriend used to describe the process. She's had it up to her neck with the car's issues at this point, so she gets a little testy when I really start pushing for more specifics

I'll try to steal (figuratively) the car from her one weekend and check into those things, but I have a feeling she's happy as long as it's running fine, which it appears to be at the moment.

[Bahlzeron]

Originally Posted by phild1087

I've driven stick myself all my life, one of these days I'll convince my girlfriend to let me teach her, haha.

No. seriously. don't. I like the fact so few people can drive stick.. they don't ask to borrow my car.

Back on topic though, the mechanic probably listened to what she said was going on, maybe test drove it himself and either way checked the temperature of the cat. A catalytic converter runs pretty hot to begin with, but when they get clogged (which does happen with time, typically carbon buildup) they start to get much hotter than they normally should (go on youtube, Eric the car guy explains this quite well). It may not make much sense, but a clogged cat will mess with a transmission's shifting (engine power and all that). It's an older car, it's going to need maintenance, repairs and general TLC to keep it in good operating order. My suggestion, buy it from her.. fix it up and you got a nice lil Oldsmobile compact sport... maybe even make it into a go-fast rice eater.

edit to add: I'm kinda slow.. this post took me over an hour, and two Vanilla Java Porters to do (I'm anal about grammar and spelling and I'm bad at typing)
not my picture, but for reference this beer is freakin awesome