Cadillac Repair: 1990 cadillac seville transaxle, 1990 cadillac seville, vacuum modulator

Question
Hi Bill, I recently bought a 1990 Cadillac Seville with a 4.5 for a cheap 300 dollars. After about a week or 2 I have been expericing problems with the transaxle. The transaxle will not shift out of first, or any other gear unless I put the accelerator pedal all the way to the floor.  I think the transaxle is a 4T60. I was wondering if there is anyway I would be able to avoid having to replace of rebuild the transaxle, or if there is an easy fix for this problem. Thank you for your time.

Answer
HI Chris, At $300 you got it at a good price and could afford to install a rebuilt trans or junkyard trans if you want to. First check the fluid level and condition. If it is full but smells burnt then it is probably tranny time. Otherwise top off the fluid. Then there might be a vacuum modulator on the side that might be bad and leaking fluid past the diaphram into the engine vacuum hose. There also is a throttle valve cable that might need adjusting. If those don't help then rebuilding or replaceing are the next step. Bill