QuestionHere's the story....I found a used ragtop.... a 1993 cutlass 3.4L DOHC 4T60E, 140K miles.
However....it has been sitting for about 8 months due to tranny failure. Owned by the same family for almost ten years.
According to the "Mom", who was driving at the time, and the story supported by other family members.... The Car showed or exhibited no trans problems or symptoms in over 8 years of ownership.
Mom and Dad were cruising down the interstate at 70mph and suddenly, according to Mom....."it felt like I kicked a straight shift into neutral. I Coasted to the shoulder....no gears at all. I Shifted through the gears, did not help, fluid is clean and full, no noises, no slipping or indicator lights...nothing...just no gears. We towed the car home and parked it".
Well...that was eight months ago and I bought it yesterday. We did not have a battery hot enough to start it but I feel based on conversations with the sellers...the cars is running and experiencing no engine problems.
The car appeared nicely maintained and clean, all fluids were nice etc. It is a gamble that I may get lucky with the tranny problem and it is something simple like a solenoid, connector, bad prom or fuse etc.
Problem is...and I'm pretty good with google....I cant find any failures reported that are even similar to these described any where in this make or type tranny.
pic of vehicle http://hamilton.kijiji.ca/c-ViewAdLargeImage?AdId=36035151&img=http://kijiji.eba...
Any suggestions?
I need some help!
Any info would help...recalls, experiences, tips...anything.
If you can ask around or tip me to a decent tranny guy that understands what I am trying to do....
(troubleshoot/patch up a $500 car)...let me know.
I need to figure out where to take the car after I hook to it....my house pending another wrecker/tow or some other place for a quick fix/diagnostic. I should have a hot battery in it by the time I get it on the wrecker.
AnswerHi Dan,
One of two things may have occurred to cause that problem and both are re-man issues.
Either the front-pump broke or the torque converter broke. Either way, the trans would need to be removed. I guess the front pump is the easiest to test. Start the engine, disconnect the upper cooler line going into the radiator from the transmission and observe the pressure. if at idle, there is nothing coming out of the line, the pump is hammered. Test the converter, if the front pump appears to be operational, it's obvious the torque converter is working, but shift to a forward or reverse gear range. If you do not feel the trans attempt to engage, the torque converter probably took a dump. If I were going to remove it, I would likely have it remanufactured, replaced or at least rebuild. It's an old unit with quite a few miles and it's been sitting for some time.
I have a few higher-mileage units here that have been tested and work good. You are probably looking at $500 for one of them shipped to you. The mileage on them are: 106K and 121K. I do have lower-mileage ones here, but obviously the price only goes up from here.
Thanks for the question, I hope this information was helpful to you.
Fred
www.knucklebusters.us
570-453-0910
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