My Car:
2000 Pontiac Bonnie SSEi, / 159,500 miles / the car has leaks and smaller problems needing fixed eventually, yet my major problem is… I’m on my 2nd transmission now, which has only been installed and running for a couple thousand miles. My 1st tranny went bad at about 158,000 miles.(just a month ago)

[Question:]
So what is causing my Transmission to do this, not shift correctly or shift so hard?
Could whatever is making this problem, of making it shift hard, have caused my last Transmission to go bad/stop working?

[The story:]
My Last transmission would not shift correctly. Once it was about to shift gears, it would knock/slam/shift hard into the next gear. Then sometimes it would struggle to keep going as it started in the new gear. This did not happen on downshift, yet after driving on it some, the car has stalled a couple times when I came to a stop...or after stopping, then trying to drive again, it stalled as I was giving it gas.

So with it bucking hard between gears, I had to just ease on the gas (give the pedal some love) as it was about to shift into the next gear…this is so it would shift easier or even shift at all almost (it was just hard to get it to the next gear).

Then one day I am driving down the road, maybe in third or fourth gear, I can't remember, but I was going about 35-40ish mph. Then as I was driving, no noise or anything from anywhere, I was just driving, then as I was about to give the car some gas as I was cruising, it only revved the motor, not going any faster....so I pull over to stop, shut the car off and back on(works sometimes for anything), then it started and was running, but then It Would Only Rev, in any gear and would not move forward or back. So it was towed home.

So the tranny went bad and I don't know anything and wasn't paying to get it rebuilt, so I found a used one and had a friend put it in at his shop.

[Same Problem, Diff Tranny:]
(Used transmission has been driving in the car lass than a month now.)
So with my working, used tranny I bought, (that has less miles than the one I had that stopped working) it installed good and the car was now moving. Yet on the first day I could feel it slap (not slam) but shift very quickly into the next gear. Then as the days go on and I drive it more and more, the shifting of the transmission gets worse, by going from the slap into each gear, to the same Slam into each gear problem with my last tranny....which this hard shifting happened for a while before my last tranny stopped working all of a sudden.

Now when I pull on to the road and go to drive, it barley shifts from the first gear, shifting very harshly, almost barely shifting, wanting to stale, before it shifts to second gear, making the car bounce/buck as it tries to shift.

This is worse than my last tranny...before it stopped working. So I stopped driving it (2 days ago) till I can think about what I need to get looked at or try to replace.

[Question Recap:]
So what is causing my Transmission to do this, not shift correctly or shift so hard?
Could whatever is making this problem, of making it shift hard, have caused my last Transmission to go bad/stop working?


Thanks,
Kenny

This looks to be answered in the common problems section at the top of the forum:

Transmission slams into gear
Problem: The transmission slams or bangs into gear when shifting to reverse or drive.
Solution: The front transmission mount is bad. Replacement necessary, you have two options: Stock or the “hockey puck mount”.
More information: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14938&p=190256#p190256
Estimated Cost: $60-70 for stock mount, under $20 for solid front mount. 1-2 hours labor

Transmission shift harsh/firm when warm
Problem: The transmission shifts harsh after driving for a while when tranny is warm.
Solution: The PCS (pressure control solenoid) is acting up. You might have the code P1811. While the sensor is cheap, it is located inside the transmission and the side cover must be removed to access it. To remove the side cover, the subframe must be lowered to clear the frame rail. It is a very labor intensive fix.
It has also been said that an aftermarket shift kit can help cure this problem.
More info: http://tripleedgeperformance.com/Harsh_ ... P1811.html
Estimated Cost: $40 for the new solenoid, but $400-1000 in labor.


Hopefully one is the blame to fix and I wonder which one though. Looks like the only way to get that code P1811 checked out is by going to a tranny place that has those computers and pay to get it scanned.

Any ideas on finding out without paying to read the codes...because I know I have one code that is keeping the light on anyways, its for the gas cap, which my tank hose and cap are all nice and rusted as well as the floating device that reads the tank doesn't work(thank god for the driver information saying how much gas I've used)

but any ideas to find out what might be wrong without paying to find out which one of these problems is going on?

It's easy to inspect whether the mount is bad. Have someone get in the car, set the parking brake and hold the foot brake while revving it in reverse and drive, if the motor moves a LOT, like more than an inch or so, your mount is bad...

_________________
Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

You should have replaced the PCS, shift solenoids and 4th clutch hub when you put in the used tranny.

Have you inspected, cleaned or replaced your MAF recently? Sometimes a bad MAF can cause what seems to be bad shifting transmissions.

_________________
Andrew - owner/operator of Bonnevilles Unlimited

2004 Bonneville GXP | 60k | White Gold Tricoat | custom built supercharged 3800 hot rod | garage queen
1997 Corvette | 55k | Silver Metallic | Z06 wheels | Date-night Hauler/Parts runner
2014 Town & Country Limited | Cashmere Pearl | 95k | Family Hauler
2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport | Black| 260k | Official Bonneville Hauler

Ok Ill check the mount out. As for the the MAF sensor, I have replaced that once, back before when my first tranny did this bad shifting. It did help, by the car not stalling but then the hard shifting happened a little while after I did change that sensor.

I was thinking the MAF, so I thought if you just unhooked it and if it drives normal, then the MAF is bad, so it needs replaced. I mean that is what happened last time. So I unhooked it yesterday and it did nothing, just drove the same... yet I will try to clean the sensor too.