I was leaving from somewhere the other day (about 10 days ago), and my transmission wouldn't find 2nd gear. Would.not.find.it. The RPM's just kind of kept climbing (I didn't let it go past 3500 RPM), and it just wouldn't engage. I took it out of D and put it into 3, and eventually it engaged and I was on my way. It doesn't happen "every" time I get in the car, but the last couple days it's gotten worse. I do have an appointment scheduled to do a fluid exchange and replace the filter, and I'm sure if there's anything in the pan that will give a clue, but I'm concerned - I don't have $1200-$1500 to do a transmission repair. Previously I had been monitoring my trans fluid, and A.) it's STILL topped off as it's been the last 40K miles, and B.) up until just recently, it hasn't smelled burnt.....but now it does.
We (like most of the country) had a pretty hard winter here in Indiana, so I wasn't as diligent at monitoring it then (I just couldn't get into messing with the car with it being -20F out!)I researched additives and decided to go with K&W Trans-X: http://www.autozone.com/autozone/access ... 92808_0_0_. I plan to pump siphon out as much fluid as I can tomorrow (I'm hoping to get at least three quarts out, maybe more), replace it with fresh fluid, and put the additive in. I'm doing a full fluid exchange/filter replacement this following Wednesday (not a flush though...I know there will be several quarts of old fluid left in the torque converter), but that's still four more days of driving, with every mile I drive doing my tranny no favors at this point.
Here's the good news/other info: ONCE it eventually "finds" 2nd gear - it doesn't "clunk" into gear, or "drop" into gear (it doesn't shift hard into 2nd), it shifts pretty smoothly. Also, from 2nd-3rd and 3rd-4th are just fine and smooth, and on the highway it still runs like a champ and I'm getting good MPG, it's just that dang 1st-2nd shift that it's really having a hard time with. Opinions? I CAN'T do a rebuild right now, I just can't....don't have the $$$. Oh, the car has 181K on it, I've only had it since 147K miles. Give it to me straight, what are your opinions on what it could be? Anybody had similar symptoms and a fluid/filter exchange helped it? Anybody used an additive that relieved the symptoms? Am I looking at a rebuild/new tranny? I admit, I've never had tranny problems, and have NEVER been diligent about changing tranny fluid with ANY of my cars I've owned (I've owned a few), because I didn't realize it was necessary - so, I don't really have a clue as to how many thousands of miles could be on the current fluid that's in there. Could be original fluid for all I know. Does the fact that all the other shifts are still good even mean anything in relation to this? Or could it just be that the clutch plates for 1st-2nd and/or the shift solenoid are going out, and that's that? Ugh. Tell me something good. Encourage me. If you can. Thanks!
