I have a very intermittent problem with the transmission on my '96 L36 SE. It has probably happened 3 or 4 times in the last few months. I'll be accelerating under light throttle in 2nd gear and I floor it enough to induce a downshift. 2nd gear disengages, but it doesn't downshift into 1st. The engine revs like it is in neutral. I let up on the gas, it shifts, and everything is fine. I haven't noticed any rough shifting otherwise. The car has 69k miles on it. I'm going to change the fluid and filter, but wanted to see if anyone here had seen or heard of this before. I searched the forum, but didn't see a similar problem listed.

Thanks in advance.

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'96 L36 Bonneville SE, 95k miles (leather) 17" SLE rims
'95 L36 Olds 88 (leather) (x2) (both sold)
'91 Olds 442 w-41 (1 of 204): '79 Olds Holiday 88 coupe. Factory buckets, console
1958 Impala Coupe 348 75k miles
1958 Impala convertible 283, 51k miles

Probably the vacuum modulator needs to be replaced. I'd try that after new fluid and a filter.

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2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco - Current car

1999 Buick LeSabre Custom - Former car

Learn from the mistakes of others, that way when you mess up you can do so in new and interesting ways.

Have the same problem with my 94 se, 220k on car, about 35k on trans rebuild w/upgrades. I have replaced the modulator with a new adjustable one, and changed fluid and filter. No change, still does it occasionally. Let me/us know if you ever find out what it is!

I wanted to post an update on this problem. I replaced the transmission filter and filled the transmission with Valvoline Maxlife ATF this spring. The filter neck was so brittle that it broke off inside the transmission. I bought the car with 55k miles on it, so I wouldn't be surprised if the transmission had never been serviced.

I've put on 5k miles (including a 1400 mile road trip) and the shifting problem hasn't come back.

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'96 L36 Bonneville SE, 95k miles (leather) 17" SLE rims
'95 L36 Olds 88 (leather) (x2) (both sold)
'91 Olds 442 w-41 (1 of 204): '79 Olds Holiday 88 coupe. Factory buckets, console
1958 Impala Coupe 348 75k miles
1958 Impala convertible 283, 51k miles

It's good to see that the fix can be simple every now and then

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Boost addict


The Fleet:
'93 SSEi - Twincharged + manual Build thread
'97 Camaro - Top swap
'05 STS - V8, AWD, her DD
'92 Trofeo - Fair weather DD
'99 Montana - top swap 3800
'04 Sierra 2500HD - LLY Duramax

Current project:
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Upcoming projects:
'92 Bonneville SSE
'87 LeSabre T-type
'67 LeSabre

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'84 Sierra Classic - Twin turbo 3800
'97 LeSabre - Top swap

RIP:
'86 LeSabre - pictures
'93 SE - L67