92 tranmission shifting strangely

[levi_elston]

I've had my 92 LT1 auto convertible for 15 or 16 months now and no transmission troubles until last month. I was going on a road trip, and I got about 30 minutes into it and the torque converter unlocked at about 80 mph (was just cruising). Naturally I pulled off the freeway and check the fluid which seemed to be hot and high if anything but definately not low. Anyways, I put it back in gear and it would not shift out of first. Stopped again, check fluid that was still hot and shut off car for 15 minutes or so. Tried to drive again and wouldn't shift out of first, and luckily had a friend that live 7 miles away and was just gonna cruise over there and park it. Got about 3 or 4 miles down the road and then it shifted through fine. Loaded it on a trailer and brought it to a friend (about 2 hours away) that is a mechanic who looked over it, drove it some and could not get it to act up. I went to get it and drive it home and drove the 2 hour drive with no problem at all. Later that week (just a couple of days ago) I got on the road to my father's house (40 minutes away) and it started acting up again about 5 minutes from his house except this time it would shift up or down out of second gear, and eventually it would kinda slam into overdrive and lockup. Checked fluid, seemed a bit burnt, hot, and high again. I waited a couple hours for it to cool off and was gonna drive it home or to a shop. Drove all the way home with no hangups (drove it in drive the whole time to pump more fluid, but did bump it into overdrive a couple of time without any trouble). I have no idea what is going on? any suggestions? I've done lots of do-it-yourself work(replaced optispark), but don't know much about transmissions. All help is very appreciated! Thanks

 

[levi_elston]

updates... please help

took it to aamco, they said there is excessive amounts of metal and friction material in the bottom of the pan, needs a rebuild, said it could cost $1900... what do you guys think?

i really need somethin... help me

 

[1995 RedVette]

I just had the one in my 95 rebuilt for $1250. $1900 seems way too high. The chevy dealer quoted me 1700 for a reman transmission, but I opted to have it rebuilt at a local trans shop.

By the way, how many miles were on the car and have you changed the fluid and filter since you bought the car?

Brett

 

[1995 RedVette]

By the way, I had all of the clutches, bands, and torque converter lockup harness replaced. I didn't need a torque converter. My car had 108,xxx on the clock at the time.

Brett

 

[levi_elston]

They said that worst case scenario would be 1900, it could be less, but at most it will be 1900... and that is a local trans shop, not a dealer
it only has like 85,000 on it and regretfully i have not changed fluid/filter (i really messed up there, could have prevented it)
my rebuild includes all that you mentioned, but the cost includes a new torque converter (in case it needs it)--thats probably where the price difference is i think... does having it rebuilt sound like the right idea? i doesn't do it all the time, only when its hot, i dunno
they also said if they did a flush and new fluid/filter now that it would dislodge a bunch more friction material/metal in the tranny... so apparently thats not a good idea

 

[Vettelt193]

Aamco, in my experience, is horrible.

Had a lincoln town car lose a tranny. aamco rebuilt it, and 14 months later it blew again. The 'max estimate' thing they pull too is great.... you can count on the max being the final bill.

I would take the car elsewhere, at the very least for a 2nd opinion

 

[NT Vettman]

My 90 had 87k on it and I lost 3rd and overdrive with no warning in the begining of May. Fluid was burnt and plenty of sludge and clutch particals in the pan. I had my trany rebuilt by a local performence transmission shop. Peformace clutches, shift kit, Beast shell with 5 planitary gears and 2400 stall converter. Runs great, now the car pulls all the way through overdrive. It costed me $1900.00 with tax. I removed the trany myself. The the break down if I remember correctly trany rebuid was $1295, the beast shell and planitaries $200 converter $300. I had it done at Competition Transmision here in town. These guys build transmisions for drag cars., and they make their own torque converters.
Try to find someone localy thats highly recomended!
http://www.competitiontransmission.com/index.html

 

[wishuwerehere82]

My 90 had 87k on it and I lost 3rd and overdrive with no warning in the begining of May. Fluid was burnt and plenty of sludge and clutch particals in the pan. I had my trany rebuilt by a local performence transmission shop. Peformace clutches, shift kit, Beast shell with 5 planitary gears and 2400 stall converter. Runs great, now the car pulls all the way through overdrive. It costed me $1900.00 with tax. I removed the trany myself. The the break down if I remember correctly trany rebuid was $1295, the beast shell and planitaries $200 converter $300. I had it done at Competition Transmision here in town. These guys build transmisions for drag cars., and they make their own torque converters.
Try to find someone localy thats highly recomended!
http://www.competitiontransmission.com/index.html

Competition Transmissions had a great reputation. I know a lot of guys in Rochester that take their Trannys to them.
I don't know how far from Dayton they are, but it could be worth shipping the tranny to them for a rebuild if you can get it out yourself.

 

[wishuwerehere82]

They said that worst case scenario would be 1900, it could be less, but at most it will be 1900... and that is a local trans shop, not a dealer
it only has like 85,000 on it and regretfully i have not changed fluid/filter (i really messed up there, could have prevented it)
my rebuild includes all that you mentioned, but the cost includes a new torque converter (in case it needs it)--thats probably where the price difference is i think... does having it rebuilt sound like the right idea? i doesn't do it all the time, only when its hot, i dunno
they also said if they did a flush and new fluid/filter now that it would dislodge a bunch more friction material/metal in the tranny... so apparently thats not a good idea

Just curious, if they dropped the pan to find the excessive material, they must have replaced the fluid with new fluid, or the car is still there. Is it still there on a lift? I would have the fluid and filter replaced and take it to another shop for an estimate. I don't like AAMCO from an experience I had with them a long time ago. They wouldn't give me any details on what they intended to do to fix my tranny, just a lot of generalities and no technical tems.
My 700R4 was $898.00 for a complete rebuild + torque converter from a different shop. That's with me installing it.

 

[geekinavette]

I agree with the masses about AAmco...never again.

I just went through something similar. Initial symptom was that it would not come out of 1st. Fluid looked ok, added about 1/2 pint, and it was ok for another week. Started doing it again....fluid was dark gray. I rebuilt the trans myself...and after getting it apart I believe the torque converter clutch was what failed. The valve body had some passages with thick gray sludge, and some that had nice red fluid in them. None of the other clutches were burned.

Do yourself a favor, have the high-performance clutch packs installed...especially the 3-4 pack. You might also think about having a shift kit installed (though I'm not sure how agressive your valve body is already). The quicker the shifts are from one gear to the next, the less wear on the clutches.

Do also as others have suggested...find out who has a good reputation in your area. There are a LOT of parts inside that thing with really small clearances...the smallest piece of debris will cause it to fail (don't ask me how I know!). 1900 for a stock rebuild is ridiculous. The difference between the stock clutches and the high-performance kit is about $100-$150.

Good luck with it.

Bill

 

[levi_elston]

well, i first started this post about a month ago and received no help/responses... i was kinda giving up on the forum, but now you guys are doing great, trying to help me out... i really appreciate it
i have taken it to three places, two of them saying it needs a rebuild, the third didn't have any idea what was wrong... the other place said it would be 1400-2200 to fix it, depending on how many parts (seems a little broad)
perhaps regretfully, I have already asked aamco to go ahead with the fix, before the posts started flying in, called this morning, its too late, they already started... i wish i would've heard somethin earlier but hopefully it will be ok, they give a 24month warranty, so hopefully it will last at least that long

 

[geekinavette]

Make them give you an ITEMIZED reciept for everything they put in it. Did you ask them for the hi-perf clutch packs?

Bill

 

[levi_elston]

no i did not, how much extra does that cost?

 

[geekinavette]

As I recall somewhere between $100 to $150 extra for the high-performance clutch packs. Another common "upgrade" is a stronger sun gear shell (called "the beast"). I believe that was on the order of 30 bucks or so.

Bill

 

[markone]

No Aamco

HI,

My 2 cents worth, stay away froim AAMCO, had a trans rebuilt by them a few years ago and it never was right, I ended up trading the car. Find a reputible local transmission shop or repair center.