Automatic Transmission Problem

[BrooklynBay]

Ask the shop if they flushed out the front cooler prior to the installation of the rebuilt transmission. Old debris in the cooler could cause a rebuilt valve body to clog or a filter to get clogged.

 

[nmdag]

Ask the shop if they flushed out the front cooler prior to the installation of the rebuilt transmission. Old debris in the cooler could cause a rebuilt valve body to clog or a filter to get clogged.

Added to the list..

 

[BrooklynBay]

Some shops only use compressed air to clean the cooler. A flushing chemical will do a thorough job, so it's the preferred choice. http://www.explorerforum.com/reviewpost/showproduct.php/product/226/cat/all

 

[nmdag]

Shop, which is a part of the ATRA, could not reproduce the problem. And neither could I. I tried flooring it, accelerating gently, and somewhere inbetween and I could not get it to happen again with their tech in the car.

Another shop suggested non-transmission related components such as dirty throttle body, throttle position sensor, and throttle cable, or an as of yet undiagnosed transmission problem.

Rebuild included banner, torque converter, solenoids, bearings, clutch, valve body, filter, a few more parts I can't recall off the top of my head, flushed with a pump machine, and filled.

 

[BrooklynBay]

You could start with cleaning the mass air flow sensor, and the throttle body, then see if it makes a difference. There is a special spray for the mass air flow sensor. Only use fuel injection approved intake cleaner for the throttle body (not carburetor cleaner).

 

[nmdag]

You could start with cleaning the mass air flow sensor, and the throttle body, then see if it makes a difference. There is a special spray for the mass air flow sensor. Only use fuel injection approved intake cleaner for the throttle body (not carburetor cleaner).

Throttle cable was checked, not snagging on anything.

I'll try cleaning the MAF and the throttle body.

Would it be wise to lube the throttle lever?

 

[BrooklynBay]

You could use WD-40 on the external movable parts.

 

[nmdag]

Update. Got stuck again. Mashed pedal a few times and got throttle response, which didn't fix it because as soon as I let up on the gas it stayed around 2k rpm and then after a long delay (5 second pause) finally shifted to second.

So what I did today was liberally apply some WD-40 to the throttle lever springs (2 of them) to see if maybe it was gunked up in there. Noticed immediate results - smoother pedal application. Hasn't stuck on me since. Who knows if that solved the problem or not, but I doubt it. 174k miles that thing was pretty gummy, grimy, and dirty anyways so I recommend everyone do it anyways because it'll make the pedal feel super smooth.

Next up on the list. Got a bottle of throttle body cleaner so I've got to take that off and clean that out. Which will be a pain in the ass since I don't have tools or a garage to work in, and I get a $140 quote from a local shop for their service (vs a $6 bottle of cleaner and a borrowed socket wrench from Autozone). Could be a lot of gunk in there causing the butterfly to get caught up. Also need to buy some MAF cleaner and a new air filter, because that thing is probably old as well.

If none of that fixes it, it's going back to the transmission shop, or somewhere else for them to attach a computer to it and run a driving simulation until it gets stuck on them too.

Things going out but probably not the cause of the problem that I am going to replace in the near future - coil pack, plugs, wires.

 

[Grumps99]

Its your cruise control sticking and holding the throttle open. Happened to me once on a mid 90s villager. Disconnect the cruise control cable and then see if the problem continues.