check gage light/ tranny prob?

[headrush]

Well I got back from road trip Saturday afternoon, and on the way home my tranny kinda started acting up. Once I hit 60, the check gage light came on and it seemed to be shifting kind of hard...I'm afraid of the worst...anyone know what the problem could be? I know this is kind of vague but I thought it was worth a shot. Thanks.

 

[rydinhigh]

in my 95 the check gage light comes on only when one of my 4 guages (oil pressure, voltage, temp, and fuel) are reading below or above the limit.

 

[yob_yeknom]

Tranny acting weird and check guage light came on... Sounds like you had an overheating problem. Did you check the temp guage?

 

[TPLYNCH]

If the tranny were having a problem, the OD off light would start blinking. Did you check your voltage gauge?? If there are problems with your alternator, your tranny may be affected since it's an electronic shifting unit.

 

[headrush]

Well today I was driving it and once I got up to 50, my "check gauge" light came on but I also noticed that the temp gauge was dangerously high. Having had a car in the past that was notorious for overheating I knew this couldn't be good. It was weird though, because once I got past 50 a little while after that the temp. gauge went back down again and the light turned off. Anyone know what this could be?

 

[yob_yeknom]

Thermostat is dying would be my guess.

The check gauge light was on because you needed to look at the temp guage and realize the engine was overheating.

The tranny was shifting weird because the ECU was attempting to cool the engine down. (higher revs to turn water pump faster, firmer shifts to not create as much heat, etc)

The temp went down the faster you went because enough airflow was present to cool the engine enough.

Had the EXACT same experience before. Changed the t-stat and all is fine.

DO NOT CONTINUE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE WITH THIS PROBLEM.

 

[headrush]

THANK YOU!

That was going to be my guess...and don't worry, I won't drive it anymore.

 

[headrush]

Ok, so I just got back from looking under the hood and checking the coolant and oil and everything's fine. I'm almost positive and keeping my fingers crossed that it's just the t-stat.

 

[yob_yeknom]

Pretty sure it's just the t-stat. Not many other things it could be.

low coolant : you already know it's not that

clogged radiator : highly doubtful never heard of it happening to anything even remotely new

water pump : doubtful, if it was bad the engine would overheat almost immediately and never have cooled back down when you were up to speed, plus you would have long since blown the engine if the pump wasn't working

 

[Alec]

It's a good idea to replace the radiator cap whenever you replace the tstat.

 

[headrush]

Well I got it back from the shop today and it turns out that it was in fact the t-stat, and they also replaced some gasket, so now it runs and drives perfectly again. Thanks for all your help guys.