Thread: 2nd gear to 4th gear shift

98 grand prix . 3.8, no mods 212,000kms

when accelerating in town 0-50kms an hour it shifts fine from first to second, but when it should shift to 3, it shifts directly into 4th gear. . so when i step on the gas a little harder to accelerate after the failed 2nd 3rd shift, the car seems to bog a little , and i really have to stomp on the gas to get it to down shift. when it down shifts it goes right to 2nd, sometimes 3rd catches.

On the highway at 100kms an hour, same thing to get out to pass someone i have to really stomp on it to get it to shift down, and when it does it shfits very hard.


Anybody else had these problems ? Would a full trans flush be better than just a filter change? any recomended additives?

Check the fluid level and see/smell if it is burnt. Drop the pan and check for hunks/shavings of metal. Sounds to me like your 3rd gear is toast but I know little about these transmissions. Is it throwing any codes ?

DO NOT FLUSH IT, it will ruin your tranny at that mileage. Do a pan drop with filter change.

3rd gear is a commonly used gear in most of our daily driving. It's common for the clutches to wear or the third gear sprag to go bad. When the sprag goes bad the gear can not engage at all.

I'm still having the exact same problem. Been going on for about 6 months now. Its kinda like driving a car with a 2600-2800 stall in it. It just basically slips all the way up to 2600 rpm and finally catches. Kinda annoying at first, but I got used to it. Just waiting on it to go completely out so I can replace the damn thing.

Don't wait. It may cause more damage and make the rebuild more expensive.

I'm not going to rebuild it. Getting one out of the junkyard. Car has to many miles on it to spend 1500-2000 to rebuild it. Thats more than half of whats its worth