Strange transmission problem

[fishman517]

I have a strange one, my 2002 SE all of a sudden did not want to shift, then it decided to go nowhere, I towed it home and tried it again, the pump was whining but it went into gear and moved forward and backwards, it then got quiet and quit moving again. I put a guage on the service port and started it, the guage went to about 130 psi then as the pump got quiet it dropped and was like pulsing at around 40/45psi and quit moving. It is full of fluid and the vehicle has 210,000 on it but I have changed the fluid every 40,000 miles and never found anything hateful. Could it be that the filter is sucking up crap and choking the pump? It puzzles me that it whines first and then gets quiet, I think it should be the opposite. HELP!

[cerick08GP]

Unfortunately no matter the cause of your issues a tranny rebuild seems to be in order. TEP is pretty much the authority on our trannys.

Wont move in D or 3 only

Good luck.

[fishman517]

What is TEP? If there are any trans experts out there PLEASE help me understand what is happening with this trans, when I first fire it up after sitting it works but only for about 1 or 2 minutes and it does not slip, I believe the trans is still capable, nobody I have talked to can explain what could be the cause of the problem. It is easy to say it needs a rebuild, but it would be nice to have a logical explanation for the symtoms to verify a rebuild is in order. If anybody has any input I would really appreciate it. The car I like, but it is old and don't really want to dump money into it only to use it as a beater.

[Scottydoggs]

when you let the car sit over night or all day, the fluid is cold, when it heats up it thins out a bit, so when your clutch packs are fried, like yours most likely are, it just slips, and a whining trans pump, has death written all over it.

[RideMr2]

Try some Lucas.

[fishman517]

I spoke with a gm trans engineer today, he seems to think it could be the pcs solenoid that actually controls the line pressure, or possibly a bad ground that would affect the operation of all the electrics which controls all of the trans functions. He says normally you will have some symptoms that indicate the end is near like slipping/not going into gear right away/late or no shifts/noise. The pump whine is most likely a clogged filter with clutch mud, it seems to make sense. My first plan of attack will be to pull the pan and see, if there is any metal or other hateful debris if not, I will go ahead and replace the solenoid. I won't be able to do this right away as it is hunting season and I am going north for 10 days. I sure hope he is right. Being most of the miles on the car are highway the trans was not really abused that is why I feel it isn't or shouldn't be terminal. He also said when they did durability the average failure was well into the 200's on a accelerated schedule. I will be sure to let the outcome be known. Thank-you for your input.