I have a 94 Cutlass Supreme 3.1L in which the transmission was rebuilt a few years ago. About five years later the left side axle came loose while driving and spilled all the fluid. I had it towed and repaired at a local shop. When picked up it seemed to start out in 2nd gear and will not shift into 4th. It runs about 2500 RPM@55 mph. I have a problem going back to the shop (due to other issues) so I would like to fix it myself if possible. Question is; Any ideas if the trans was damaged during the failure or did they reassemble it incorrectly?, or is there something that maybe isn't plugged in, maybe a sensor or something? I am hoping I can fix this as a do-it-myselfer!

I can see and understand the output shaft seal going bad and leaking trans oil out, but I have never heard of the shaft itself popping out. Weird!

It all depends on what the shop did. If they only popped the shaft back in and topped it off with trans fluid, then it should be fine. You can't really damage a trans running it dry. Most people would notice the car not going anywhere and shut it off.

We need to know what the mechanic did. That would help in diagnosis. But the car starting out in 2nd gear almost seems like its really starting out in limp home mode gear which is actually 3rd gear. Can you verify that the trans electrical connector is connected. It should be located below your air filter/box cleaner.

They replaced the inner shaft if I understand correctly, due to some sort of damage to the old one when it came loose. My gut feeling is that the problem is with a control or wire or something. I will check underneath the air cleaner.

Thanks,
Gary

UPDATE- I checked the wires. They were plugged in and in good condition. I tried unplugging them and driving the car - no difference in the shifting! Any ideas??

No difference in the shifting?? Too weird.

Start by checking EVERY SINGLE FUSE YOU CAN FIND! Check and DOUBLE check. lol. I know something somewhere in the PCM are Quad Driver modules and 1 of them is dependent of a fuse. We have a thread in here 14 pages long all because of a fuse relating to the Quad driver module.(no it didn't have anything to do with shifting)