Hi guys,

I'm considering buying a '95 SE (126K) for my sweet wife. The owner says it won't downshift to first when you come to a stop, but the car can be shifted "normally " by using the shift lever. If you put the lever in first, it will give first gear every time, but that seems to be the only way you can get there after coming to a stop.

My question: Is this something cheap or expensive to fix?

Thanks,

Bill

does it have a 2nd gear start switch? My cousins 95 GP has that. If so, it could be a broken switch?

I don't know, but I can ask the guy. I have never heard of one on a Bonneville. :?:

Sounds like it has a bad tranny mount. A co-worker has a 1995 Olds 98 with the same drivetrain, and it did the exact same thing. Gave him the trans mount from my 1992 parts car and it works great now.

Well, OlBLueEyesBonne, that would be perfect if it is something as easy as a mount. Maybe I'll make this guy an offer and take a chance.

Thanks for the advice.

only thing I can think of is maybe a bad shift sollenoid?

It wouldn't be a solenoid. If that was the cause, the problem would occur in more than one gear.

That sounds like the problem IF putting the shifter in 1st didn't work.. doesn't that mean that mechanically it'* fine?


-justin

Well, I'm going to take a look at it tomorrow afternoon, but I doubt if I'll be able to learn anything more than I can get by talking to the guy. The car needs a starter so I won't be driving it. I'll try to get as much specific info on how the tranny acted when it was running.

(edit: he said that when he came to a stop, the trans would slip like it was in neutral even though it was in drive. But if he manually shifted the lever to first, it would drop right in and he was able to pull out normally. He would then manually upshift and it would drive without slipping and he could get all the gears. I don't know if the lockup worked too ?)

It is supposed to have a nice body (green) and leather interior (gray), new tires, battery, alternator, and silver crosslace wheels.

I may be able to get it for under a grand.

The guy says someone told him it was an SLE, but it has no badges, and the vin (HX5) shows it with an SE (?) body.

Are there any ways to check the RPO codes for SLE?

Anything else to check without driving it?

Can I pull the tranny codes with a low-end code reader such as I can get on loan from my local OReilly'*?

Of course if the battery is dead, (it has been sitting for a few months) the codes are gone, right?

You should be able to pull tranny codes with the code reader.

H4U is the RPO code for the SLE package -sounds like it is a SLE with the silver cross-laces and leather.
For under $1G you can afford to invest $700 and sell it with a good profit.