Hey everybody. Recently, i've been having some problems with my tranny, and I was wondering if anybody could offer any useful info. My problems are pretty close to the same ones that Commo was having in this thread : http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...ic.php?t=19884
Here'* the scoop:

About 10K- 15K miles ago I had the tranny replaced in my car (1996 SSEi, just about 2K before my extended warranty ran out :phew, but the new one has been acting kinda wierd since I got it, and the tech who put it in broke one of my swaybar links pulling the old one out, so I wouldn't be suprised if he screwed something else up too. I did get a GM 3 year/36K mile warranty on it though, and supposedly(sp?) it was a brand new tranny, not rebuilt.

This problem only, and I mean *only* manifests itself when I manually shift into "1" or when the tranny automatically downshifts into first under hard acceleration. No problems in any other gear at any other speed (so far...). It almost feels like it pops out of first at 4-5K RPMS, and then struggles to go into second. If I downshift into first when i'm slowing down, however, it hardly ever occurs (less than %5 of the time)

I checked the fluid 3 times, and it was at almost the perfect level each time, and I checked out the trans-case the other day when I was changing my oil, and it was competely dry. My car hasn't thrown any codes either.

My first question : is the tranny in my car the HydraMatic 4T65-E, or would my car by default have the 4T60 tranny? Should I call my stealership back and try to find out? It doesn't say the tranny type on the invoice (that'd just be too easy, wouldn't it? ). And is there a standalone shift computer in my car, or is it just a module of the ECM?

Secondly, would it be possible for something like this to get screwed up this quickly (no more than 20K miles on the new tranny)? I do a good amount of spirited driving, with some manual downshifting , but nothing stupid and certainly no N-drops. Close to 2/3 of my mileage is highway too.

Lastly, what would be the best way to nail this down as most likely being the problem, as I really don't wanna spend $300-400 to have the dealership tell me that it'* something else.

Sorry for the londwindedness, and thanks in advance for any advice/help that gets offered.

In 1996 the bonneville came with series 2 engines and 4T60-E tranmissions..

Also I take offense to this "popping out of first like a manual", If you drove with me in a manual you would never know it wasn't an automatic

Word. My shifts are smoooooth...like butta.

Anyhow, my transmision does that all the time (whether I'm accelerating hard or not), and my mother'* LeSabre does that in all gears, all the time. My car'* got 147,000 miles on it, and my mom'* tranny is slipping, so the hard shifts are a sign of the clutch packs wearing down, I think.

Your car is equipped with a 4T60-E HD (that HD makes a difference - heavy duty). The tech could have inadvertently installed a shift kit in your car to firm up the 1-2 shift, but somehow I don't think he'* that charitable. If it'* really bothering you that much, go ahead and have it checked out, but otherwise, I would ride it out for another 15,000 miles, and then have it checked out (assuming it doesn't get much worse by them) to get the maximum mileage out of your warranty. And if the problem is worse by them, they won't be able to pull one of those "it'* supposed to do that" tricks on you.

Thanks for the advice guys. What I meant by "popping out of first" was when you have a manual tranny that pops out of gear (when you don't want it to ).

Can anybody else think of anything? It seems *really* strange that any sort of problem of this nature would occur after not even 20K miles on a new tranny kept in good condition...

And spiral, how did you know you spun a bearing in your engine? My car is (separate from the tranny problem) exhibiting some signs of that same ailment :(

I'm thinking it has some line pressure problems or the shift linkage is out of whack. Or a combo of the two.

Do all SSEI'* have the HD trans?
You had it replaced at a GM dealer?
How much?

My tranny was (luckily) replaced under my warranty. The dealer didn't give me an exact figure, but he said it was almost double what the warranty cost originally (1700-1800 when I bought the car used).