Hello all, first off I have a 92' lesabre limited that has 151,500 miles on the clock. It developed a transmission problem about 15-20,000 miles ago where i heard a loud bang after I was romping on it kinda hard and it obviously broke something and makes a noise that sounds like a rachet and is consistently repetitious. It was noticeably louder in reverse as well. It would no longer kickdown from 2-1 for quite a while and after a decent amount of miles it seems to have gotten quieter, from what I believe to be a broken pawl of some sort in the trans just wearing itself in its broken position but I don't know for sure, and will kick down most of the time if you are at the correct speed. It grabs normally and shifts fine in all gears, but the major problem is every 1 out of 3-4 stops my transmission will disengage when i stop and go to accelerate again, acting as if in a false neutral. Its as if im in neutral then a few seconds later it re-engages and am able to accelerate again.

I don't know what the problem is as there are several things going on with this trans and the car, and it'* making me worried about reliability and if my trans is going to fail out on me or how long I can expect from this trans. If somebody can help me out or shed some light on whats going on it would be much appreciated! Thanks!

I also thought I would add that when the transmission becomes disengaged while in drive coming to and at a stop when I shift it into first it goes into gear and then I throw it back into drive and all is well..Hoping this may shed some light.

I would start with dropping the lower pan and see what you find.

That last little bit almost sounds like a foward band breaking..but it should be there or gone, not intermittent.

Sounds like it'* overhaul time.

ughhh...yeah thats kinda what I was thinking but wondering how difficult it is to remove the trans and do all that...I think the trans is removable w/o taking out the motor if I remove the lower cradle although I don't know if that is the fastest route. The main concern I have is if it would be worth doing a rebuild on a car with such high miles (151,000) if something else major were to let go, as I've already more than got my moneys worth ($550) and already put 50,000 on it but I just love the car and want to keep it rollin' haha! A junkyard trans is such a gamble for the amount of work it takes to take out and reinstall the trans so i don't know about that route..I appreciate the comments, keep em' comin'!

I would suggest a salvage yard trans. Many come with a warranty. Swapping it out takes a while, but doable. Lift car as high as possible and support on the body with long 2x4 and jack stands. You want it really high. Then drop the sub frame. (take care of all issues on doing that) Be sure to support the engine from above with a 4x4 and a chain. Support trans from below. Make sure it'* drained and everything is disconnected. Unbolt mounts, torque converter, and bell housing bolts. Pop the seal and lower. Reverse to install. Count on all day or even all weekend. No special tools needed. A trans jack is much safer then a floor jack. A second set of hands helps as well.