Today while cruising down the highway at 78mph with the cruise on, the car suddenly reved up. When i looked at the tac it was at 5500. After kicking off the cruise it went back to a normal rpm and I pulled over. When i pulled over and opened the hood there was a could of smoke that came up from under the hood. It smelled like burnt oil or tranny fluid. Not sure where it came from exacly...

After looking around i couldn't see any fluid leaking out anywhere, the trans fluid was full, but it was clear. I checked it a few weeks ago while i was changing my oil and it was the normal reddish color. The fluid smelled weird also. It did not smell like it was burnt, but it did not smell normal.

I looked around for a while and could see anything wrong. I got back on the highway and drove the 2 more hours back home and no more problems, the trans shifted normal and was not slipping. I am thinking it might be something electrical. If felt like the car just shifted into neutral not like it was slipping.

I think its time for me to clean the maf again also cause the tach was bouncing up and down a bit and starting to surge.

[quote="speedin"] If felt like the car just shifted into neutral not like it was slipping.
quote]

I don't know if this helps (I'm not that experienced) but once I came across such thing:

http://auto.consumerguide.com/Auto/U...iewreliability

"Automatic transmission: 4T60E transmissions may drop out of drive while cruising; shift erratically; or have no second, third, or fourth gear because of a bad ground connection for the shift solenoids. (1992-94)"


shouldn't be your problem (92-94), but:


"Automatic transmission: The 4T60E automatic transmission can suddenly go into neutral at highway speeds due to a problem with internal shift valves. (1995-97)"

P'haps someone with more experience can confirm this.

Never heard of it. I've not seen any of those problems on this forum before. I have no idea where they get their information. Besides, he doesn't have a 4T60. He should have a 4T65.

When you say it smells funny and is CLEAR......you mean it'* not reddish/pinkish any more?

dunno. I was once looking for any info on bonneville and I found it.

Thought so. But this is originally quoted from that webpage .

Isn't the 97 bonne the last year for the 4t60 in the non supercharged models?

BONNEVILLE 95-97 4 SP FWD V6 3.8L 4T60E
BONNEVILLE 97 4 SP FWD V6 3.8L SC 4T65E SUPERCHARGED
BONNEVILLE 98-03 4 SP FWD V6 3.8L/3.8L SC 4T65E

Yes, the fluid was more of a light brownish color.
but three weeks ago it was nice and reddish/pinkish, but that was 2500 miles ago..[/quote]

Get under your trans and read the pan. 97 was a mixed year of 60/65'* in the L36 cars.

That'* a drastic change in fluid in that short a period of time, in spite of the miles.

You have issues. If it'* a 4T65E, it might be the typical 4th gear failure based on your symptoms.

I've had problems in the future where when i kick it down doing over 35 it tries to shift down into first and misses. It just revs out.

I'll take a peak under the car later on today to see what trans i have.

When i say the fluid was a light brownish color, i shoudl say it had a light brownish tint because there wasn't much color to it. Maybe i can take a pic of it later while i'm on lunch.

This is pretty much how it felt, just like it popped into nuetral and when the cruise was kicked off it went back into gear...[/quote]