Tranny problem
 

Ok.. here it goes. My 92 SSEi has a very wierd symptom with the tranny that is hard to explain but bare with me here. I'll be driving usually a long distant trip 50+ miles for this to happen. I'll be cruising along on the highway about 75mph and it will be in 4th gear, which at that speed the tach is at about 2600rpm. All of the sudden out of no where it will just shift into 3rd gear and won't go back to 4th. In 3rd gear at 70 mph its at around 3500rpm. HERE'S THE CATCH!! If you let the throttle all the way up the tach drops like it was in neutral and goes to about 900rpm, and when you go back to accelerate or even maintane that speed the gears wont catch until you hit that 3500rpm again. I've tried to just stop the car and go again but it wont go into 4th after that. So then now when it happens I have to pull off to the side of the road, turn off the car and turn it back on. For some reason it resets everything and goes into 4th, but soon after it will do the same thing again.

But when I do just normal driving there's nothing that would indicate that anything is wrong. No noises, grinding..nothing. It was rebuilt about 2 years ago. Could this be an electrical problem with the tranny? Maybe over heating? Sometimes I don't necessarily have to do that long distance thing for this to happen. Any tips at all would be a GREAT HELP!! This is coming from a broke college student...but I do love the SSEi.

It sounds like a problem with your TCC. Either its worn and isn't engaging/disengaging correctly or their is a problem with the electrical components that control its operation, ie wiring harness or ECM. It won't bring up a permanent SES light because the problem is intermittent, but if you scan for codes it will bring the error up.

The part itself is around $40, but labor is going to be $150 to $200. Talk to some tranny shops and see if one will electronicall diagnose for free, meaning checking your ECM. If they tell you it has to be rebuilt I wouldnt believe em and would take it some where else.

Oh yeah and changing your fluid would help if it hasnt been done in a while, but only temporarily unless there is just a large buildup of clutch dust . I would try that first.

That's exactly what mine was doing before it quit...forever. 1500US later I had it rebuilt.