heck yeah, fast too.

Are Tech Bulletins just to help technicians or are they something noting a defect or something?

I have a quick question for you guys on this one, and hopefully, it'll save me from creating a new thread

I've been having problems just similar to the ones described by Commo, and almost dead on like the description in the TSB. Only misgiving is that the TSB mentions '97 and up bonnies, and mine is a '96. 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? 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.

outcome was $421 to get it fixed at a shop versus 631 at the dealer

The first thing you do with any tranny problem is replace the fluid and filter and add a conditioner let it work itself out for a couple hundred miles. Especially if the fluid is burn't. You can fix 90 % of minor tranny problems this way. It is usually a dirty or sticking valve body or switch.
A tranny cooler is a good bet to avoid burn't fluid that varnishes up the tranny.