I'm have lurked around here for a couple of years and used all of the great information to keep my 2001 Bonny on the road and running great at 145K. I need a little help on a recent transmission (I think) malfunction. As I passed another car on the commute home a few days ago, the car gave a tremendous lurch when it downshifted, and then after the acceleration I hoticed a distinct whine. I put it in N and the whine stopped. I put it in D and whine started again. If I drop it to 3 the whine goes away. Tranny fluid looked red, but a little dark. Level was full. I took it to the shop, and he diagnosed a broken front motor mount. No codes from tranny. There was a misfire code on 2 cylinders, but he didnt give me the code numbers. He replaced mount, changed fluid and filter on tranny and added Lucas. He said there was no metal in pan. He did say the fluid smelled a little to him. The car seems to drive fine, but it seemed the rpm at cruise were higher than before (approx. 2500 @ 60-65mph). I check my mpg religiously, and my first fill up after service, mpg dropped from 26.03 to 18.69. Judging from other posts, I think I have sheared the splines on 4th shaft, but I am no transmission expert... I am a litttle confused that there was no metal in pan, and no codes from tranny. Any help in diagnosis would be great. I know a rebuild of the tranny would be 2K+, and that is a tough pill to swallow on this car... Is the shaft replaceable without a rebuild, or if you go that deep should you go ahead and rebuild. Thanks in advance.

Adrian

The funny thing is, the same thing happened to me!! My 4th went and it snapped my front mount. Around here, it'* going to cost me $2895 + tax to have it rebuilt! So I only use her to drive to work and back until I magically find money. Good luck, I hope you can get her back and running soon!

Count your gears as it shifts. If you indeed lost 4th the trans would need to be opened up. To have a shop do it is going to cost about that much. There'* a lot of labor involved. The input shaft is only $60. But you need to remove the transmission to do the job. Remove the side pan, remove the valve body and channel plate. That all the further you need to go in. The 4th gear input shaft is right there. Pull it out, put new one back in and put 4th gear clutch plates in place and put the channel plate and valve body back on and put trans back in the car. Easy, not really. Even with the right tools it'* all day. Plus when you open up a transmission you need to be very careful and clean. And putting the valve body/channel plate back on has to be done correctly, and without a ATSG service manual, I don't suggest it. A trans swap may be a better option. Contact local salvage yards and see what they have. Did one last year, $500 for a complete transmission. Otherwise your option is to accept having a shop do it, or drive with a 3 speed.

you would think the tech would drive it and would know if it had 4th or not. your misfire (coils, wires, plugs) may be causing your mpg drop.

One more wrinkle, although I do not think it makes any difference, it seems it will go into 4th gear, but not under load, at 65 on the highway, going downhill, when you let off of the gas to maintain speed, it shifts up, but as soon as throttle is applied, it downshifts, and will not upshift until throttle is released completely. Just a little more info. Many thanks for the replies!

Adrian

Could be that your torque converter isn't going in to lock up.

Thanks for the reply, Dan. Would this throw a fault code in the transmission?

Adrian

It wouldn't cause a light, but may show up with a scan.

Thanks, again!

Adrian

Hold up guys..

The trans doesn't have to be pulled to fix this. The axle is pulled, the subframe gets pulled and you lower the drivetrain together about 5-7 inches. Then the side pan can come off and you can get in to swap the 4th clutch hub. It'* a bit of a pain, but probably about a 3 hour job.

If your local to me and would like to consider doing this, shoot me a pm and we can hook it up for a reasonable price.