95 Saturn Transmission - Please Help!

Just change the fluid. Get a new filter from the dealer, dump the fluid, and then refill. If you want "the good stuff," refill with Mobil

1 synthetic Dexron III fluid. One of the benefits of Saturn ownership is the ability to change the transmission fluid/filter without having to drop the pan.

Wow, in doing a quick search I can't believe Steve Scharf is STILL around spewing anti-Saturn bile. That's got to be some sort of troll record.

Cheers,

Ritz:

First of all, THANKS. I am fairly moronic on cars. Do you mean to imply that I could change it myself if I got a new filter from the dealer?

Also, I went to Pep Boys today after I posted this as I was at Best Buy and it took a good 2 seconds to go into drive after I backed out of the parking place. I bought something called TVF (Trans Valve Fix) "For use in Engines, Transmissions and Gearboxes". It says to add one full bottle to transmission fluid. I added about half a bottle (8 ounces). I drove quite a bit after that, but made sure to not park where I would have to put it in reverse. So, I don't have any data yet on whether it helped or not.

What is your opinion of this type of stuff? There was another brand right next to it that said "anti slip" or something like that for transmissions. I just chose this one.

Also, who is Steve Scharf and why include him in the response?

Thanks Again,

Len

I checked the fluid (hot) and it was full - I think. I have checked it on an off for a long time and it was always full. The reason I say "I think" is because I can see fluid above where it is supposed to be, but no obvious line like oil. It DOES seem like I used to be able to tell easier. I haven't changed the transmission fluid in awhile so I guess I will do that. Thanks!

Len

Dont overfill it. There is a operation range that the level should fall into. Might look like this |XXXX| with maybe some holes in it. If you overfill it the fluid will get aerated. It may be a good idea to go through your owners manual again, or er for the first time perhaps.

The symptoms you have occur when the transmission valve body goes bad. Do a google groups search on this group for 'valve body' as this has been discussed here at length in the past.

Lane [ l a n e @ p a i r . c o m ]

You can do a trans fluid and filter change very easy. Actually it is easier to change the trans fluid/ filter than the engine oil/filter due to location.

I would do the service but it sounds like you need some repair to the valve body. It does require some mechanical know-how to do that.

From what I understand, this is a common problem for those that don't service the trans as recommended. Tarnish builds up on a particular spool valve causing it to stick, and eventually causing damage to the valve body. Replacing the fluid on schedule will greatly reduce this problem.

I change my trans fluid and filter every 15K miles. So far so good. Very easy and great preventive maintenance.

James

Yupp, I would say its the valve body. Like Lane said, this is a very common problem with saturns from those years. My car was doing the same thing, I also found out it was the valve body. Dealership offered to replace that for 700 dollars, I opted to have the whole transmission replaced for about 1300 at a transmission shop. I retrospect I think i think i should have just replaced the valve body at the dealership, the transmission place was a hassle to deal with.

Anyway, when you decide to get it done, call a few dealerships for the prices on valve bodies. I live in the Detroit area, and some dealerships charged 400 dollars for a valve body, while others charged

600 for the exact same thing. I was amazed, i thought dealerships had a fixed cost for this kind of thing.

Lane wrote: