Saab auto gearbox has decided last Friday that it won't go into 1st when in Drive, but I can manually get it with L(ow). But there's a jerk when it goes into L. Reverse is fine, once on the go gear changing from 2-5 are fine. From memory of a previous car, is this low ATF or worse? 49k miles.
The dash has a engine maintenance warning light so it's going to the garage sometime to have it read (£42 IIRC, it's rest/rusting up at the mo), I'd like to have a feel for how bad it might be.
An auto won't do anything if the fluid level is too low. The gears are engaged by hydraulic pressure, and the pump pickup is at the lowest part of the sump. Marginal fluid levels can result in the pickup getting air in and drive dropping out momentarily. But if the fluid is below the pickup, no drive at all.
Lower than correct fluid can result in the transmission overheating, so should be avoided.
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Phew, thanks for that. I'll sleep better now until the garage says otherwise!
Noted, The jerk into 1st (L) can't be good either, nor the revving and initial slippage as it tried to move off in a higher gear (I wanted to get home slowly before experimenting to find out if L and R worked - very gentle driving cursing all the red lights).
If it is slipping when starting in a high gear - rather than just normal torque convertor action - the box is toast. Sadly.
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