90 lumina euro - no reverse

Hi there....

Picked up a 90 Lumina Euro Sedan, 3.1L 4spd auto. 131000kms, babied its entire existence.

Got the government safety done on it on Saturday morning, and drove it around for the rest of the day, mostly highway about 200kms.

Noticed that reverse was getting a little sticky... ie when I put it into reverse, it didn't always 'take'. Fiddle around with the shifter a little, and it would finally go in, and all good.

Well finally, in the walmart parking lot, she decided she didn't wanna go into reverse at all anymore. Its weird, I put from park to reverse and I actually feel the car move back about 2-4 inches, and then its like its in park again, except the revs will only go to about 2000 RPM.

Also, at this point, the car will usually not go into drive either. I have to put into Park, then all the way to 1st, then back to park. Then usually it is fine in forward gears. kinda sporadic... Once I was done having to go backwards, the car was perfectly normal, shifting perfectly as long as I didn't have to use reverse.

Called several tranny shops, they all say 'take it out, rebuild it, $1500-

2000'. I dunno, based on the gradual way this failure occured, and the fact that it exhibits no problems once in gear, I am wondering if its something else, some adjustment, or a wire that's disconnected or something? One guy called it 'neutralitus', and said it was a common failure mode. I am concerned that they are trying to take me for a ride....

Here's a theory... the park/lock function does not work in this car. IE the brake pedal does not need to be depressed to move from Park to Drive, etc etc. . Is it possible that this cable is not connected properly? Does the solenoid that engages the park/key lock also actuate something in the transmission? Like I said, when I put it into reverse, its like the car is in park. You can't push it either way.

What I have done so far:

Topped up trannie fluid - it was about a quart low. Made no difference. Checked quality of tranny fluid - nice red colour and VERY clean. Checked all connections on the tranny - nothing I could see was amiss. Checked linkage for play - none present

Want to do:

Check park lock cable (after doing some research to determine if this is a wild goose chase) Check Neutral safety switch - It appears to work, ie car will not start in neutral or drive. Check TCC - Torque converter control? Done some reading but have not figured out how to do this yet. Replace Tranny filter.

Anyone else think of something I have missed?

I can get a tranny from a wrecked car for about $100, or perhaps a written off low mileage car from the public insurer here in Manitoba for about $200. (then I would remove the trannie and take the rest of the car to the wrecker for about $100) Its a big job, book time is about 6 hours. But it does look doeable.

I bought the car for $300, and am into it another $200 or so....

Input? Ideas? (not just replace the tranny, I have heard that already.... unless you think I am delusional.... :)

Terry in Winnipeg.

Reply to
loewent via CarKB.com
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I have an '83 volvo 240 which has a similar problem occasionally when it has just been turned on. The car will decide not to go into drive, instead will act as if it were in neutral. Although i havnt been able to fix the problem, i have my own theory;

When this occurs if i put the car into reverse and drive it any tiny distance, even a couple inches, i can get it into gear. Similarly, in my parents van, an older style manual, the cogs in the gearbox would occasionally misalign when entering reverse, and would not mesh properly until the drive shaft had been moved in some way, whether that was driving forward a little or letting the car coast in neutral. It may be that the tranny is experiencing a similar problem, that somewhere in it a gear is worn just a little too much and it is physically jamming up, in which case the mechanics may be right. However, it may also be an electrical fault, or something wrong with the shifter itself. May i suggest opening up the housing of the gear selector and ensuring all the wiring/stops/cables are as they should be. I know i've had to replace a couple wires in mine because the repedative forward and back motion wore one cable out so much a wire split and shorted out. Hope this helps you in some way

Josh

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Josh

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Shep

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anumber1

Reply to
loewent via CarKB.com

I dunno what you hear clicking, but my '89, '90, and '91 Luminas did not have a brake/shifter interlock.

My 92 LeSabre did however.

Reply to
anumber1

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