My mom picked up a 96 automatic for $700 all It needed was some brake work and a top. she drove it home from about an hour away and everything was fine.
Last night i fixed the brakes. I took it out on a drive after up and down a mountain to make sure it it would make the drive to her in Atlanta. When I turned around for the return trip it started shifting really bad in the forward gears. It kept reving and surging . It would hardly go forward. I tried reverse and it was fine and out of gear it was fine. I ended up having to leave it and now I have to try and retrieve it today.
Anyone dealt with this before? Is the trans toast?
AUTOMATIC trans
EvanB
SuperDork
6/2/11 12:13 p.m.
Sounds like it is telling you to swap in a manual.
A swap is in the plan but it wont happen till around winter if possible.
not an expert on an automatic for sure, but there is a cpu that controls the shifting
on these. I have taken them off a car in the past, but dont actually know what they do or how they do it.
That said we just took in a 96 auto with 57k miles on it should you need to buy a trans.
Email direct, as I dont check these threads ;)
willy@isellmiataparts.com
cdyer77
New Reader
6/3/11 7:19 a.m.
I'd start with making sure the fluid level is correct - I've had issues with auto trans acting up & it turned out the fluid level was a little low - Sounds obvious but I know in my Jeep, if you check the fluid level in Park it will read high, but in Neutral it will read low
Having been down this very road myself I would suggest checking the vacuum modulator on the driver's side of the trans housing, it has a vacuum line that runs up to the rear of the intake manifold. If the line is cracked/split/off or the diaphragm of the modulator is ruptured it could cause these symptoms. To check the modulator for a ruptured diaphragm simply pull the vacuum line off and swab the inside of the line with a q-tip. If you find any ATF in the line you likely have a ruptured diaphragm and will need to replace the modulator. Napa has them.
good luck,
mark
