Garage Storage Organization and Garage Cabinets

fireforce · **Transmission acting VERY odd after shop visit**

I am having alot of problems with my A413. My car is a 92 Daytona, 2.5L engine non turbo.

I had a leaky front pump seal on my tranny, and took it to a shop to get replaced to avoid removing it myself. The guy who was doing the work called me when he got the pan down, he told me, "When I dropped the pan it had alot of metal shavings and pieces in it, and in my opinion its just not worth paying me 450 to reseal this thing". He never proposed a rebuild as I guess he figured I wouldnt pay for it on a car with 182K on it. I told him just to replace the filter with the purolator I provided and to simply refill it. He did.

Well soon after I noticed weird shifting. First I had this very sudden and fast 3-2 downshift. It felt almost like brakes were applied. It would happen right after I would let my foot off the gas pedal. Then I noticed that it gave me hard shifting up and down whenever I hit wide open throttle. If I didnt use WOT it would shift relatively ok. Then a week later it stopped allowing me into WOT at ALL. No matter how hard I pressed it wouldnt open up. Now today I noticed that I got WOT back BUT....it kicks the tranny AND the stick into neutral! This happened twice today when hitting WOT. I dont know quite what is the problem with it now. I dont know if its somehow snagging the throttle cable and the shifter cable and having it pull it into another gear or what.

The tranny was working good when I took it in. Well it had a very slight bump downshift from 2-1 just as I was coming to a stop but it wasnt bad at all.

I dont know if he adjusted the bands honestly. I just need this thing to last me until I complete the rebuild on the replacement 413 that I picked up. Hopefully swap it in Dec. But at this rate I dont think this thing will last....

Does anyone have ideas as to how to handle this tranny? I would really appreciate any advice as I feel almost at wits end.....

kaijhe_jsziack · 08-04-2006, 11:50 PM

The first thing I thought when I read this was sabotage, but there are a few other possibilities.

One thing I know about Chrysler trannys (older ones) is that when you change the fluid, it usually sucks in a lot of crap into a very badly plumbed system and causes all kinds of trouble. Usually, it's just unpredictable which is what sounds like is happening to your car.

But with the throttle cable issue, it sounds like when your mechanic put it back together, he didn't hook everything up right either. It's difficult to say, because auto trannys are so touchy, but the first places I'd check would be the the throttle cable (regrease it) and the shift cable (do the same, and make sure they are hooked up correctly).

Also, even though it may not help, I'd try and flush the system at a transmission shop (a different one) and see if the junk can be flushed out of the lines. But that can run you upwards of a hundred dollars, so I'd suggest your regular idiot check on your mechanics work.

bfarroo · 08-05-2006, 01:23 PM

Sounds like the kick down cable may be sticking or kinked. It't the cable that goes from the TB down to the trans. Make sure this cable moves freely when the throttle is pressed.

Benji

fireforce · 08-05-2006, 02:44 PM

Okay, I just got outside and played with it and took it for a test run. That throttle lever that is with the shifter lever is TOTALLY STUCK. It aint movin a bit! The lever itself is pretty rusted.I know it should be able to swing out to the front then return back to where it was but this little bugger aint movin no how. I sprayed alot of PBBlaster on it hoping it will free it up.

The junkyard one I have here at my place, its throttle lever moves very freely after I scrubbed it down with blaster. So I know the range of motion that thing should have and I cant get it to move at all.

Does this sound like it might cause these shift problems. It did it to me again during my test run. It resisted going WOT so hard I had to punch the pedal down 4 times to finally make it go and when it did, it threw me into neutral. Stick and all.

bfarroo · 08-05-2006, 07:51 PM

Sounds like that's your problem, not sure on how to fix it since I'm a novice as far as the inner working of the automatic transmission. I know mine is a little sticky and has been that way for 2 years on and off. mine isn't as bad as yours so it doesn't bother me too much. I don't have any problems going to WOT, mine just shifts late when not on the gas hard. I just click it into N for a split sec and back in to drive and this frees it up enough to shift to the next gear. I'll have to keep an eye on this post and see what you find out.

Benji

fireforce · 08-05-2006, 08:12 PM

I am gonna take it to the shop on Monday and have them remove the bracket and remove all the rust, relube it, check the kickdown cable, and adjust thebands. Hopefully just getting rid of the heavy rust on it will free it up. If not, I guess I will have to hurry and rebuild the valve body out of my spare 413 and replace it. Hope not though.

fireforce · 08-07-2006, 09:09 PM

Ok, heres the conclusion. On sunday I went outside and applied PBBlaster onto the shifter/throttle levers. After like 10-15 mins I could move the throttle lever very very slightly. I could push it a cm or 2 in both directions. I figured it would get better if allowed to soak in. I sprayed a bit more on it and went to do my landscaping work for the day. 2 hours later I came back and worked it again, this time it was moving most of the way toward the front but still not loose enough to spring back into position like it should.

I applied more PB and kept working it back and forth for like 15-20 mins and it finally freed itself! It would perform full travel and return to its resting position. I decided to take it on a test drive and.....wow! It was like a brand new car. Not only has the WOT to neutral shift disappeared totally but also WOT is now very easy to access. No more punching it hard 4 times to make it go. The whole car has alot more "get up and go" in general. Also, the rough 2-3 up and downshift are eliminated. And the funny shift that would occur when I was in 3rd gear(where if I took my foot off the gas the car would immediately shift down to 2nd VERY roughly) is no longer there either.

Its like a brand new car. So apparently the rust was mostly limited to the outside portion of the levers. I am sooo glad I didnt need to take it down to the shop again.

bfarroo · 08-07-2006, 11:25 PM

Sounds good, I'll have to blast mine down some more and see if it loosens up more although the last few weeks it has stopped having the funny shifting issues again. They seem to come and go. I may just need to keep it lubed good.

Benji

fireforce · 08-07-2006, 11:48 PM

Yeah put some blaster on it and work it back and forth. Be aware that blaster doesnt stick around as long as say WD40 will. So you might need to use something else as a lube.