1996 automatic v8. my truck has been giving me minor problems, for about 2 months the engine revs a bit when first accelerating from stop. but it did not lurch or anything and drove great at speeds above 20 or so.
this morning on the way to work it started acting really weird. i was going about 45 and when i tried to accelerate the engine revved but did no speed up. now it does it at all speeds so i was taking it to a garage and it started shaking a little bit too. i could rev the engine up to about 4000rpm but the car would not go over ~30. i am assuming transmission problem but i do not want to spend a couple thousand for a 15 year old car. any ideas?

 

Did you check your fluid level ??

 

haha ya, first thing i thought of. it seemed A LITTLE low so i added a bit but that did not help.

 

Did you check it in neutral? Park will NOT give you an accurate reading


when i first bought my truck, i checked it park, it said full.....then i found this website, it said check in neutral, so i did, and i was in fact 2 1/2 quarts low...but in park it said it was full

 

ah, no i checked in park. but i did add a little bit and it wasnt any better, and it happened so suddenly...

 

how many miles? look at my sig..."rebuilt tranny" you'll find that 70% of the people here have had their trannys rebuilt...if you havent kept up with fluid/filter changes, and have been towing, then its probably time for a rebuild.

if the fluids ok, then it seems the TC shat the bed

They are lucky to get past 150K

 

116k. oh... and what is TC? throttle clutch or something?

EDIT: how much does it cost to rebuild a tranny? and does sears or firestone offer that service? i'm going to call a couple places but it'd be nice to have an idea to compare to.

 

i think its a tranny cooler

 

TC = torque converter.

your transmission is slipping, which could be caused by a number of problems. ask around and find a local transmission with a good reputation and take it there for a diagnosis. there's a couple of things to expect - first is that its likely to be expensive, anywhere from a simple $300 repair to a $1500-1800 rebuild. second is that the transmission is complex black box with umpteen interrelated parts and when one or two of them go - then it screws the pooch and the whole thing usually has to come out and be rebuilt with a kit of all umpteen parts.

about the only thing you can do is change the fluid and filter and hope for the best. it'll cost you about $50 to do it yourself and it may or may not help. odds are not good.

think twice before dumping money into a repair. the last thing you want to do is spend $500 on a repair that lasts for 30 days and then gives it up and needs the $1500 rebuild after all.

 

I would check out Cottman Transmissions. They are providing me as we speak with a remaned tranny including removal and repalcement all for $1900