Transmission Slip After Pressure Loss
#1
Transmission Slip After Pressure Loss
I tried to search for a similar topic but couldn't find one. I apologize, as this story is going to get moderately wordy I assume.
On Friday I was leaving for lunch when I bottomed out on a parking lot going about 5 mph. It didn't seem like anything was wrong, but when I tried to accelerate quickly from the first stop sign, my rpm shot way up and I had a hard shift in the upper 4k RPM range which isn't normal. I thought maybe it was just a minor problem and tried to replicate it at the next stop light, but I didn't get anything. It was only about 10 minutes to where we were going for lunch, and a few stop lights before where we were going, the transmission slipped again while trying to accelerate. At this point, the check engine light came on.
Luckily nearby there was an Autozone, so I pulled into the parking lot. Looking underneath the car you could see there was some leakage, and it was transmission fluid. Around there corner there was a Merchants so I decided to have them take a look at it.
Several hours later they call me to tell me I need a new trans pan, and some gaskets. I told them to go ahead and go for it, and I would be back later to pick it up. Over the phone, he ensured me that this would fix my problem.
I picked the car up around 5:30 in the evening and started to drive home when, again, the transmission slipped. I immediately turned around and brought it back to where they said they fixed it. By this time, the person who had worked on my car was gone, but their head mechanic would take a look. After about 45 minutes of looking at the vehicle, he couldn't see anything obviously wrong with it, and wanted me to bring it back tomorrow. I drove home, the transmission still slipped when I applied any significant amount of gas.
The car sat overnight and I didn't drive it at all. Saturday morning I woke up for work, and got into the car. The check engine light was still on (as I figured it would be) but I drove the car to work and no issues. I tried to replicate the quick acceleration causing a slip and could not. For the next 20 minutes or so of driving I tried my best to get it to start doing it again (or just to convince myself that it regenerated) and couldn't get it to slip.
Later that day, I reset the check engine light myself (because Merchants said they didn't know how) and it's been off since Saturday, and the car seems to be running fine. The real kicker is, the transmission is less than two years old. So, I was going on the assumption that it was this new problem, and not the transmission itself that was causing the slippage. I could be totally wrong though, as I'm not a mechanic.
My main concern is that right now there is a problem, but it's just not presenting itself. I've had some people tell me that the transmission had to re pressurize after a leak, some people tell me that it needed time for the fluid to get through the system, etc. I, however, am skeptical that there may still be something wrong. It doesn't feel like there is now, but my main concern is the symptoms will go away for a week, and then come back. Any ideas?
Edit: Since I am a dummy, it's a 2005 Dodge Neon.
On Friday I was leaving for lunch when I bottomed out on a parking lot going about 5 mph. It didn't seem like anything was wrong, but when I tried to accelerate quickly from the first stop sign, my rpm shot way up and I had a hard shift in the upper 4k RPM range which isn't normal. I thought maybe it was just a minor problem and tried to replicate it at the next stop light, but I didn't get anything. It was only about 10 minutes to where we were going for lunch, and a few stop lights before where we were going, the transmission slipped again while trying to accelerate. At this point, the check engine light came on.
Luckily nearby there was an Autozone, so I pulled into the parking lot. Looking underneath the car you could see there was some leakage, and it was transmission fluid. Around there corner there was a Merchants so I decided to have them take a look at it.
Several hours later they call me to tell me I need a new trans pan, and some gaskets. I told them to go ahead and go for it, and I would be back later to pick it up. Over the phone, he ensured me that this would fix my problem.
I picked the car up around 5:30 in the evening and started to drive home when, again, the transmission slipped. I immediately turned around and brought it back to where they said they fixed it. By this time, the person who had worked on my car was gone, but their head mechanic would take a look. After about 45 minutes of looking at the vehicle, he couldn't see anything obviously wrong with it, and wanted me to bring it back tomorrow. I drove home, the transmission still slipped when I applied any significant amount of gas.
The car sat overnight and I didn't drive it at all. Saturday morning I woke up for work, and got into the car. The check engine light was still on (as I figured it would be) but I drove the car to work and no issues. I tried to replicate the quick acceleration causing a slip and could not. For the next 20 minutes or so of driving I tried my best to get it to start doing it again (or just to convince myself that it regenerated) and couldn't get it to slip.
Later that day, I reset the check engine light myself (because Merchants said they didn't know how) and it's been off since Saturday, and the car seems to be running fine. The real kicker is, the transmission is less than two years old. So, I was going on the assumption that it was this new problem, and not the transmission itself that was causing the slippage. I could be totally wrong though, as I'm not a mechanic.
My main concern is that right now there is a problem, but it's just not presenting itself. I've had some people tell me that the transmission had to re pressurize after a leak, some people tell me that it needed time for the fluid to get through the system, etc. I, however, am skeptical that there may still be something wrong. It doesn't feel like there is now, but my main concern is the symptoms will go away for a week, and then come back. Any ideas?
Edit: Since I am a dummy, it's a 2005 Dodge Neon.
Last edited by mixjm; 03-21-2011 at 02:13 PM. Reason: Car specifics
#3
Well, if you loose hydraulic pressure, you WILL burn up the clutches. When the clutch discs get burned, they loose their friction properties and slide even worse creating a progressive failure. You probably burned your clutches which is causing the slipping. I suspect you'll find the UD clutches scorched.