1995 Saturn SL1 transmission problems

I have a 95 Saturn that now has about 90K miles on it. I haven't had any
major problems with it in the 5 years I have owned it. But, now I am
having transmission troubles. When shifting (I have automatic), it
'slams' into gear. It only does this after the engine has warmed up, not
while it is cold. I try to lessen the 'slam' by slowly accelerating from
a stop position, sometimes this works, sometimes not. Getting ready to
take it to a tranny shop for an eval to decide whether or not to get it
fixed or just buy a new car. I've heard that a lot of people have been
having this same type of trans problem with their Saturns and want to know
how their's got resolved. Trying to gauge how much this may cost me. Any
input would be great!

 

you have a bad valve body. My use to slam into reverse when hot. When
shifting into gear, put it in neutral,then into reverse slowing, wait a
second then accelerate. a lot like you are doing now.
I had my replaced after a while, cost $600.
But won't hurt your car if you left it like it.
Get the filter and fluid changed. This sometimes helps, and is a lot
cheaper. Mine is also a 95.
My 2000 is standard, so no problems with that one.
Good luck

Shawn

 

Thanks for the info. I kind of figured it would cost a bit. As long as it
doesn't hurt, sounds like I'll be better off just driving it the way it
is, just be careful like I have been. At least it gives me an excuse to
get a new car in a few months!

 

My 2000 SL1 did the same thing. It turned out to be the input shaft nuts.

 

How much was that to fix?

 

I paid a Saturn shop $282 to replace the input shaft nut a couple
years ago (after putting in a $400 valve body myself - which made NO
difference).