1998 SL2 Automatic Transmission Problem

Got a bit of weirdness going on.

The transmission has always been a bit slow when kicking into reverse.
If the car has just been started or has been idling for a bit it'll take
a quick second to kick in, but not a delay I would call out of the
ordinary for changing gears.

After it has been running for awhile (an hour or more) it seems to take
several seconds to get into reverse. It's longer than I would typically
expect it to take, but has yet to not pop into reverse and work.

Any ideas?

Thanks..

EC

 

I would start by checking the fluid level. Not sure if you ever changed
the fluid or filter. Most likely its the valve body thats wearing out.

Heres a good place to get started

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=saturn+"valve+body"
&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&sa=G&scoring=d

Its been discussed many times. If you have any more questions let us
know.

 

Since valve body appears to be a fairly common problem and the few
experiences I've had are much like those described is there any way to
go about wrenching Saturn into paying for it?

Any advice?

EC

 

Not unless its still under some sort of warranty which means you had to
of bought it used recently. On a good note however its easy to remove
the valve body on a TAAT.

Its best to just replace the entire VB but heres some details on your
problem.
http://www.transmissionspecialty.com/parts/PDF/95200-02_03K(rb).pdf

 

Actually now that I look at that link it doesnt say anything about
having to buy a reamer like you usually need. (reamers are 50 bucks or
better) I just noticed they had o-rings on the valves. You might be able
to just buy those parts. I'm not entirely sure... No one here ever
mentioned using a Sonnax kit as a fix.

 

You know there is a similar issue on GM's 4L60E trans. Only it causes the
torque converter to malfunction and burn up. I believe it's the same co.
that makes a "kit" for this but the kit is something like $450 as I recall.
Seems Gm can't figure out how to make a valve body.
Larry

 

Yeah its namely the TCC valve on the 4l60e. GM knew how to make a valve
body and they got things back in order now I think... They just didnt
bother to take into account that when you went from iron to aluminum you
have to make changes at that time. (such as making valves larger and
longer to reduce wear) The cast iron valve bodies held up great. I think
once you paid for every VB fix from sonnax for the 4l60e you would of
been better off to of bought a upgraded replacement VB from GM. Not
pratical for the diy'er but if you have a trans shop it would pay off.

 

Heh, is there ANY GM tranny that DIDN'T have TCC issues with it?
Though, they poped up on a few other cars too. IIRC, Ford used a
centrifugal setup on the C5, I have no idea how well it works, but they
dropped it. The AOD had a real assinine setup on it, which made it easy
and fun to blow up...

Yeah. They're complex as heck, though But they do work very nicely.

Interesting, when did they change? ISTR Ford used aluminum long ago, at
least, I think they do. The C6 I did for a friend was from the 70's and
the VB seemed to be light enough to be aluminum...

Powerglide!

 

go to saturfans.com. do a seach on the forums for reverse slam. there is a
fix that has a good success rate.
what you do is change the trans fluid, add a bottle of prolube trans
treatment. put the car in reverse with the e-brake on and let it run for
1/2 to 1 hr. this seems to clear out the valve body. it worked on my saturn.

 

FWIW allmost all VB are aluminum and until I bought my 1st GM product in
over 20 years (suburban) I never had a VB problem. Now I've had 2 'burb and
Saturn.
Larry

 

1993 for the 4L60 I think.

TH350's and TH400's were pretty decent.

 

Ahh yes. The Turbo 350 kills bushings hard, though. Good tranny, but
kills bushings. They had a stabalizer ring in front of the seal rings
on later ones to help this.

I'm not too familiar with the 400, other than it's a funky neat design,
and early ones supposedly had center support troubles. But it's
supposed to be a really good tranny after that.

Beats most Mopar stuff, though some people swear by the A727....

 

More weirdness:
I recently changed the valve body on a 93 SL1 because of extremely hash
shifting, check engine code, and sometimes a strange squeal. I got a
factory manual, and following all the steps, replaced the VB with one from
6th Planet. But when I test drove the car, same problem was there. The VB
replacement made no change -- until about a week later when I was preparing
the car for the junkyard I took it for a last test drive. The transmission
performed perfectly! What's happening here? Did the PCM have to reset
itself to the new valve body or do I have some other, intermittent problem?
What does it mean to "reset the adaptives" and how do you do so?
Gary

 

There is probably an easier method, but I've found that the best way to
reset the engine and trans computer is to simply remove the battery cable
for about 5 minutes, then re-connect it.

On the slow shift to reverse, is the trans fluid full to the top mark when
the engine/trans is at its operating temperature? Does it have the correct
fluid installed? When was it and the filter last changed?

Bob