transmission woes

Hello,
I have a '94 with a 3-spd automatic. The differential went out on a long trip because there was no fluid in it and I had the whole trans. replaced with a used one. At first, the used trans. was sluggish in 1st gear. After a week, I pushed the gas harder to get it to go from a stop and something kicked in and 1st gear is not sluggish anymore. However, now shifting is erratic from 1st to 2nd gear--it is sometimes delayed and a little harsh. Does anyone know what could cause these symptoms? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

PS- I would take it back to the guy who put in the salvaged tranny but he is hundreds of miles away.
PPS-For anyone who has a separate front differential, I would recommend they check the fluid. I had a guy check it at an oil change place who assured me it was fine--but it turned out he did not check it and it was dry. It can only be checked at the filler plug--no dipstick.

get the fluid changed

welcome to my world.
i had the exact same thing happen last year. moving from Oklahoma to Wisconsin, my differential blew up outside of Wichita. that set me back $1900.

now my tranny is making a suspicious noise, and I suspect a dry differential.

I've heard that this tranny has a weakness in a seal between the differential and the transmission. it can fail and the diff runs dry.

supposedly there is a fix, but the mechanic has to know his stuff.

Off to Aamco with me....

Hey Phreddo,
Sorry to hear about your pricy Wichita disaster. The mechanic told me that this problem is not uncommon. If I buy a corolla again, I will be sure to get a manual trans or the 4sp auto so that I don't have to deal with the separate differential. It seems like poor design to not have a dipstick or some easier way of checking the fluid.

well, i got the diff replaced for $400, and in the process got a new transfer shaft and CVs (all covered under warranties). now I've got that erratic shifting thing as described in the first post. as soon as I get paid, i'm going to do a filter/flush.

also, if you spring $15 for a Haynes or Chilton manual, you can learn a lot. There is a throttle shift control cable that you can adjust to improve shifting a bit. it attaches to the throttle body, and it's pretty easy to adjust.