89 Cutlass Ciera Trans Problem

This just popped up this morning.

I have an 89 Cutlass Ciera, 2.8L V6, 3-spd trans and i only will get 1st gear.
I checked the Trans fluid and the level is okay. I was getting no major "hard shifts" between gears before, but now i've got 1st gear fwd and reverse.

I replaced the Speed Sensor last week due to trying to resolve an ongoing Speedometer problem (it doesn't work) and am lost as to what to try next.

Someone had posted in a different thread about unplugging the battery (i did) and waiting about 10 minutes, pumping the brake pedal 3 times, then reconnecting the battery and driving it "normally...like a grandmother"...which I did that as well.

Aside from putting the old Speed Sensor back on it (which I have, since that didn't fix the Speedometer) i'm not sure what to try or if that would've had an affect on anything.

PLEASE let me know ASAP...thanks!

--- Ray ---

Pull the pan and remove the valve body. Place it on a clean surface and remove each of the valves individually and clean them with a good throttle body cleaner. Allow it to dry before coating each valve with a little tranny fluid and reinstall. Do this one at a time because if you confuse a spring or valve you will be in big trouble. Replace valve body, fluid and filter. Give it a try. These transmissions often get dirty valve bodies and refuse to shift. It takes some work but just may save you a tranny rebuild. If it doesn't work then the tranny will need to be replaced. Unfortunately, you are beyond the additive stage to try to salvage it!

Try car-part.com for wrecking yards in your area. These tranny's are not too expensive but the labor is a killer.

this may not do nothing but the tansmission vacuum modulator could be the culprit for your shifting problem, costs about 20 bucks from autozone, not to hard to replace, i dont know if your vehicle has one, but im pretty sure it does. i think it might help with your shifting, as for speedometer you might just want to try a transmission shop, i believe the speed sensor goes from the end of the transmission, but that could get costly. I dont know a lot about trannys but i hope this at least helps somehow

This happened today...and all of a sudden. Would the Cleaning Procedure be something that we would've noticed a problem with the trans before or would this just "have happened" on the way to work (which is the case)?

Let me know....and thanks a bunch for your asssistance.

Will let you know what happens...

Not really. If it happened suddenly it may be terminal. Mine went quickly too as it worked one evening and the next morning it would not shift. I had a similar problem and cleaned the valve body and it worked but I slightly overheated the transmission first. The vacuum modulator is a good shot to repair the shifting problem and it is relatively inexpensive otherwise you may want to look for a new/used one to replace it.

Okay, well, I will give that a shot this morning--any idea where it's located? (should've asked that before).

If nothing else, will look around for it & check my Chilton's book...hopefully that'll have the info in it.

Thanks for the help...

- Ray -