08 Grand Prix Transmission problems

[hellokrissy]

Hi,
My name is Krissy, I'm going to apologize in advance. I don't know much about cars or I wouldn't be here right now but I'm really desperate for some advice because I deliver pizzas right now for a living and if my car goes out then I lose all my income.

Okay, so I own the 3.8 L. I bought the car with 167,000 miles which I know is a lot but it was running great when I bought it. It's now at 195,000 after a little over 2 years. (delivering pizza is a real shit storm for a well-running car by the way, I don't advise it)

Well about a week ago, I started noticing some abnormal behavior with the transmission. Seemed to have some delayed shifting. When I mentioned it to my boyfriend he told me I was being paranoid. But when we were driving home from the casino, I was trying to slowly accelerate from a stop when the car didn't move and sounded like I was running over speed bumps for a second, until I let go of the gas and then pressed back down again and proceeded like normal. This happened twice so I decided not to drive it and do a transmission fluid change on it.

After investigating, I noticed the car was actually leaking tranny fluid. From the amount of spots I found on the ground, I would guess it had been leaking for a about a week while I continued to drive it. There was no obvious cause of a leak. So, we removed the pan and drained what we could. The fluid was VERY old, watery, and burnt. A seriously overdue fluid change. I figured this was the cause of all my problems, but after changing the filter and gasket, and refilling with fresh oil my problems didn't go away. Although the transmission didn't leak any more fluid, I still felt some slight delay and after driving it for about an hour, the check engine light came on.

My boyfriend took it to get the code read. The guy at the shop said the code was coming up for the transmission but he didn't tell us the exact code, only that I would probably need a torque converter. I checked the fluid levels again and there was nothing even registering on the dipstick. Great, I didn't even have enough fluid in it.I added another quart and took my car to work the next day (delivering pizzas). The car seemed to run good all day, I noticed no problems HOWEVER, the check engine light was still on and I was watching the fluid temp the entire time and at one point, it got to 222 degrees. It seems to be overheating very quickly. Still no physical problems, until I went to put in gas after my shift. I was driving up a hill (at this point the temp being at 212) when the transmission started to slip and the needle for the RPMS started to flutter and I wasn't sure if I would make it up the hill.

My question is, does this sound like a torque converter problem? I don't want to throw money down the drain to fix a transmission that's going to fail anyway. what are my best options? Will the fluid continue to overheat once the converter has been replaced? I am considering putting in some Lubegard protectant but should I flush the the fluid first? Like I mentioned, the old fluid was really burnt and I'm afraid just draining it wasn't enough. It might be useful also to add that there was metal muck on the magnet inside the oil pan, but nothing abnormal. No large shavings and nothing to indicate anything other than a really overdue transmission fluid change with normal wear.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long read!

[Tech II]

Unfortunately, 200K is high mileage for a tranny, that hasn't had regular services.....100K is the recommended for the car, but I prefer a 50K interval, with fluid(Dextron VI) and filter......

Not knowing the particular code, does not help......your coolant temp problem is not an indicator of your transmission temp,,,,,that is a separate issue....

Using a vehicle for pizza deliveries is the same as like a cab....it puts a lot of wear and tear on a vehicle....and buying it at 160K, and not knowing the vehicle history doesn't help.....

Hard to judge over the internet without seeing the vehicle, but my best guess is your tranny is on it's way out......I am not talking converter here, I am talking about the whole tranny may have to be replaced, if the fluid was bad, and it's slipping......was there a lot of clutch pack material in the pan, or any metal pieces or flakes? Also driving the vehicle low on fluid didn't help.....

You need your vehicle......but you are going to have to make a decision, on getting another one, or the cost of installing a rebuilt, or boneyard tranny...and even a boneyard tranny should have things done to it before installing in a vehicle, like new seals and valve body with new solenoids....it won't be cheap....and like I said, your job is not good for your car....

As for going up the hill, was it the tranny that caused the problem, or was it a misfire from your engine?

[rickisrad]

you definitely need to get the leak fixed and keep the proper amount of fluid in the car. The leak is probably one of the trans lines that go to the radiator.
there is an issue with the 4T65E transmission with the delayed shift issue. here is a link for part of the fix.
http://ls1tech.com/forums/ls4-perfor...ement-fix.html

Some times the transmission can be prolonged by installing a transgo shift kit for these issues. also increasing the line pressure helps.
http://www.grandprixforums.net/threa...ailed-Pictures

After the leak is fixed add Lucas stop slip additive. 2 bottles for a badly worn transmission.
The issue with RPMs sounds like converter lockup. it can be caused by low trans fluid too. You have a lot of miles on this trans and it is on the way out. The above are bandaids. if you get it rebuilt make sure they put in a new/rebuilt converter also. triple edge performance sells good rebuilt transmissions.