A couple of weeks ago my 94 RMW started sputtering a little bit when under power. I took it in to my guy who said the problem was the opti. It didn't really surprise me since its been 100,000 mile since I last changed the opti and it's had a small oil leak out the water pump shaft down onto the opti area fro a few years. I assumed the oti had become contaminated and went ahead and did the replace. He also changed plug wires, plugs and water pump while at it. The car ran great last weekend. I drove probably about 400 miles with no issues. In fact I was real happy with the way everything seemed to be working - including very smooth shifts right where they were supposed to be. This week I started noticing what seemed like a pulsing of the engine speed with rpms going up and down. Within a day or two I started hearing a whining notice that appeared to be coming from somewhere under the front seat. It has now gotten to the point where once the car is completely warmed up, that noise occurs and the transmission seems to slip. If I shut the car off and let it cool down, everything is normal again until it warms up. There are no visible leaks of any kind- engine/transmission. Wondering if anyone has any ideas? Don't know how this could have anything to do with it, but after the opti change, the engine seems to run a lot cooler. The car is still in great shape and I would like to keep her going for another 100k or so. Thanks in advance.
You need to run diagnostics on the trans to see if any codes have popped. A popular one on high-mileage cars, especially ones with OBD II, is for transmissions that have gone past the end of the transmission's ability to take up slop in the clutch packs.
If there are no codes set, then you have to have a trans tech have at it. Do your best to find someone who is trustworthy.
Yes, I know, but GM was already using PXXXX code format in '94 on some cars, but since I don't know which, I was covering that base. Hell, I think there were a couple sedans that GM had both diagnostic connectors and the tech could get both types of codes.
Thanks for the input. Would I be able to access transmission trouble codes thru the climate control center?. Also, does the fact that everything seems OK when car is cool, but starts acting up when warm, normally indicate transmission issues? Are there any other possibilities that could cause this? Do torque converters go bad very often? Thanks again
I sure there are some folks here who may have the expertise to help out with the problem, but you can also try over on the impalass forum, they have wagon/roadmaster/transmission sections, and maybe also on the gmlongroof forum.
Temperature can affect a trans. I once had a '91 Dodge Dynasty that would stop moving once the trans temp normalized. After hooking up a pressure gauge to the line port, pressure dropped off, so it went to the trans shop for a pump and T/C.
