So my wagon's in the hospital to determine, among other things, why my 4-speed overdrive transmission is not finding 4th. I took a (very rare) highway jaunt to a neighboring town and noticed that the engine seemed to be working awfully hard at 60mph... supported by the gas needle which seemed to be moving towards E at a visible rate. Sure 'nuff it shifts to 3rd at 35-40mph but never again. The tranny fluid was low.. 2 quarts as it turns out, but getting the level back up didn't help. Someone recommended replacing the modulator valve, but after some reading I figured out that the original turbo-hydramatic 200-4r transmission in this car doesn't use a vaccum-controlled modulator valve. All this is just from reading stuff on the internet. I'm 31 but I have the knees of an 80-year-old and to my shame I can't be arsed to get on the ground and actually LOOK at the damn thing. So after applying and getting approved for my first credit card ($750 limit..I'm a wealthy man o'means!), I take it to a good family-owned transmission shop to diagnose the tranny weirdness and the rough idle. Soon I find out that the reason my 4-speed automatic isn't finding 4th is because... it's not a 4-speed anymore. It was replaced. With a 3-speed . So.. nothing's wrong? I'm just doomed to have incredibly crappy highway fuel mileage? I really don't like not having a tach (or temp gauge, or oil pressure). In addition to the car being so quiet, it makes it kinda hard to tell if I'm working the engine too hard. Is fuel economy the only downside to driving at highway speeds now, or am I abusing the engine too? Would an original 3-speed in this car reach top gear at 35-40?
My dad's got a 83 Olds Delta 88 and after the 200r went out for the second time he put in a Turbo 400. Aamco wouldn't give a lifetime warranty on the 200r.
I would bolt up a later model's 2004R in a heart beat. 88 or so. MUCH better mileage and a tough tranny. I've had them behind 500hp engines with a little tweaking.
When I saw this thread called "Tranny identity crisis", I was so relieved to find that Cermo was actually referring to a car transmission! David
I'm not sure, specifically. I'm going to look into what it would cost to re-replace it, but I'm sure it's beyond my means right now. That's a whole other message board.
