elgreco

hey guys im having a problem with my tranny. some times especialy when car is cold after sitting for a while, it wont go in to gear unless i rev the engine few times.
now it did this when i first got the car , but after a tranny service it seem to be fine.
Now almost a year later it starter doing it again , so i change fluid and filter drain the converter and its been fine for about a week now
has anyone had this problem before?
do i need a tranny rebuild? is it safe to drive to pa for the week end?
any info will help
thank you very much

dcrasta

Sounds like low fluid.
I had to buy a little hand pump (for pumping the fluid into the reservoir . Even with a lift, its challenging to get fluid into the fluid reservoir (Porsche gets a fail for this section ..).

Check your fluid level.

elgreco

thank you ill keep an eye on the level

Aloysius

+928

dcrasta

Oh, fluid must be checked hot .(operating temp)

soupcan

Find the leak, automatics don't last very long on low fluid.

Bill Ball

I've had good luck correcting sticky shift valves with transmission additives like Trans-X. I had a similar experience where fluid change fixed a balky shift valve for a weeks or so. The additive fixed it permanently, and subsequently I've just done regular (30K mile) fluid and filter changes with no more Trans-X needed. But I'll also add to the chorus about fluid level. It needs to be just above the cold line with the car running and still cold and between the hot min/max lines after you drive it for a while.

elgreco

start the car this morning after its sitting for a week ,and no problem went right is to reverse with no delay, but i did hear a whining noise from under there, by the time i got to work its almost gone.
ill check the fluid in a few hours (costumers come first) .
thanks again for all the info.
PS ill drive the car to hershey tonite,wish me luck

Aloysius

This is spot on. Sounds obvious but make sure the car is level when you check the fluid level . Make sure your fluid is at the right level before driving to Hershey or that might become one very expensive trip. The whine you heard can be the front pump scavenging for oil to fill the TC. I've burned out a front pump before, it's not cheap (time, $'s, labor, parts, etc). . . Best of luck!

SMTCapeCod

For an S3 as well (as his appears to be?)

I haven't been underneath in a couple weeks, but I thought my 86.5 only had one set of line for min/max, for 20C which sounds like ambient air temp.

Could be wrong- its my first 928 auto....

https://rennlist.com/forums/6165419-post7.html

elgreco

ok update,while the car was cold the fluid was under the cold line but as ut got warmer it went uo to the cold line, so i filled it up to hot and drove the car a little bit around yown on saturday and it went good. no whine no delay all is good
now for the bad news, i found the leak front tranny seal is driping. i guess time topull tranny out

Bill Ball

The whine could have been the primary pump complaining a bit about the low level. These trannies are very sensitive to level.

The front seal repair is a bit of slippery slope. The primary pump has a large o-ring as well as an outer paper gasket, in addition to the main input shaft seal behind the torque converter. They can be involved in a front leak. The primary pump is easy to remove, but disassembly and replacement of its o-ring is a bit tricky.

elgreco

thanks bill. Ok i made up my mind ,friday morning im puling the tranny out wish me luck
It probably makes sense to have the unit rebuild, all tho its not sliping and shifts fine the fluid looks real bad after only one week of beeing in there

dcrasta

OH man pulling the trans is a scary thing I need to do but im chicken...
Good luck.. I will probably be doing the same thing saturday!

SMTCapeCod

I've been talking with a place about performance torque converter rebuilds...