No 1st Gear!?

SubaSteevo · #1 01-19-2003, 10:47 PM

Uh oh...I think my 1st gear is gone. I thought my car was lagging some under hard acceleration, but then I realised that the rpms wouldn't go past about 3.5k. I thought that it might be stuck in 2nd so I decided to put it into manual mode and went down to 1st gear. I push on the gas and the car starts to roll...for about an inch, then it just stops in place and the rpms go up BUT IM NOT GOING ANYWHERE! What could this possibly be? Is it possible for the car to just lose 1st gear? This problem occured after the following things happened: 1. Car idles rough (I cleaned out throttle body and cleaned off MAF, good as new) 2. I started to roll forward down a small hill (while in reverse) and had to hit the gas to avoid hitting a parking block 3. The dipstick popped out and I didn't realize it till the next day 4. I floored the car but got no more power than normal acceleration. Of course all of this had to happen within a weeks time. Any idea what happened? Am I missing something here or did my 1st gear just die?

alltrac · #2 01-19-2003, 10:52 PM

call a good tow truck and go to the dealer

SubaSteevo · #3 01-19-2003, 10:59 PM

The car drives fine, it just doesn't seem to like first gear.

LarryIII · #4 01-20-2003, 06:47 AM

I thought first gear was not available in manual mode. I always thought manual mode starts you off in 2nd gear from a stop.
Someone, please correct me if I'm wrong.

svx_commuter · #5 01-20-2003, 06:58 AM

I think he means he put in in 1st gear manually.

However, it would be a good idea to use the manual button on the shift with it in 3rd for slow speed driving. This would avoid using 1st gear, might buy so time.

When is the last time the fluid sump screen and external filter were changed? Might be worth a shot to give them a try first.

SubaSteevo · #6 01-20-2003, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by svx_commuter
I think he means he put in in 1st gear manually.

However, it would be a good idea to use the manual button on the shift with it in 3rd for slow speed driving. This would avoid using 1st gear, might buy so time.

When is the last time the fluid sump screen and external filter were changed? Might be worth a shot to give them a try first.

I do not know what the fluid sump screen is, so it probably hasn't been changed. Mine is a 92 so it does not have the external filter (the previous owner never followed the TSB). I tried putting it in 1st with and without the manual mode on, neither worked. I remeber reading a post a while back about someone whos transmission was slipping and he adjusted the brake band and it was fixed, does anyone think this might work in my case? If so does anyone have a picture of the location of the adjustment screw?

LarryIII · #7 01-20-2003, 10:25 AM

Burgundy Beast.

If you drop the pan on the bottom of the transmission (drain it first) and you look up, you will see the screen. This is sometimes refered to as the internal tranny filter.

If you have a 92 without the external filter kit, I urge you to put one on, especially if you have not installed an aftermaket ATF cooler. This is cheap $ compared to a tranny job.
The existing cooler in the bottom of the stock 92 radiator is probably plugging or is plugged. Good Luck.

SubaSteevo · #8 01-20-2003, 11:01 AM

The car does in fact have 1st gear, it just slips until about 3000rpm. All of the other gears slip a little bit too. I'm hoping it can be fixed without getting a new tranny.

P.S. Thanks for the info on the filters.

svx_commuter · #9 01-20-2003, 11:06 AM

That sounds encouraging since all your gears are slipping. I am really hoping that it is only the sump filter and radiator that have plugged up on you. With the cold weather you may have not done much damage. Can you not drive it until you get it checked out?

SubaSteevo · #10 01-20-2003, 11:13 AM

The only place I'll be driving it is to the tranny shop to get it checked out. Unfortunately theres not much around here so I'll probably end up at AAMCO.