I think my tranny may be getting ready to go. (97 stock Z28 automatic, 120K miles). Shortly after driving the car hard I notice that after stopping, the car jerks during the shift from 1rst to 2nd gear. After that the car shifts great....until I come to a stop again and it repeats. If I leave the car sit for a few hours, the problem will have dissappeared when i drive it next. Again, only after driving the car hard, it seems that this begins to happen. I recently dropped the tranny pan, changed the gasket and filter, and refilled with new fluid. There are no tranny fluid leaks that I can see. (I was experiencing this problem before that though).

Any one else have/had problems such as this?

thanks in advance

 

What conditon was the old fluid in when you changed it? Was it black or brown? Did it smell burnt? Was there any black sediment in the bottom of the pan? Any metal in the pan? All these are sure signs something is going wrong with a clutch pack, or the band.
When it shifts hard from first to second, is the shift also noticeably later? If so, it could be a sign of a pressure problem, or a valve hanging.

Frank
Cahall Performance Transmissions

 

in response to 12SCNDZ's reply:

condition of old fluid in the pan was good I think. It was reddish-brown (closer to red than brown) in color and did not smell burnt at all. There were no deposits in the fuild at all. As far as shavings, there were barely enough to coat the magnet in the pan. (this maintenance hadn't been done in at least 60K mikes). As far as the hard shift from 1rst to second, it doesn't happen late, it happens immediately as the car shifts into second. It feels like a sudden jerk comming from under the car. If I accelerate even a little hard from a stop this jerk will even squeal the tires as it shifts into second.
I checked my tranny fluid and it is perfect.

any idea how much a tranny place would charge to look at the tranny in detail to try to figure out where the problem is?

thanks again in advance

 

All transmission shops are different. We don't charge for diagnosis/test drive/scanning.

Frank
Cahall Performance Transmissions

 

....actually come to think about it after dropping the pan and emptying the old fluid, i noticed that the bottom of the pan was partially coated with a very thin black "film". the film seemed like it was made of grease or something and could be easily rubbed off with my finger. I wasn't alarmed because it had been so long since i dropped the tranny pan (i had someone else do it the previous time like 60K miles ago).


....perhaps i should be concerned

thanks again for any help or advice

 

Frank,

what exactly does a diagnosis involve? (besides scanning & driving) is that something i can do myself? (lol...probably not!)

thanks,
Hank

 

...if it is the clutch pack or band....how bad is that??? is that like $300 bad or more like $800 bad? does that constitute a transmission rebuild? at what point can a tranny not be rebuilt? what exactly constitutes a re-built tranny?

thanks again,
Hank

 

could it possibly even be something unrealted to the tranny? maybe something to do with the rear diff or something? (just throwing ideas out there)