Ok my 1996 cavalier automatic was running fine (with the exception of bad motor mounts) until last night.


now when i drive my car i have to accelerate very carefully. if i push down to hard the engine becomes way loud and the accelerates too quicly. (it can actually feel like im in some time of drag racing car now lol)

I will try my best to explain whats happening. lets say im standing still and i want to see how fast my car can go 0-60. so i floor it and it sounds nice but it never goes to the next gear i think! at 50mph its wayy too loud and it just gives a rock and slows down.


i have to drive very sensitivly now with the accelerator to keep the engine under control.

How long have you been driving for?

Umm.....I don't see the problem!!!

hehe.

It actually sounds like your car isn't shifting right. It sounds like you're in the wrong gear, and accelerating very hard because of it.

Here's what you can do:

1. Count your shifts from a stop to 60-65 mph. Report your findings.
2. Look at your gear shifter. Make sure it's in overdrive.
3. Check your tranny fluid (there's a special way to do this, tell us if you don't know how to)


Your findings will help determine what's going on.

Brian

well looking at how I described the problem I dont blame the 1st poster for making a smartass comment.


Let me try to summarize the problem. up to 50mph the car doesnt seem to be shifting gears at all. and at that point it almost feels like its in neutral with the engine just revving very loudly for a few seconds. then at 50mph it gives a rock and the car slows, with the engine quiet.

and just driving in the neighborhood at low speeds. everynow and then the engine just roars like its in neutral.

im guessing the tranny needs to be replaced

Okay. Better described.

Your tranny isn't shifting right. Now, the easiest thing to check is the amount of fluid. Here's what you do.

Drive around for a while, (usually about 20-30 minutes), trying to vary the speed of the motor (tranny) as much as you can. You're trying to warm up the fluid. You might need to drive longer depending on how cold it is.

Next, park the car on a LEVEL surface, with the motor still RUNNING but of course in park. With your foot on the brake, move the shifter to each gear, pausing for a few seconds. Then put it back into park. Still with the motor running, check the level of the tranny fluid 3 times, wiping it off each time.

My guess is you might be low on fluid.

If the fluid level is fine, I would get the tranny fluid/filter changed. It is waaaaaay cheaper than a new tranny.

Let us know what you come up with.

Good luck,
Brian

the fluid level is fine. so i suppose i should get the tranny fluid/filter changed as you said.

easiest way to do this?

Easiest? hehe, pay somebody else to do it lol


You can do it yourself though. Pull the tranny pan (mine didn't have a drain plug, so be ready for tons of fluid to come out when you do this. The filter is right there when you pull the pan. Just pull it out. Again, prepare to get dirty, but it's cool being dirty

Talk to advance/autozone as to how much and what type of fluid you need. Throw a new filter in, bolt the pan up and fill er up!

Hint: Fill up slowly and test often like I said before. It's REALLY tough to lose fluid when it's in there, but easier to add if it's low.

If this doesn't fix it, you might need another solonoid pack, PCM, or worst case, tranny.

Brian

ok so I think i figured out the problem. My friend's dad it's the sensor in the tranny that's broken. the sensor that tells the transmission when to shift. he didn't know the name of it though. so i went to autozone, described the poblem, and the guy said it's the "TCM", transmission control module.

so now im on a quest to find a new one of those... if its even called that. i've done some searches but didn't find it yet.

Ok hold on..someone tells you this is the problem and you jump the gun, where's the diagnosic that states this is the problem, i mean we have pcm's..I don't even think j-bodies have a tcm..do you even have a j-body, reason I'm asking is your profile is blank and you have given no info on this to us as to year and model, just that your car in automatic.
There are other sensors that can go bad to cause a reving problem
From what we can under, your trans isnt shifting correctly(like stated)..but does it shift into all gears..just 1st..maybe only 2nd..does it go to 3rd..how about overdrive.
If the engine is reving high, pay attention to what gear it is in.
Compared to a new bottle of atf fluid, how does the fluid in your trans look and smell
Keep in mind before you change a part, find a reason to why it doesn't work..other than "He/she" said so, in other words:
Symptom-to-Sytem
-to-
Component-to-Cause

the very first sentence says 1996 cavalier.

it's a 2.2

my trans doesnt have overdrive.

i just took the car for a ride to pay attention to how many shifts..

i accelerate from 0 and around 30mph is when i take my foot off the gas because rpms are geting too high. then i gently repress the gas (if i press too hard the rpms just go on where they left off and the car practially goes nowhere.. like im in neutral). so i gently repress the gas and from there the car never shifts again. around 50 or 55 i can fully press the gas without the rpms going nuts. so its a pretty slow acceleration from 35 to 50-55.

from there i took it to 80+ mph with rpms running fine. (the car sounds fine... just like it did before the trans went broke)

so I dont know... it shifts ONCE.. at 30-35 mph. from there it just stays in the same gear and runs fine.

i wil check on those other suggestions tomorrow.

Thanks very much for the help so far.