Hey guys,

I have a 97 2.2 OHV sunfire, with about 156xxx km or little less than 100xxx miles and i am having problems with the transmission.

It seems that it just does not want to go into reverse sometimes as well as occasionally grinding in 2nd as well as 3rd gear.

If i try to jam it into reverse (pushing on the shifter as hard as i can) it will go in with some considerable force.

I keep the fluid topped up in the resevoir (sp?) as best I can.

I am not mechanically inclined what so ever, so please try to make things as obvious as possible.

Thank you so much!

I'm experiencing similar problems, though I have the 2.4 liter engine. Not sure if it's the same trans. I'm pretty convinced my synchros are going out. It gets harder and harder to shift into various gears as time goes on.

First it didn't want to go into reverse any more. It would just grind. I have to turn the car off to get the shifter to go into reverse. After I've been driving it for about 45 minutes, it starts to be able to go into reverse.

First gear is going on me as well. I can't put the shifter into first for the first, oh, 20 minutes of driving. Third is the same for maybe ten minutes. Second, fourth and fifth are still hanging in there.

My car has 155k miles on it, for the record.

So I picked up a new (used) tranny from a junkyard with 31k miles. I hope this solves the problem, except now I have to figure out how to install it.

Does my description sound similar enough to yours? If so, I hate to say, but I'm pretty sure you're going to have to replace it. The guys at my local parts store echoed my thoughts that it might be the synchros going bad.

By the way, they suggested I add some Lucas oil to the fluid (after removing some trans fluid), which I did. No effect whatsoever.