Hello. Just today I ntoiced something wrong with my transmission. It only affects one thing, and that is when I downshift from 4th to 3rd at engine idle speeds, It makes a loud grinding sound. But when my engine is revving anywhere after 2000 or so rpm it shifts down perfectly. If I put it in nuetral and then rev it a bit then downshift to 3rd it shifts fine, so that's what i've been doing as of today, it works, and i might be able to live with it, but i'd prefer to get it fixed (peeace of mind thing)
Does anyone know what the problem might be? And possibly the price to get it fixed at a dealership if possible.
Greatly appreciated.
i had the same problem...then shifting into 5th gear also had grinding as well as shifting down into 3rd...the dealership gave me a new tranny because it would have been stupid to fix 2 gears, 1 of which is a cuising gear....
just go to the dealership and they should know what to do...i had a warranty on mine so it cost me 100 dollar co-pay..not sure what your situation is like...
2003 Pontiac Sunfire
2.2L 190HP
Pacesetter Headers
Modified Intake
Full Exhaust
9.9 @ 70.19MPH 1/8MI.
Hello everyone this is a bit of an update. My tranny stopped the problems posted above for all the winter. But just now it's started to act up again! Right now it grinds going from 2nd-3rd (only when shifting hard) and from 4th-3rd all the time (unless it's at idle or near idle speeds)
I don't know what the fluck is wrong...synchro's? i find it very strange this problem came up before and went away now it's coming back...but im not joking around here.
This problem has me worried...very worried. I don't want to have to sell the car and take the losses of how much I've invested. Currently my car has 159k (mostly highway) and is 2.2 eco gm SC'd with other minor mods (if it matters with tranny prob)
HELPS!
This happened to me before on my f23 (2200, but same trans)
I had grinding into 3rd, on downshift at first, then all the time.... then I lost third
Then I lost 4th
3 and 4 are on the same shaft in the trans. The shift forks in the trans are plastic and can break. I think this is what happened to me (i gave my trans to Skunk before I looked at it in any details)
I had 1-2 and 5-r they were fine but 3-4 was toast.
If I did a "double clutch" it would eliminate the grinding, or minimize it, but eventually it just gave up and broke.
I did a trans swap (only $213 for a used trans w/ 50k on it)
Just take it easy on it if you dont want to work on it for a while. Mine held out for like a year with the problem.
Good Luck
"A car just isn't a car without a little blood, sweat, and beers." -- Shadowfire
I see I see. That sounds the same as I'm experiencing now. I just don't get why it went away last fall then came back this spring.
I have a hard time getting time off work, saturdays my only real available day, and the dealership refuses to do any tranny inspections on that day for some reason. Oy im just lost and trying to figure out how I can fix this
Oh and if you don't mind me asking how much time/cost was it for the labour to put a new tranny in Mattt Linke?
Is it cheaper/resonable to replace with a rebuilt tranny then to go inside and diagnose then fix it? Just wondering cause I know there's tons of 5 speed getrags out there.
I did the swap myself. I bought a used trans (56k miles) -- it was $213.xx
It took me about 6-8 hours to drop the old trans and lift the new one up into the bay.
This only took me so long because I did it without help, and only had the car like 12" off the ground. I would try and get it a little higher if you could. Now I could probably do it in about 3-4 hours with experience doing it.
I would assume its waaaaaay cheaper to replace than fix.
Heck im going to be getting another trans just to have (for when I put my LSD insert in the one im currently running). With how cheap/easy it was to fix, having a spare in the garage is great piece of mind for me.
Though I recommend having a buddy or 2 to help with the lifting it in to the car, that was kinda hard all alone
"A car just isn't a car without a little blood, sweat, and beers." -- Shadowfire
Yeah I took it to the dealership and they told me the same. That it would be easier to replace then fix the synchro. I'm getting a used 60k tranny for $150. And am pondering about replacing the clutch and flywheel at the same time...Amazing how cheap the tranny's are eh.
It is, theyre SO cheap.
Heck the motors are too. I just replaced a 2200 for $450. (56K on the motor).
I took a look at my clutch, its about the width of 2 quarters. Im actually impressed that it is holding up so well. i dont know how thick they are stock, but I assume mine is near the end. It holds up to all my daily abuse no problem. Im at 120kmiles on it so far.
I would have replaced it had I had the money at the time however.
Good luck!
"A car just isn't a car without a little blood, sweat, and beers." -- Shadowfire
Hey guys...
yeah when i got my car i had a bit of a grind with 4th...mostly downshifting.
but what you have there is a bad syncro in that gear (maybe more) and maybe some fork problems if you see any gear similarities...(4th and 5th)
options:
used tranny...
you can always go out and find yourself a used tranny somewhere for around 350-500 bucks....
problems:
you have no idea where and what is wrong with that tranny and is not a RELIABLE bet... chances and ill say fact is there is no warranty on being stupid and going with something you dont know about.
better more expensive option:
rebuild your transmission, new forks and syncros all round and anything else that comes up when its out...
quite pricy to get done as i did... 1,600 for my transmission rebuild. but hey, its great now.
DONT WAIT!
you dont want to damage your internal workings beyond what they are now, dont wait untill you "lose 4th" thats no fun...
and not being able to reverse is an issue that is not fun with your head out the window telling your friends to push harder...
hahaha good advice bud. I'm not wanting to spend that much money on a rebuild. I think im going to setup an appointment soon to get that 60k used tranny for $150 and replace my clutch/flywheel with new stock parts. Hopefully they can hold up to my build and future plans, that's my main worry. I don't plan on going above 225whp though so hoping clutch can hold'er.
CavalierFOX wrote:
you can always go out and find yourself a used tranny somewhere for around 350-500 bucks....
problems:
you have no idea where and what is wrong with that tranny and is not a RELIABLE bet... chances and ill say fact is there is no warranty on being stupid and going with something you dont know about.
Exactly! My '04 has 85k miles on it and has had this problem since the day after I bought it at 64k miles. Problems never show up on the test drive... Anyway, given how common this problem is, do you really want to spend $350 plus install for something that may have the exact same problem already, and probably will have it soon? Salvage yards barely look at cars when they buy them, I just sold my '98 Grand Am to one, and the guy wrote me a check without even seeing the car! Spend a bit more to do it right the first time. I see people try to save money by doing all sorts of crazy things, and 99% of the time it comes back and bites them in the ass.
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'04 Cavalier
2.2 Ecotec Supercharged w/ 2.9" pulley
Charge air cooler
Poly bushings - lower control arm and engine/trans
So what would you suggest? Buy a brand new tranny?
Your post is still making me nervous J-Ri...They can't be THAT common. Is going with a used tranny with 60k on it a bad choice for me?
Shane Reid wrote:Your post is still making me nervous J-Ri...They can't be THAT common. Is going with a used tranny with 60k on it a bad choice for me?
Maybe I'm going out on a limb here, but being this is a car enthusiast forum people MAY be a little harder on their cars than the average driver. As far as the tranny I'm lucky enough to have a junkyard that's a you take it off place. In other words if I was looking for a tranny I'd try to pull it from a wrecked car because when I see a car in the junkyard with a decent body I figure there must have been mechanical problems. You can ususally get a warranty too from junkyards so consider that. I'd drain a transmission if possible too just to look for metal shavings.
