Auto transmssion will not go into third gear

[bapoer]

My 1986 GA will not go into third gear. It appears to drop out of second to go to third and the engine just races as if you were pushing on a clutch while giveing it gas. If you reve the engine enough it will jerk into what appears to be back to 2nd. The car will do fine if you drive it in 2nd gear, but you can't run in 2nd at high speeds.

Here is the history. Quite honestly, I don't know if the car has ever had the trnamission fluid or filter changed. It has about 96,000 miles and I got it about a year ago from a relative (freebie). The problem surfaced when my sone noticed it was surging and not moving forward properly. I had noticed a leak some weeks ealier, but was not sure where it was coming from. Turns out it was 3 quarts low on trans fluid. After adding the fluid it drove fine for about a week and then it started the buisness of not shifting into third gear.

I changed the filter and fluid and cleaned the pan will good (it was really dirty and had a real thick covering over the magnet in the pan). There were what felt like grit or metal filings in the mix. The question is, has the transmisison been damaged mechanically or is there some other component that might be causing it not to shift into third gear? I read in a forum that similar problems could be caused by low voltage due to corroded connections. I cleaned the battery terminals and connectors and removed and cleaned the ground to the block and body, but neither helped the situation.

Does anyone have any other ideas short of having the transmission checked by a professional. I really don't want to put a substantial amount of money into a 20 year old car. I would just like to get it working well enough to sell it since most of the rest of the car is in pretty good shape

[pokesmot]

Driving with low transmission fluid can damage the tranny.

cleaning the battery connections will only help if you have an electronic transmisssion, like the 4T60E where the shifts are controled by solenoids.

Your transmission is the 3T40, its shifts are controlled by hydraulics.

for a 20 year old car, if the tranny hasn't been serviced before its probably overdue for one.

if you are sure the tranny fluid level and everything is good you should have it checked out by a tranny shop.

it is a 20 year old car... so im not sure how much (if anything) you want to spend on it. It shouldcost roughly $500 - 1000 (CDN) for labor to drop the tranny and reinstall it. Might even cost a bit more if you decide to repair it.

you have a few options, You can pay a tranny shop to drop the tranny and repair it (probably the most expensive) or you might be able to find a good working 3T40 transmission somewhere that you can pay to have the tranny shop put in for you. (still expensive, but not as bad as paying for the repair as well)

I know there is one user on the forums who was selling a rebuilt 3T40 for $120 or something canadian, hes in windsor though.

you can also try searching http://car-part.com for a used but functioning tranny. Thats where i got my engine w/ 80,000km still runs great 10,000km later :)

[bapoer]

Thanks for the info. Does not sound too good.

I think I may just purchase a new car and trade this one in for what I can get for it. I have already put about $2200 into repairing other components. The engine has a bit of a vibration to it already, if not I would consider repairing the transmission.

[daman]

Mabie time to lay the ol '86 down??

so you ain't dumping tons of $$ into it.