my 89 olds in not shifting right! HELP! this sucks!

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ilovethescudo

ilovethescudo

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None of your business
My car is not shifting right. It only shifts at the redline. This goes for all gears. it shifts from 1st at 45 mph as the engine hits the redline, and it shifts from 2nd at 85 mph as the engine hits the redline. basically it acts as if the throttle is constantly wide open, even though it isnt.

Also, sometimes when i rev up the engine in Neutral or Park, it makes some odd noise. sometimes it does it, and sometimes it doesn't do it.

now, the night before this started happening, i did a power wash on my engine. when i was done and drove off, nothing was amiss while i was driving.

My theory: Either the throttle position sensor or the vacuum sensor has gone bad, because i've heard that the ECU uses these sensors to determine when to the the tranny to shift.

My car is a 1989 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera 4 door SL. The engine is a 3.3L v6 engine with multiport fuel injection. The transmission is the 4T60 4 speed automatic transmission. the car has 175,000 miles on it.
 
Clutch? When it shifts does the car "jerk" forward? I'm guessing clutch or ECU.
 
no the car does not jerk forward when i put it into drive. and when it shifts it doesnt violently jerk forward either.
 
ilovethescudo
yeah i was wondering what the first response was talking about when he said clutch, since its an automatic.
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Automatics do have clutches too you know. ;) In the two automatic failures I've had one of them was similar to what you decribed--and it ended up being the clutch.
 
yeah, that lockup clutch thingy that is supposed to give you better fuel economy or something.

so uh, could the TPS or the Vacuum sensor be the problem?
 
I dont know how the olds works, but I had an 83 LeBaron that had this problem, it turned out to be a cable that somehow worked with the throttle to tell the transmission when to shift. Mine was messed up so that it shifted like I was going WOT all the time. Maybe something to look into...:scared:
 
It's not the TPS. The throttle position sensor only tells the ECM how far the thottle's so it can send the appropriate amount of fuel to the injectors.

Boz Mon
I dont know how the olds works, but I had an 83 LeBaron that had this problem, it turned out to be a cable that somehow worked with the throttle to tell the transmission when to shift. Mine was messed up so that it shifted like I was going WOT all the time. Maybe something to look into...:scared:
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That's my guess. The transmission kick-down cable is probaly out of adjustment. This happened to my car after I pulled off my throttle body to clean it and didn't readjust the cable after I put it back on.

I'm not sure how you would adjust it on your Olds, but the adjustment process should be similar to what I had to do for mine, both cars being GM and from the same period. Check this link out:

http://www.iroczone.com/techarttvadj.html

If this is nothing like the setup on your Olds, I'd pick up the Haynes or Chilton service manual for your car at Pepboys, Autozone, Advance Auto, etc. It should have the exact adjustment process in it. Hope this helps some.
 
so uh, where would the kickdown mechanism be for my olds? i have a picture of my engine that i can post. i do happen to know where my gas pedal connects to in the engine. i can take a picture of where that cable leads to, and where any cables connected to that lead to.

I have noticed, that my gas pedal is ever so slightly easier to push than it normally is. that might indicate something, i'd just thought i'd throw that into the mix.
pict1103rr7.jpg
 
It would probably be attached to the back side of the rocker that operates the throttle body. There would be a rod or a cable coming up from below that attaches to an empty hole on the rocker plate. Take off the airbox and look underneath there.

@ JCE - nice try, but calling the torque convertor lockup solenoid a 'clutch' is really begging the point.
 
Duke
@ JCE - nice try, but calling the torque convertor lockup solenoid a 'clutch' is really begging the point.
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I hate to niggle, but as an engineer, if something can mechanically disengage or engage a shaft, It's a clutch.
 
now it's not shifting at all. it won't engage when i put it into D or R. it just sits there. it doesnt even sound like its trying to engage. this happened after about 20 minutes of driving. i turn into my school's parking lot, and i press the gas pedal, and nothing happens except the engine just revs like it's in neutral.
 
To ask the obvious - does it have fluid in it?
 
That sounds like a problem with the "clutches". You probably need a new transmission.
 
Had that happen in the '92 Voyager I drove in High School. It could be anything from the valve body to the bands, to the tranny just eating itsself.

It looks like a new tranny to me.
 
My dad had a similar problem in his xl-7. I believe it was some kind of faulty sensor like an airflow or o2. I'm not sure but I hope this may help.
 
that's not the "w" body one, is it.

cause that sonded a lot like the glitch I had with a 1st gen lumina. turns out the comkp was fried.

have you checked for trouble codes, as well? there's a trick to get a car of that vintage to blink the trouble codes using the check engine light.
 
I thought oil pressure determined when the transmission shifted.
 
well, the tranny seems to be totally dead. not engaging. the only "useful" gear is Park. So, this is the end for my car. It's over. i'm not bothering to fix it or replace the tranny. its just gonna cost too much, and take too much time, to do that for a car thats just too old. i'm just gonna junk it at my local metal recycling place to get $150 out of it. then my dad wants me to try to sell his '84 truck for $1000, and then use that to get another car.
 
I figured as much. Yeah, shouldn't be that hard to find a new one.

Wait, were you talking to me? or was this the "He's dead, Jim" reference to that one movie or TV show that I keep getting confused about.
 
Blackbird.
I thought oil pressure determined when the transmission shifted.
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No, not really. At least probably not in the way you mean.

On older ATX cars, the transmission was controlled by a combination of vacuum and mechanical means. At high RPM, the engine generates a lot of vacuum as it runs through its intake/exhaust cycle. The transmission has a tap off of this to measure vacuum, and when it gets high enough, it moves an actuator that then uses the hydraulic fluid within the transmission to make an upshift. There is also a mechanical device called a kickdown bar which forces the transmission into a lower gear. This is tied to the throttle so that when you floor the gas, the transmission downshifts for better acceleration.

Newer ATXs are electronically controlled, and the engine computer reads a number of sensor inputs (two being, ironically, throttle position and vacuum) and then decides what the appropriate gear is for a given RPM, and what is safe to shift into. Electronic 'sport automatics' just give the driver a little more direct control over gear selection.
 
only $150? man, they don't even pay metal weight! I'm about to scrap a 91 Acclaim, and they pay metal weight, here.

ya know, I'm suprised you got 175k out of a GM of any kind. they usually peter out right at the hundred k mark.
your not gonna get nothing for a grand nowadays...not even a pile of junk. a grand only buys a parts car nowadays. damn economy.
 
*Bump*
Jim Prower
I figured as much. Yeah, shouldn't be that hard to find a new one.

Wait, were you talking to me? or was this the "He's dead, Jim" reference to that one movie or TV show that I keep getting confused about.
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No its from Star Trek. "He's dead jim"

Anyways, the Ciera is history.

Now i have a 98 Chevy Lumina. This car kicks ass. it's got a 3.8 L under the hood. It's the first vehicle that i've driven that can actually peel out. The radio works ok, my only complaint about it is that the A/C Does not work.

The reason? Condenser's got a hole in it. I live in Northern Utah, so the temps don't get too unbearable here.
 
you actually poked your own thread awake?!

lol

anyway. enjoy that 3.8. I've had two of em (both Ford's though), and they can move a midsize quick. when I had a Lumina, it was the 3.1...and I made it peel on all-seasons!
 
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