Brake or Transmission problem...?

Hi!

I need an expert opinion on this... see if this rings a bell.

My car (1998 Cavalier with 13x,xxxkm milege) has one problem and this problem only happens when the temperature is -15 and colder. In the morning, I warm my car up (the temperature meter indicates the engine's warm enough to go). I can back up and go, no problem.

The problem happens when I first stop at the traffic light. I step on the brake and the car stops. The wheels don't turn again at green. I keep gasing and the RPM goes up to around 25xx RPM but the car still doesn't move fast. (Maybe the brakes are stuck to the wheels?) However, if I go to "Park" and wait for 30 secs, the car will go fine again. This only happens in cold temperature. From the description, can u tell what the problem is?

I called the dealership and told him the problem. They said from the description, it sounds like a transmission problem... I don't know if that's true because this only happens in the winter... It seems to be the problem when I first brake.

See if you can tell what is wrong with my car... Thanks very much!


Regards,

Brian Do you really have to depress the gas pedal a long ways to get it to 2500? Or does it rev freely as if it were in park or neutral? Is the transmission creating any resistance on the engine? Yes, I depress about the same in normal condition to get to 2500RPM... There is a little resistance on the engine, I think. I think at Park or Neutral, the rev goes a little more freely than in Drive. It's transmission then. I don't have much experience with automatic transmissions because I have yet to have any serious problems with mine waranting disassembly, but I'll make some guesses. Your fluid level is too low? Transmission oil pump may not be functioning properly, but most likely, your first gear clutches are burnt. The clutches on your first gear have shallow grooves cut into them to allow oil to drain out from between them and the clutch plates. As they wear down, these grooves get shallower and oil can no longer drain out. This creates an oil film between the clutch and clutch plate, preventing it from grabbing. The cold weather compounds this problem because the oil is more viscous and cannot drain out. The reason it doesn't happen right away is because there is little fluid circulating in the transmission to get in the way of clutch engagement, and it goes away as the fluid thins out and can drain through the now very shallow grooves. Otherwise, you may have a torque converter problem, but I think you wouldn't be able to move at all if that were so. If that's really the problem, how much cost roughly am I looking at here? A lot? The cost of parts and labor for a replacement tranny. You may be able to get a low milage transmission at a wrecking yard because I'm sure there are a lot of wrecked Cavaliers out there. Also, GM is pretty good about keeping their transmissions standard for all of their vehicles, so you should have no trouble finding a good low milage replacement. I would have a professional check the problem out before you do this, because it would be an expensive fix if you really had something minor like a leaking seal causing low oil pressure in the transmission. Thanks very much! I'll get that checked out tomorrow.
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