Shifting and Braking Problems 1993 Chevy Cavalier

okay, here's the deal. I got an automatic 1993 Chevy Cavalier V4 2.2L with 144,500 miles on it. It's been pretty good to me for the past two years. I am a little speed deamon and I like to accelerate fast. Lately I've been noticing that my car slips back and forth between first and second gear, more like it just can't make it to second gear. After that it's fine.
Another problem I have is when I go to stop, my car shakes pretty bad at the very end of my stop. This never happened until I had to change my trany pan (I ran over something in the road and it put a whole in it). I don't see how they could have any relation though. Please help me out! What went into the pan? Did it pinch any wires? Sounds to me like you might either have trash in the transmission, a pinched wire, or a bad 1-2 shift solinoid. What I am concerned about is how much damage was done to the pan. This transmission, a 3T40 (125C) has a governor feed pipe running across the bottom of the transmission inside the pan. It also has a direct clutch accumulator which has 2nd feed oil. If either one of these were damaged and leaking it would cause symptoms like you describe. As far as wiring. There is no wiring in the pan area so a pinched wire would not be a problem. In fact, the only electronic components in this trans are 2 pressure switches, (2nd and 3rd clutch) and a lock-up solenoid. The 3T40 did not get a VSS until 1994. It has no shift solenoids. It shifts from a governor. You might want to have a trans shop take a look at it. As far as the shaking when you come to a stop, that sounds like a TCC (Torque Converter Clutch) lockup solenoid problem. This is a very common problem in the 125's. Have the lockup solenoid replaced and that should stop that problem. A transmission shop will be able to diagnose the shaking and tell you for sure if it is a TCC problem.

Good luck


transman thanks for the feedback. FYI, my car did this b4 the trany pan was replaced. Any other ideas? Thanks grlwholvscars wrote:This never happened until I had to change my trany pan (I ran over something in the road and it put a whole in it).

This part of your post may have caused some confusion then.



You could still have a problem with the TCC soleniod causing the shake and with the shifting problems it definitely sounds like you need to have the transmission checked out.

The only other thought I had was the shaking may be related to a braking problem such as warped rotors but this usually more noticeable at higher speeds.

Good luck Hunting between gears is most likely a governor problem. Thats why I was concerned about the feed pipe inside the pan. It could very well be a problem in the governor. Still, I would let a transmission man look at it. Even the shaking, Like I said it could be the lockup solenoid or even a broken mount. Get it checked


transman

Sorry, forgot to mention, have the transmission guy check the TV cable.