Well looks like it is a good thing I have just about all the parts needed for my manual swap....

Earlier tonight I was pulling away from a stoplight, nothing heavy (1/2 throttle) and the car didnt go anywhere, all of a sudden it caught and jerked forward. After that the whole night it was fine, until I tried to back into my driveway and even at 3k it wouldnt budge... Forward motion is still there but I'm worried how long that will last.

I checked the fluid, it was almost like Skippy PeanutButter brown but still fluidy instead of the normal pinkish tinge -- it was also low so I added some Mercon5 I had handy.

Whenever in P or N the transmission makes an audable 'winding up' noise or whirring that is relative to engine speed -- sounds like it may be the pump or TC but it never made the noise before.

This really sucks as I was slated to travel up to Jax with a bunch of other rotorheads tomorrow morning -- anyone have any ideas on what it could be? I have a trans service kit (pan gasket + filter) so I'm going to do that in the morning and see if it helps -- the fluid was nasty so I'm sure that is a contributing factor. -- My poor baby.

~Kris

 

I would definetly try the easy stuff like changing the fluids in the tranny and the filter.Of it was very thick odds are the filter is probably all gunked up.Hope its not the tranny.

 

Sorry to tell you this, but the same thing happened to me. I had to replace my trans. It actually happened twice. The first time, I took it up to KD Rotary and had a used trans put in. It cost me $1600! Well after about 6 months, that one went. It started to slip, and eventually, it just revved and drove about 5mph. I had a Mazda reman put in at the dealership(my mistake), and that cost me $3400!! Take it to Aamco, don't take it to a dealer. They don't know ****. If there is aproblem, they automatically say "It needs to be replaced"... That's 'cause they don't know how to fix it. At least Aamco can diagnose and rebuild.

 

sounds like a good time to switch to a 5 speed.

 

Amen

 

+1

 

It's all in ths sig.

I'm waiting for my pedals and a companion flange. If all comes before Thanksgiving than I shal be swapping then.

~Kris

 

problem solved.
how did the car act before this? did you get any other mild symptoms? Im getting a bit paranoid about my tranny since it seems to shift slow even when in hold mode sometimes.Then again thats the only way I drive the car in hold.So who knows.Maybe hold mode puts a bigger strain on the tranny.

 

Hey man how did you run a aftermarket radiator on a auto???

and I have tons of crap done to my auto and I beat the living crap out of it and I still have yet to have a problem so its gotta be something else.

 

I think all you need to do is to run the hose that runs from the tranny to the radiator back to the return line on the tranny.Therefore bypassing the second tranny cooler.

 

If thats the case then no crap his tranny fluid got cooked. Heat is the #1 killer of auto trannys you cant just bypass a cooler.

 

The trans acted normal... my car would hesitate into 2nd/3rd on WOT sometimes but I had attributed that to my leaky ACV valve that is soon to come off. Other than the single time it happend to slip leaving the light I had no other indications of trouble, it never seemed to be generating excess heat or anything of that nature.

Our FD's have a dedicated tranny cooler on the pass-side... the one in the radiator is practically useless as it rests in heated engine coolant already. Not having that was not the cause of my trans failing I can assure you. I removed the stock line to the radiator and went directly to the dedicated cooler with some new hydrualic line.

I pulled the pan out and the fluid looks like used motor oil... ugh it doesnt smell really burnt just the typical smell of about 60k old trans fluid.

I was never particularly hard on the trans, never used hold except once or twice when I first got the car; never power-braked as it was pointless IMO... My car did have a nasty habit of spinning the tires through the top of 1st and well into 2nd, going upwards of 7200rpm but other than that I was easy on it.

 

spinning the tires with an auto tranny? wtf?
Ive never had this happen unless I brake torqued the **** outta the car.
I would change the fluid and the filter first.If that doesnt do it.Its auto to 5 speed time.