transmission problem

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by Rick D., Jun 7, 2004.

  1. Rick D.

    Rick D. Guest

    Howdy all, got a question... for an aunt, who is: a-short on funds, and
    raising grandkids, and b- borrowing my LeBaron, which I miss badly... so I'm
    throwing this out BEFORE recommending she take it to a shop.

    She's got a 1989 New Yorker, 3.0 V6, and the A604 electronic four-speed from
    what I can tell- according to the online specs at autozone.com, it was the
    only tranny application for the '89 NY:

    When you first start it up after it's sat a while, the car sounds fairly
    normal, though there is some rumbling when cornering that I can't decide if
    it's suspension or CV-related (my LeBaron is similarly noisy ever since I
    smacked the front passenger wheel into a curb while skidding on a wet road).

    The tranny goes into gear when you make a selection, maybe a little
    sluggish, but it does it. At the very first, the shifting is delayed a
    little, to me, anyway, but I felt it go through all four gears.... Once,
    anyway. After driving it a short, and I do mean, short distance... a
    whirring noise begins, and the more you drive it, the louder it gets.

    Once the whirr starts, it's not long before the transmission goes into one
    gear and stays there. Now, I've got the 3 spd w/lockup in my '88 LeBaron,
    I'm not familiar with driving the A604. I read up on the 4-spd's 'limp
    mode' from Allpar, but I can't really tell if this is what it's doing since
    I don't really know what the 4-spd is supposed to feel like. It will let you
    go say, 35, and while the engine's revved up, it's not exactly sounding as
    if you're going to make it fly apart from excessive RPM's, either. Could
    that be second gear limp mode?

    Drive it enough (a couple miles maybe?), and it gets to where it doesn't
    want to go without some throttle goosing, even then it might just flat
    refuse, if it's an steep enough incline. There's an odor of something
    getting too hot, too.

    This 'whirr' is not related to what the gear selector is in, it's not
    related to road speed. It's purely related to engine RPM's and if the
    thing's been driven, or not. It sounds kinda like metal rubbing on
    something, pulsates slightly like there's a spot that rubs just a tad
    harder, and a mechanic's stethoscope places it loudest (enough to hurt your
    ears when you rev the engine) when I touch it to what passes for the bell
    housing on the transaxle. Maybe not quite as loud down on the tranny oil
    pan. And much, much quieter when you listen to the engine block. Increases
    in volume when you rev the engine.

    Let the car sit, and the tranny 'rest', even with the engine still running,
    and the whirr gets quieter, and quieter, until it's barely audible with the
    nekkid ear, and you have to use the stethoscope to really detect it's still
    there at all, even when revving the engine.

    So the noise develops quickly when you drive it, and fades somewhat more
    slowly than it develops when the car is sitting still, and definitely seems
    to be coming from the front end, so to speak, of the transaxle because it's
    dependent on the engine RPM's, not the drive wheels, for volume and
    frequency, though it only develops the noise through the act of driving the
    car, not just running the engine.

    And if it's warmed up any at all, it is limited to reverse, and one forward
    gear.

    The fluid level is ok, but only God knows if it's ATF+, or Dexron. The
    fluid didn't smell particularly burned or anything, seemed fairly normal,
    but the dipstick was damned hot to the touch- that after driving it a couple
    miles with it stuck in one gear most of that time.

    Well, I reckon that's about all I can think of. Any thoughts?

    Torque converter?

    Solenoid pack? (I feel I'm grasping straws with that one but...)

    I'm thinking of going ahead and dropping the pan (if I can get it loose) and
    doing a filter/fluid change and see if there's any interesting debris. Is
    that an excersise in futility?

    My stepdad is more familiar with older Mopars, and he described symptoms
    during a phone conversation on this matter, of when older model RWD Mopars
    developed a cracked flywheel... his description sounded very like what I've
    been describing, from the metallic rasp, to the transmission acting up....
    could that be a possibility?

    Any input is extremely welcomed!

    Rich

    '88 Chrysler LeBaron sedan
    '94 Mercury Sable
    '74 Chevy Custom C-10 (my twuck)
    '94 Chevy Silverado C1500 (wife's twuck)
     
    Rick D., Jun 7, 2004
    #1
  2. Rick D.

    Joe Guest

    Whatever it is, the transmission has to come out to replace it. If you take
    it to a tranny shop, they'll rebuild it. It really doesn't matter what the
    noise is. If the whir sounds like a gear pump (like a noisy power steering
    pump) then that might be the pump. The clearances in the pump may be too
    wide to really operate the transmission once it's fully warmed up.
     
    Joe, Jun 8, 2004
    #2
  3. Rick D.

    Geoff Guest

    Once the whirr starts, it's not long before the transmission goes into one
    Definitely.

    Probably. Although I'm unclear on the symptoms that go with bad solenoid
    packs. Perhaps someone with more experience on those might point you in a
    good direction.
    Be advised that the 4-speed automatic has some computer self-diagnostic
    capability that will help a good trans shop to pinpoint the cause. I'd
    recommend you get it scanned, failing better info from this NG.

    --Geoff
     
    Geoff, Jun 8, 2004
    #3
  4. Rick D.

    Rick D. Guest

    Thanky for the responses. The pump, is something that hadn't occurred to
    me. As far as the shop diagnostics go, I was hoping really, just for some
    really simple solution that I didn't know about, to avoid that, she doesn't
    have much money. But sometimes, there are no simple solutions.

    Rich
     
    Rick D., Jun 8, 2004
    #4
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