AOD not going into gear when cold

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AOD not going into gear when cold

April 01, 2008, 12:43:25 AM

Title says it all... My tranny takes a little persuasion to get going before it's warmed up. I usually rev it up quickly to get the tranny to engage and then take off as normal, but it won't ease off the line without rapping on it first to get it to slip into gear. It only does it for the first couple of tries away from a stoplight/sign. Otherwise it's fine. Fluid is full, doesn't smell burned. Ideas?

AOD not going into gear when cold

Reply #1 – April 01, 2008, 01:43:59 AM

your no green pea here so ill ask,, how long has the filter been in there?

Also,
Just fyi and you probably know this already,,,,,,
when you have the pan off, you can start the car and put it into D and R and let more fluid flush out thats still in the tranny and torque converter.

I dont know of any way to get to the drain plug on the torque converter without motor separaton so spining up the motor is what i usually do to help empty that part.

Next,,
have you verified all the nylon bushings that hold all the shifter linkages together are in tact?
down near the driver side pre cat there is a triangle shaped braket where all the shift linkages merge. There is a very complicated mess of movement that needs to be just right in order to shift correctly.

next
have you adjusted the TV rod any lately?

AOD not going into gear when cold

Reply #2 – April 01, 2008, 10:27:08 AM

This sounds a lot like what happens to old, high mileage trannies. The lip seals in the clutch packs start to harden with age, this lets fluid pressure leak past them. As the vehicle warms up, the seals soften up, and start giving you full pressure again. This condition will burn up your forward clutches eventually if you are not carefull. Of course this is your worst case scenario, so try the above tricks and see what happens, but I have a feeling that you will unfortunately have to come back to this.

AOD not going into gear when cold

Reply #3 – April 01, 2008, 11:45:11 AM

So just build a lil fire underneath the tranny before you drive it? :hick:

AOD not going into gear when cold

Reply #4 – April 01, 2008, 05:42:33 PM

Quote from: ZondaC12;211962

So just build a lil fire underneath the tranny before you drive it? :hick:

LOL!! ! If only it were that simple. I hope it is something simple for his sake, but I have seen enough of the situation I described to feel pretty confident about that scenerio.

AOD not going into gear when cold

Reply #5 – April 01, 2008, 06:53:18 PM

Definitely try changing the fluid and filter first...but it sounds to me like a bad valvebody gasket or warped valvebody...my first 'bird did the same thing...would even occasionally drop out of gear completely when warm...I thought the trans was on it's last leg, shift kit fixed it and it happily took 3yrs of HARD abuse with the shift kit and aftermarket trans cooler.

AOD not going into gear when cold

Reply #6 – April 02, 2008, 12:15:26 AM

Quote from: slowfoxbird;211947

This sounds a lot like what happens to old, high mileage trannies. The lip seals in the clutch packs start to harden with age, this lets fluid pressure leak past them. As the vehicle warms up, the seals soften up, and start giving you full pressure again. This condition will burn up your forward clutches eventually if you are not carefull. Of course this is your worst case scenario, so try the above tricks and see what happens, but I have a feeling that you will unfortunately have to come back to this.

The scenario you describe here is exactly what happened to my old neon (and consequently why I immediately got rid of it). It feels nothing like the neon did when its tranny died. In this case, it doesn't have to be WARM, just cycled through gears a couple of times. I'm thinking a fluid and filter change might fix it, but I've never done it. Is it a matter of taking the pan off? Pretty straightforward I hope?

PS The fluid and filter have never been changed since I've owned it (3 years or so) and the TV linkage hasn't been adjusted either. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll tackle the project when I get some time.

AOD not going into gear when cold

Reply #7 – April 02, 2008, 12:54:36 AM

your a smart guy, just do it.
Also while your at it,, you will be very temped to get yourself an aftermarket plug kit that allows you to drain the trans fluid prior to the "next" next trans filter change.

For some odd reason some people can remove the pan easy while people like me have to lower the trans cross member to get the pan out. either way, if you have a 3.8, yours will be easy for sure.

its straight forward, remove pan, get soaked, remove filter get soaked,
start car and cycle from D - R and let all the fluid you can run out.

Important part here>>>>>>>>> inspect each hole on the pan and if the hole is beveled,, you want to bevel them the opposite direction.
I lay the edge of the pan on a little piece of 2x4, center up the ball pin hammer round end in the hole, then hit the hammer with another hammer lightly. this will bevel the holes opposite.

why do this?
it allows for a better seal on your gasket. Its hard to explain but i hope i was clear enough.
the same principle applies to the valve covers and oil pans.
You wont need any gasket sealer if you do this.

AOD not going into gear when cold

Reply #8 – October 02, 2008, 10:55:54 AM

Well I finally got around to doing the fluid/filter change. I did my best to NOT get soaked in tranny fluid, but it was inevitable. My exhaust pipe got in the way for one of the bolts, so that was a little interesting. After finally coaxing the pan off, i found a little white plug just floating around in the fluid. I looked up what I could online and it seems that this plug was used at the factory prior to installing the dipstick? Why would it still be in there? Could it be that my fluid has NEVER been changed?

AOD not going into gear when cold

Reply #9 – October 02, 2008, 12:38:56 PM

Quote from: amooset;238117

Well I finally got around to doing the fluid/filter change. I did my best to NOT get soaked in tranny fluid, but it was inevitable. My exhaust pipe got in the way for one of the bolts, so that was a little interesting. After finally coaxing the pan off, i found a little white plug just floating around in the fluid. I looked up what I could online and it seems that this plug was used at the factory prior to installing the dipstick? Why would it still be in there? Could it be that my fluid has NEVER been changed?

Sounds that way.Unless someone didn't know what the plug was,and threw it back in.

AOD not going into gear when cold

Reply #10 – October 02, 2008, 05:12:21 PM

you found the lollie pop eh?

yep,, thats from the factory and was inserted into the trans fill tube to block off from any debris that may fall in.

It hurts nothing rolling around down in there.

Its pretty obvious your fluid was never changed, the lollie pop was widely known about for many many years so the odds someone not knowing what it was would have only yielded in one result. Trash can.

There isnt any way any reasonable owner of a car would find such a thing in thier pan and not question it to the point of finding an answer by a trans shop.

Your problem now is to change the filter here again in a month or so.

You had a huge amount of contaminated fluid still in the torque converter that mixed with your new stuff. one more time mister and perhasp another in a year or so and your golden.

either this or haave the two front lines diconnected from the radiator and the system flushed / filtered after you explain what you did , what you found and your thoughts on the bad fluid mixed with the good.

Thats a lot of fluid to think about still in the converter,,, then again, what you have done is nothing but good overall. Take it or leave it,, just food for thought.

AOD not going into gear when cold

Reply #11 – October 02, 2008, 09:10:00 PM

I was a little concerned that replacing the fluid with all new may degrade the performance and make the slipping worse, as the old fluid was more "sticky" with all of the contaminants in it. Seems that maybe the fluid just lost its viscosity and needed replaced. When I have time, I'll do it all over again, getting as much fluid as possible this time. It kind of worries me that the transmission has gone 180K plus without so much as a fluid flush. But everything was SPOTLESS under the valve body and the old fluid didn't smell burned so maybe she's good for another 180K (now with regular maintenance, of course)?