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stuck in third

6K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  jas24zzk 
#1 ·
I have a 96 el auto wagan and noticed while driving in the city that it was really sluggish moving off from traffic lights. Worked out after a while that it wasn't changing gears at all and seemed to be stuck in third. Once home I thought that I would check the transmission fluid but couldn't find the dipstick. After reading other posts have found out it doesn't have one. Once the transmission cooled down I took it up the street and it started changing gears as normal. Does this sound like low oil and if so how the heck do I fill it up?
 
#2 ·
There are trans places that make a living from guys like you. I am having the same problem at the moment with my EL wagon. The first opinion I got told me that the trans was shot and I should hand over $2500 for a new one. I got a second opinion from a TAFE lecturer that told me the car was in "Limp home mode" due to a fault in the system somewhere. I then went to a gearbox specialist who plugged in a computer and ran my car through a system check, finding a thermo fan fault and a sender unit fault in the box. Bottom line is, the temp sender in the box is faulty. It's telling the thermos to come on because it thinks the box is hot. My left thermo is not working, so the computer picks that up and drops the car into "limp home mode". Your car will "re-set" when you leave it for a bit, I believe this is a common problem, get it fixed pretty quick before your gearbox really does have a problem. I don't know if you are aware or not, but your box changes using solenoids. Bloody computers!!!!!
Hope this helps!! Let me know how you end up, we can compare notes.
Cheers!!
 
#4 ·
dirt_ute_6 said:
There are trans places that make a living from guys like you. I am having the same problem at the moment with my EL wagon. The first opinion I got told me that the trans was shot and I should hand over $2500 for a new one. I got a second opinion from a TAFE lecturer that told me the car was in "Limp home mode" due to a fault in the system somewhere. I then went to a gearbox specialist who plugged in a computer and ran my car through a system check, finding a thermo fan fault and a sender unit fault in the box. Bottom line is, the temp sender in the box is faulty. It's telling the thermos to come on because it thinks the box is hot. My left thermo is not working, so the computer picks that up and drops the car into "limp home mode". Your car will "re-set" when you leave it for a bit, I believe this is a common problem, get it fixed pretty quick before your gearbox really does have a problem. I don't know if you are aware or not, but your box changes using solenoids. Bloody computers!!!!!
Hope this helps!! Let me know how you end up, we can compare notes.
Cheers!!

Did you get the warning light flashing on the dash? I didn't and wifey said it did the same thing a couple of days ago and I did aroung 200k's yesterday without any issue just sarted while coming out of Hobart, stop/start through the lights but no warning light flashing.
 
#6 ·
it said like it definatly going in to limpo mode if was you next time it does it go straight to a trans shop and get them to test it before you burnout third gear clutchs coz a reco box will set u back about $1700+,i know this coz i've worked in a clp trany work shop.


cheers eddie
 
#8 ·
Wifey here,
Don has taken the car into a auto transmission workshop in Hobart, They are going to run a diagnostic check on it and give it a full service for $150. Hopefully they won't find anything to major is wrong with it.
Thanks for your help and advice thus far will let you know what they find later.
 
#10 ·
G'day,
limp mode normally results from an electrical fault...inside or outside the box.
For any others researching..i had a similar thing, but mine was a cheaper fix. One of the power feed wires on the battery had parted company with its connector, placing the tranny in limp..... $0.0.25 to repair :)

IF the power light is flashing, then its transmission overheat....low oil, blocked filter, blocked cooler.

Cheers
Jas
 
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