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Will Shift from Park into Neutral, but then only rev when in drive

Tiny
TBOLIN
  • MEMBER
  • 1992 CADILLAC SEVILLE
  • 91,000 MILES
I have a base model 1992 Cadillac Seville. Five years ago my car started to have trouble shifting into first gear. I will shift into nuetral but after that the motor just revs and revs in drive. The car sat for five years, while I was in college. When I graduated I came home, checked all the fluids, cleaned out the gas tank, and fired the car up. It then drove just fine for about three weeks. Last night I was driving about 35mph and without making a noise the car would only rev the rpms. So I pulled over put the car in park and tried to shift back into drive, but it started having the same problem it did five years ago. Any ideas? Also, a year before the first problem happened I had my transmission replaced and it ran just fine.
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Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 AT 3:16 AM

14 Replies

Tiny
RASMATAZ
  • MECHANIC
  • 75,992 POSTS
Have the transmission checked out - sounds like its slipping -start here
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Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 AT 3:29 AM
Tiny
TBOLIN
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
Can you think of any other reason why the car would have somewhat fixed itself after sitting for so long? If the transmission were slipping wouldnt it have kept slipping when I started it after so that long?
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Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 AT 3:32 AM
Tiny
PROAUTOTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 288 POSTS
Interesting, the fact that it didn't work, sat and then worked makes it sound like it could just need a new filter, possibly shift solenoids too. Some people will tell you to have it flushed, others will tell you to never flush a cadillac transmission. What does the transmission fluid look like, is it very dark and brown or black? If you are comfortable doing it, I would drop the transmission pan and replace the filter. If not, I suggest taking to a place like AAMCO. Be sure to tell them right up front that you have no intentions of putting a lot of money in the car, or replacing the transmission. If you do this, they will try to work with you rather than just trying to sell you on rebuilding the whole transmission.
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Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 AT 3:35 AM
Tiny
TBOLIN
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
Is it possible that I could reset the computer and it may be able to shift? Thats the only reason I can think of for why it started working after so much time? Will resetting the computer hurt the car? At least this way id be able to drive it without towing it.
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Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 AT 3:44 AM
Tiny
PROAUTOTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 288 POSTS
I was thinking more like the crap in the transmission fluid settled out, like an old wine. Driving got it stirred up clogging thigs. That's the optimistic outlook anyway. Alot of those cars came with onboard diagnostics. You said bas model, so I'm not sure. There's a way I believe to get codes out of that car even if it doesn't have it. Has something to do with certain buttons on the dash. Let me see if I can find the book.
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Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 AT 3:51 AM
Tiny
PROAUTOTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 288 POSTS
I remember now. On the climate control, pres the warmer button and the off button at the same time, I thinnk the key has to be in the on position. This is where you can view any stored codes. Let us know what you find out. Thanks!
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Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 AT 3:58 AM
Tiny
TBOLIN
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
Thank you very much. Is there any other reason you can think of that it would have worked after so much time? So far we have the filter and fluid, maybe a solenoid, and the computer might need to be reset. If I remove the terminal from the battery will it erase stored codes?
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Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 AT 4:11 AM
Tiny
PROAUTOTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 288 POSTS
It might, but you can also rest them on your climate control too. However the codes themselves don't keep things from working, they just tell you what isn't already working. Don't try clearing anything until we know what the codes are.
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Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 AT 4:28 AM
Tiny
TBOLIN
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
So I checked for codes today, and none showed. I also tried to do the reset by detaching the battery and ran into issues with the terminals so hopefully I will have those replaced tomorrow to see if the reset worked. What could not throwing any codes mean?
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Monday, January 23rd, 2012 AT 2:03 AM
Tiny
CADIEMAN
  • MECHANIC
  • 3,544 POSTS
Youll gonna need a rebuilt trans. The clutch plates are slipping.
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Monday, January 23rd, 2012 AT 2:49 AM
Tiny
TBOLIN
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
Cadieman how do you explain the fact the car fixed itself after sitting for so long?
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Monday, January 23rd, 2012 AT 2:58 AM
Tiny
CADIEMAN
  • MECHANIC
  • 3,544 POSTS
This is a pressure problem. It never fixed itself. Its got the same problem. As you drove the car the pressure was dropping now nothing.
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Monday, January 23rd, 2012 AT 3:28 AM
Tiny
TBOLIN
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
So how did the pressure rebuild in the car?
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Monday, January 23rd, 2012 AT 3:49 AM
Tiny
CADIEMAN
  • MECHANIC
  • 3,544 POSTS
Impossible to say. The same problem happened twice it time you have the trans checked. Slipping to me says bad clutch plates. It needs a rebuild.
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Monday, January 23rd, 2012 AT 9:19 PM

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