1990 Buick Park Avenue won't shift

Tiny
FLAMINGBUTTERFLY
  • MEMBER
  • 1990 BUICK PARK AVENUE
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 131,040 MILES
We had damage to the pan(REALLY dented) on the tranny, so we replaced the filter at the same time we repaired the pan. Now it won't come out of 1st gear. We replaced the modulator thinking that may be the issue(it was bad- full of fluid) but that did not solve the issue. Would a soliniod be the problem? The tranny was rebuild at 98,998 miles, so it doesn't have that many miles. The engine has had rough idle/ miss issues, but plugs, wires and coil pack have been replaced, along with the fuel pressure regulator and a few other things. Any ideas?
Saturday, July 25th, 2009 AT 10:24 PM

7 Replies

Tiny
MERLIN2021
  • MECHANIC
  • 17,250 POSTS
Check engine light should be on if the shift solinoids arent working?
Can you move the grearshift? Any visible leaks?
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Sunday, July 26th, 2009 AT 9:00 AM
Tiny
FLAMINGBUTTERFLY
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
The shifter moves fine, a little stiffer than before, but it goes without working at it. There is no noticible difference when shifting between OD, 1 or 2. It has good take off now, and winds up fine until about 30- 35 mph and stops. It sounds like it wants to kick up and just can't(that redline rev, shift gears sound) It can't accelerate any further and I didn't push it coming home. There are no visible leaks. Which solinoid should we be looking at? We we told to also check the throttle cables, which we will, but I can't see that tripping the engine light. Should we go back over the modulator install again to verify that it is ok? We haven't run a vaccum test again yet. I have access to a computer to pull the code, but not until Monday.
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Sunday, July 26th, 2009 AT 12:46 PM
Tiny
FLAMINGBUTTERFLY
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
Had a thought. The tranny rebuild reciept is for a 440-T4 transaxle w/ converter. Is this the correct tranny for this application? It is obviously compatable since it was working, but doesn't match the # for everthing I've found that should be in the car.
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Sunday, July 26th, 2009 AT 1:29 PM
Tiny
MERLIN2021
  • MECHANIC
  • 17,250 POSTS
If the pan was dented enough to bend or damage the filter inside, it may also have damaged the valve body it attaches to. Need to look at that. Check email for the diagram of the valve body, if any of the valves or check balls were bent or dislodged, you will get symtoms that vary including yours. Yes the application is one of 3 different transmissions used in Park Ave.
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Sunday, July 26th, 2009 AT 4:04 PM
Tiny
FLAMINGBUTTERFLY
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  • 6 POSTS
Will check the valve body. The check engine light came back to a bad camshaft sensor. That wouldn't have any effect on the tranny would it?
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Monday, July 27th, 2009 AT 10:54 AM
Tiny
MERLIN2021
  • MECHANIC
  • 17,250 POSTS
If the computer has wrong readings goining into it, it might. Replace that first, but with such a severe hit on the pan, I would still check it.
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Monday, July 27th, 2009 AT 1:08 PM
Tiny
FLAMINGBUTTERFLY
  • MEMBER
  • 6 POSTS
We didn't see any visible damage to the valve body, but the pan was dented in a good inch- inch and a half, so anything is possible. THe tranny shop said something about some type of cover being cracked that would cause it to do that too. We've checked vaccum and throttle cables. Cables seem fine and it is getting vaccum to the manifold. We've also discovered that the new coil pack is leaking too. I'll try replacing the sensor and if that doesn't help I guess it is off to the tranny shop for more diagnostics!
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Monday, July 27th, 2009 AT 2:36 PM

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