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sharpshooter3232
I live in Grand Rapids, MI and just recently made a trip to Detroit. The car had had a little trouble shifting gears, but was generally fine once it was in gear.
On my way back, I noticed that I was no longer going the 75 that I had cruise set to, and was now going 70. When I put my foot on the pedal it was floored, but I was getting no acceleration. I tried taking the cruise off, but it was clear that the car did not want to shift. I pulled over to the side of the road and let the car sit for 5 minutes. When I started it, the same thing happened and it didn't want to shift.
4 hours later, my dad and I went out to get the car, and he tried to drive it off the highway while I tailed behind him in his van. He was accelerating fine, and got the car up to 45 easy on the exit ramp. After a little tinkering at the gas station (we didn't even check the transmission fluid, because the cap is hidden in the transmission and is very burdensome to check) he decided it was fine to drive home. Again, he experienced no shifting problems.
3 days ago I attempted to drive it again, this time on city roads. Same problem. It was incredibly difficult to get the car to shift out of 1st gear and accelerate to the speed limit. It would get there, but I could tell that it was very close. The shift wasn't clean either, as the RPMs dropped from about 3k all the way down to 1k and then revved back up.
So my question is, is the transmission dead, does it sound like it needs fluid (we haven't checked the fluid in the 2 years we've had the car and it has 140,000 miles), a new air filter?
I really need my car this weekend to get back out to Detroit, and I need to know a way to fix this problem (if possible) by Saturday around noon. I definitely wouldn't feel safe making a 200ish mile trip in the car's current condition... but again, my Dad insists that there is nothing wrong with it.
One last note - the 'check engine' light has been on for about a week before this, but there were no noticeable problems, and I really need my car.
On my way back, I noticed that I was no longer going the 75 that I had cruise set to, and was now going 70. When I put my foot on the pedal it was floored, but I was getting no acceleration. I tried taking the cruise off, but it was clear that the car did not want to shift. I pulled over to the side of the road and let the car sit for 5 minutes. When I started it, the same thing happened and it didn't want to shift.
4 hours later, my dad and I went out to get the car, and he tried to drive it off the highway while I tailed behind him in his van. He was accelerating fine, and got the car up to 45 easy on the exit ramp. After a little tinkering at the gas station (we didn't even check the transmission fluid, because the cap is hidden in the transmission and is very burdensome to check) he decided it was fine to drive home. Again, he experienced no shifting problems.
3 days ago I attempted to drive it again, this time on city roads. Same problem. It was incredibly difficult to get the car to shift out of 1st gear and accelerate to the speed limit. It would get there, but I could tell that it was very close. The shift wasn't clean either, as the RPMs dropped from about 3k all the way down to 1k and then revved back up.
So my question is, is the transmission dead, does it sound like it needs fluid (we haven't checked the fluid in the 2 years we've had the car and it has 140,000 miles), a new air filter?
I really need my car this weekend to get back out to Detroit, and I need to know a way to fix this problem (if possible) by Saturday around noon. I definitely wouldn't feel safe making a 200ish mile trip in the car's current condition... but again, my Dad insists that there is nothing wrong with it.
One last note - the 'check engine' light has been on for about a week before this, but there were no noticeable problems, and I really need my car.
