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by Jyllian on July 6th, 2006

Jyllian

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Help answer this question below.

My 1995 Chevy is "fighting" to get power between 1st and 3rd gear. Sometimes it idles so low it shuts off. Yet a mechanic ran complete diagnostics and nothing came up. What could be going on with it? In higher gears it's fine!

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  • by DenverYay on July 12th, 2006

    DenverYay

    The simplest possible answer?

    Low fluid level...

    A few questions to consider :

    - Does the transmission (whether when its cold or hot) rev oddly while in neutral, drive, or any gear? For instance, if you are at a stop light in D or N, does your tachometer show the car's RPM's going up and down?

    - Does the transmission get very high RPMs in 1st or 2nd gear before the shift?

    - If you have an auto transmission, does it sometimes not even shift unless you force the transmission to by playing with the gas pedal?

    - When you start the car with the engine and tranmission hot, are the problems worse, better, or the same as when the car has been sitting overnight? If the problems are only when the tranmission is hot, is THAT when you sometimes idle out and the car dies in drive or in gear or at all?

    - If you have an Auto, try putting it down in 1 when you first engage the transmission and then shift up into 2, 3, then D as the transmission speeds up - does that seem to make the problem any better? If you have a manual there is no test similar to this. You could try coming out of Neutral into 2nd instead of 1st and see what that does.

    Any way you look at it a solid GUESS is that your problem (at least began) with a low tranmission fluid level. Also, tranny problems can ruin a motor by forcing high RPMs, breaking belts, and so on. FIX THIS PROBLEM before it ruins your baby.

    Why else could you be having this problem?

    - Leaks from transmission or tranny pan
    - Recently repaired transmission or driveline assembly and proper fluid level was not refilled.
    - Clogged transmission filter.
    - Anything more complicated would require the repair of a mechanic.
    - See "ALSO" below for another possibility...

    I had the same problem with my Saturn L200 (2001) and it turned out the gears were worn in 1st and 2nd, and I needed to replace the ignition module (see below) so it could be a transmission hardware problem, also... I hope, for your sake, its not.

    If you don't have a Check Engine Light or some other "Check" light the mechanic most likely wont retrieve a trouble code when he runs the OBDII diagnostic. A low fluid level sometimes wont give a trouble code until you drive the vehicle long enough to ruin the engine or transmission. So check the fluid level, if it has been - then you most certainly have a transmission hardware issue and (especially with an automatic transmission, which has 'planetary gears', repair is often difficult and complicated).

    [THE ALSO]

    + Another very big possibility is an ignition system problem. You could have a cylinder (or cylinders) misfiring (bad spark plug/s), bad plug wires, bad distributor or ignition module, bad ignition ground, and so on.

    Pulling the spark plugs in your Cavy would be very easy with a 5/8ths "Spark Plug Socket" and a 3/8ths socket wrench.

    http://www.globaldenso.com/PLUG/basic_knowledge/troubleshooting/index.html

    Above is a link for information on troubleshooting bad spark plugs. All in all it shouldn't be too expensive for an ignition system repair. 1.99 each or so for cheap plugs, $70 or so for wires, and $50 - $150 for the distributor... All VERY easy work you can do with a few tools and a Haynes Manual ($20).

    There are plenty of other things that could be causing your problem :

    - Improper ignition timing
    - Low or High spark plug detonation temperature
    - And so on

    Again all these things you'd want to take to a mechanic..

    GOOD LUCK, hope I could help just an eency bit [sic].

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