ryan roopnarine
04-17-2005, 04:51 AM
hello all....im going to make a 30 minute post here....
any one friendly to me that cares to contribute, please do
any one im not on friendly terms with, please keep unconstructive comments to yourselves, or ill be uncivil like.....
friendlies, please try to read whole thing if you can, and contribute if you think you should
i have a 1992 525i, gm 4l30e tranny, a5s 310r by bmw designation. it is driven hard, about 700 city miles (over 1150km ) per week. tranny fluid is changed every 3k-8k miles at each oil change.
my transmission program light came on today, but i think it would be categorized as "intermittent", as it went away after letting it sit for 3 minutes. suspect device that feeds rpms as being a problem, perhaps entire problem, perhaps part of the problem. rpms drop, as if tachometer is defective, not load/engine decrease. also suspect maf.
if you read my thread from yesterday, you'll see that i ran over something on the highway...resulting in my srs light coming on, as well as my wheel getting bent in the driver's front corner, likely damaging some old electric **** from the shock. also likely damaged, brake booster, maf.
today, i drove to a restaraunt near my home......i went to coast, and noticed the car wouldn't go below 1100rpm, ie high idle or tcc lockup? restarting made this go away, car has a natural low idle at start, about 650rpm or so, but it goes up to about 750 sometimes. when my icv is leaking or constricted, it will either go high and unstable/high, or both at park or shakingly low respectively, this is why i think its an idle issue instead of a tranny one at this point.
my car shifts perfectly through The day. I drive it almost constantly doing rough city driving for 8 hours, shifts beautifully. about 1 hour in something is queer. i notice coasting to a light that the rpms drop about 300 rpm or so. when i say drop i mean DROP. as in not engine slowdown, but like there is a tachometer problem, because the engine doesn't make a slowdown noise, it sounds the same when this happens.
my park idle goes loco about 3 hours in......900 rpm drive idle, unstably high park and neutral rpm. let me also mention that i suspect that my brake booster is very slowly going....i deduce this because i have somewhat reduced braking power, but NONE of the usual symptoms of a bad booster. its just that i'm in touch with the car, and notice the peddle dropping ever so slightly during random coasts, and the idle slightly (like 50rpm) fluctuating sometimes during brake application. if this trans program **** wasn't happening it was the next major repair i was going to make, in about 2 weeks or so was to positively solve this problem, no limits on cost if it was broken
back to my idle crap
I try very hard not to put the car in park or reverse, or anything that would make the idle "clunk" the tranny with any force....idle reduces itself to about 820-930. i'm very successful with this, the tranny changes into these gears maybe 10 times in 10 hours.
I'm driving along at a constant 45 mph, i see one of the lights go on, the check engine, which flashes about twice and goes on solidto get my attention. i wonder what's going on, at which time my eyes wander to the messageboard, and i see trans program., looking over, i see i have no PNRDL panel, this is serious. i immediately pull off and start crying (not really). resting the car to see if it takes to the reset. i check the fluid level, its there goddamnit, start to worry. i restart it 3 minutes, the shifter is there, no automatic startup trans program......i drive it five minutes culminating in a kickdown by me from 40-53 mph, nice normal shifting///only pecuilar thing was that it did the dropdown rpm thing from about 2600 rpm to 2400 rpm. before you second guess me, i know what an engine and transmission dropping in rpm feels like, this WAS NOT that...this was like the tachometer was defective.
i remember trevor's problem with his tranny speed sensor. i remember robert kieffer's problem with t-program and his tps. i pull the stompcodes as soon as i get home.......1215, mass airflow sensor, this might have something to do with it.
here's the background on my "tranny Problems" in the last two months.
about two months ago i changed my oil/tranny fluid. i usually fill them up on a hill facing one direction. i know the quantity perfectly. short story short, i filled it up in the wrong way, and overfilled by about a quart. i drive for a week. i notice toward the end of about a week or so, that i can smell tranny fluid with my windows down and my "safety" check i do randomly by feeling the metal shifting rod is getting hotter and hotter. i check the fluid, and its starting to get brown. i'd estimat the time that the tranny was "overheating" was for 3 days or less, i honestly caught it quickly. i proceed to flush out 17 of the 14 quarts of the tranny, change the filter. the magnet does have more metal powder than when i was only driving maybe 2100 highway miles per month. concerned, i asked a former mechanic at my place of work to review my digital pics of my magnet. he says its a good bit of wear, but that its normal for the amount i drive, and that if it was shifting the same throughout it was probably fine, esp since i change the fluid all the time. (i had logged maybe 45k on a filter during this time, i just forgot to change it)
i leave it for 1 month solid (3k miles) to see what the verdict is. shifter temps are bearable on highway, at nite, during the day in fl (90f temps) they become a wee bit hot. drain fluid, it looks like its "dirty" (particles in suspension) but is almost as red as if it was just put in. so i decide to change it again. my gearstick metal tems drop dramatically, my shifting becomes much softer. just some slight streaks of glitter in it....barely anything.
care to contribute? remember thru all the crap above that it would seem that everything on the LH side of the car has decided to malfunction since last evening, ie Booster, maf, srs crash sensor. also, this evening, i notice that i occasionally smell the "chemical cleaner " smell of exhaust with rich mixture, NOT unburned mixture, which leads me to believe that the MAF is damaged (this is not just at warmup, throughtout 8 hours).
my next course of action is to change my atf again tomorrow. im trying to figure out whether i should pull my tcu and check for cracks like bill did with a magnifying glass, as pulling it will likely kill the stored codes. i will likely measure the maf with a vom tomorrow.
thanks for bearing with me if you did.
ps, forgot to mention i drove it 5 miles home, not babying it, kicking down once. drove great highway and city, normal shifting.
any one friendly to me that cares to contribute, please do
any one im not on friendly terms with, please keep unconstructive comments to yourselves, or ill be uncivil like.....
friendlies, please try to read whole thing if you can, and contribute if you think you should
i have a 1992 525i, gm 4l30e tranny, a5s 310r by bmw designation. it is driven hard, about 700 city miles (over 1150km ) per week. tranny fluid is changed every 3k-8k miles at each oil change.
my transmission program light came on today, but i think it would be categorized as "intermittent", as it went away after letting it sit for 3 minutes. suspect device that feeds rpms as being a problem, perhaps entire problem, perhaps part of the problem. rpms drop, as if tachometer is defective, not load/engine decrease. also suspect maf.
if you read my thread from yesterday, you'll see that i ran over something on the highway...resulting in my srs light coming on, as well as my wheel getting bent in the driver's front corner, likely damaging some old electric **** from the shock. also likely damaged, brake booster, maf.
today, i drove to a restaraunt near my home......i went to coast, and noticed the car wouldn't go below 1100rpm, ie high idle or tcc lockup? restarting made this go away, car has a natural low idle at start, about 650rpm or so, but it goes up to about 750 sometimes. when my icv is leaking or constricted, it will either go high and unstable/high, or both at park or shakingly low respectively, this is why i think its an idle issue instead of a tranny one at this point.
my car shifts perfectly through The day. I drive it almost constantly doing rough city driving for 8 hours, shifts beautifully. about 1 hour in something is queer. i notice coasting to a light that the rpms drop about 300 rpm or so. when i say drop i mean DROP. as in not engine slowdown, but like there is a tachometer problem, because the engine doesn't make a slowdown noise, it sounds the same when this happens.
my park idle goes loco about 3 hours in......900 rpm drive idle, unstably high park and neutral rpm. let me also mention that i suspect that my brake booster is very slowly going....i deduce this because i have somewhat reduced braking power, but NONE of the usual symptoms of a bad booster. its just that i'm in touch with the car, and notice the peddle dropping ever so slightly during random coasts, and the idle slightly (like 50rpm) fluctuating sometimes during brake application. if this trans program **** wasn't happening it was the next major repair i was going to make, in about 2 weeks or so was to positively solve this problem, no limits on cost if it was broken
back to my idle crap
I try very hard not to put the car in park or reverse, or anything that would make the idle "clunk" the tranny with any force....idle reduces itself to about 820-930. i'm very successful with this, the tranny changes into these gears maybe 10 times in 10 hours.
I'm driving along at a constant 45 mph, i see one of the lights go on, the check engine, which flashes about twice and goes on solidto get my attention. i wonder what's going on, at which time my eyes wander to the messageboard, and i see trans program., looking over, i see i have no PNRDL panel, this is serious. i immediately pull off and start crying (not really). resting the car to see if it takes to the reset. i check the fluid level, its there goddamnit, start to worry. i restart it 3 minutes, the shifter is there, no automatic startup trans program......i drive it five minutes culminating in a kickdown by me from 40-53 mph, nice normal shifting///only pecuilar thing was that it did the dropdown rpm thing from about 2600 rpm to 2400 rpm. before you second guess me, i know what an engine and transmission dropping in rpm feels like, this WAS NOT that...this was like the tachometer was defective.
i remember trevor's problem with his tranny speed sensor. i remember robert kieffer's problem with t-program and his tps. i pull the stompcodes as soon as i get home.......1215, mass airflow sensor, this might have something to do with it.
here's the background on my "tranny Problems" in the last two months.
about two months ago i changed my oil/tranny fluid. i usually fill them up on a hill facing one direction. i know the quantity perfectly. short story short, i filled it up in the wrong way, and overfilled by about a quart. i drive for a week. i notice toward the end of about a week or so, that i can smell tranny fluid with my windows down and my "safety" check i do randomly by feeling the metal shifting rod is getting hotter and hotter. i check the fluid, and its starting to get brown. i'd estimat the time that the tranny was "overheating" was for 3 days or less, i honestly caught it quickly. i proceed to flush out 17 of the 14 quarts of the tranny, change the filter. the magnet does have more metal powder than when i was only driving maybe 2100 highway miles per month. concerned, i asked a former mechanic at my place of work to review my digital pics of my magnet. he says its a good bit of wear, but that its normal for the amount i drive, and that if it was shifting the same throughout it was probably fine, esp since i change the fluid all the time. (i had logged maybe 45k on a filter during this time, i just forgot to change it)
i leave it for 1 month solid (3k miles) to see what the verdict is. shifter temps are bearable on highway, at nite, during the day in fl (90f temps) they become a wee bit hot. drain fluid, it looks like its "dirty" (particles in suspension) but is almost as red as if it was just put in. so i decide to change it again. my gearstick metal tems drop dramatically, my shifting becomes much softer. just some slight streaks of glitter in it....barely anything.
care to contribute? remember thru all the crap above that it would seem that everything on the LH side of the car has decided to malfunction since last evening, ie Booster, maf, srs crash sensor. also, this evening, i notice that i occasionally smell the "chemical cleaner " smell of exhaust with rich mixture, NOT unburned mixture, which leads me to believe that the MAF is damaged (this is not just at warmup, throughtout 8 hours).
my next course of action is to change my atf again tomorrow. im trying to figure out whether i should pull my tcu and check for cracks like bill did with a magnifying glass, as pulling it will likely kill the stored codes. i will likely measure the maf with a vom tomorrow.
thanks for bearing with me if you did.
ps, forgot to mention i drove it 5 miles home, not babying it, kicking down once. drove great highway and city, normal shifting.