Kidrock

Hi All,

First off great site...lots of knowledge here and some great members! I just recently purchased a 1991 LS400 from the original owner in pristine condition or as i thought. The car has 126k on her and the interior and body in excellent condition. Test drove her for a good 30 minutes and everything was working properly ,engine good transmission shifting and pulling correctly. I bought this car to give to my mom.

I have been driving it now for 3 days and just recently have noticed some issues in the Transmission. The OD light started blinking yesterday and I shut down as I did not know what it was and looked in the manual and indicated that it is a Tranny issue........YIKES!

Symptoms:

1. Car in the morning starts fine and shifts properly with power and hits all the gears. Kick-down works
2. After about 10-15 min or hot. I feel the car has no power...starting from 1st its fine but it either skips 2nd and goes to third...kick-down does not work. The car is still drive-able.
3. Highway driving is fine
4.. This morning checked the fluid and noticed the fluid is up by the hot section and red in color and the dipstick did not show any signs of metal.
5. OD light has not blinked in 2 days

I have read a lot of posts regarding this and would welcome any comments or ideas. Also if anyone knows a good shop in the Bay Area would appreciate if you can give me the contact info.

THANK you in advance

paulwall86

Sorry for the bad news... I had this same issue. It was a failing transmission. Only way to fix it is to rebuild it about 4k from a decent mechanic.

hotdawwg

Depending where you are located, it may be cheaper to rebuild it, or even find a donor Tranny

Kidrock

Thanks for the fast reply...I have read that it could be several things Speed sensor...bad solenoids etc.. I live in the San Jose area so any advise for a good Tranny guy would be appreciated. I will not spend 4k on it but willing to spend like a grand to correct it.

Kidrock

Can the ECU be causing this? I read somewhere that similar issue was resolved with a ECU change. I might take it to the dealer to just get a diag and go from there.

dc893

My old Celsior had the same problem, it was a 1990. It was like that when I bought the car. I knew I was only going to have the car for two years, so I never had it checked. It ran fine like that for two years.
I also thought it might be a computer problem, because it worked fine sometimes and acted like your description other times. Just thought I'd share my situation.

If I was planning on keeping the car I would definitely get it checked.

Kidrock

Thank you Dc893

I will schedule to take it to the dealer for a diag or if anyone reccomends a mechanic in the San Francisco Bay area I would appreciate it.

FYI......drove her today 70 miles round trip and it ran perfect... Also what you all think about the MAF and MAP sensor could this be causing the issue?

Y'all are the best hope someday i can give back the advise.

dc893

Wish I could help you out some more. I would probably have an answer if I had gotten mine looked at. If you know an independent shop that is reputable that's probably your best shot. The dealer wanted about $1,000 for a starter, but I found a shop that did it for $550. My guess would be that it's not an emergency, but I am not a mechanic. Just see go to see what they tell you. Maybe somebody has some better advice than me.

hotdawwg

After doing a lot of research, I may pin point it to a transmission solenoid..... Check it out... A whole new solenoid kit costs like 180 at Rockauto.com

dc893

Dang I should have got mine fixed.

Kidrock

Thanks Dawg... I will take the car to http://www.exactmotorsports.com/home.html here close to my house that was recomended by a member....crossing my fingers

Kidrock

Came across the below.....sounds like my problem


----------------FROM CARGURU SITE------------------
http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Discussion-t16041_ds50496
The problem you are describing sounds alot like what I was experiencing. I have a 91 LS400 with 242,000 miles. The car starts right up and runs exceptionally smooth. When I first start off from a stop it runs great then no power. I put my foot to the floor and it very slowly starts to gain speed but no real power to speak of. Well I found the problem. The shifting solenoids in the throttle body of the transmission were malfunctioning. When this happens the computer sort of goes into a failsafe mode and shifts from 1st to either 3rd or 4th depending on the malfunction. The car had been doing this for better than 6 months even though I had no codes at all up until about 2 weeks ago when my Overdrive light on the dash started to blink. I bought some new solenoids (they come in pairs) and replaced them last weekend. Now the car feels like a brand new car. LOTS of power and solid shifts all the way through the range. Hope this helps.

SkulCracka

get the codes first same as you do for engine codes but you count the od blinks. http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/intro/codereading.html not a hard fix usualy. i had one last week the wire was just loose to on of the speed sensors. mostly likey if its skipping gears though its a solinoid sticking or going bad. but i doubt you need a new transmission.

Kidrock

Thanks skul....after i get the codes i will update everyone

SkulCracka

if the tranny fluid has never been changed. might just want to do that for now. since you say it stopped throwing codes and stopped skipping the gears. forget when the book says the factory says to do it. i will be changing mine soon as i have had the car for a year now and mine is kinda brown looking. brownish/red?

worse case i say is what was mentioned above just have a sticky solenoid. 180 for the kit then l;abor to put it in.