02 esteem transmission-help!

[flynnworx]

I have similar transmission issue. Mine (98 esteem wagon), started slipping very slightly and hesitating from dead stop just a little bit and check engine light came on. I added some lucas tanny oil and took it to oil change place where they flushed tranny and replaced fluid(dexron III) Now it downshifts and still barely hesitates from dead stop. I took it to local suzuki dealer and they said code was for solenoid-they installed new solenoid which didnt fix anything, so they put old solenoid back on and started trouble shooting wiring for problems. Last Friday it started dropping in and out of overdrive at highway speed; this stopped later, but tranny issue still remains. Another mechanic told me having transmission flushed and filled with generic fluid could be problem. My wagon has 91k miles. I really hope you dont need a new tranny, because i would feel like i am on same path and find it very hard to believe that these fine little cars would need tranny replaced this soon. There has got to be an answer out there somewhere with all these smart posters.

[jim_naisium]

My 1999 Suzuki Esteem 1.6 had it's transmission fluid replaced with Valvoline 75,000+ miles transmission fluid, it is supposed to be formulated for high mileage transmissions, I started using it around 77k miles the car now has 133k+ miles and has never had any transmission problems.

As far as the tranny dropping in and out of overdrive that could be a bad switch in the shifter handle between the front seats or a wiring problem, have the car scanned for codes.

[Isuzuzuki man]

+1 on what Jim said, maintenance is the key. My dad is the worlds worst, he will not change the tranny fluid, as long as it works, he doesn't mess with it.

If you drain and fill at every oil change (3000 miles), in 200,000 miles thats 67 oil changes, at about 3 bucks per qt for dex III and 2 1/2 qts each time, thats $502.50 and you can easily cut that down to every other oil change if you prefer, so that isn't terribly expensive.

I started doing it every 3k and after 3 or 4 times the fluid coming out started looking as good as the new stuff.

[Suzuki.Bruce]

I had a problem with a Nissan 300zx that sounded similar. I was prepared to have the transmission rebuilt, but took the car to someone who determined it was a Throttle Position Sensor. I know that shouldn't have anything to do with the shifting, but the TPS was apparently sending a false signal to the ECU/ECM which caused the transmission to search for a gear, any gear, or just go into a dead zone. The TPS was a $75 solution to what would have been $2500 rebuild. Good Luck.
Suzuki.Bruce

[jim_naisium]

A bad throttle position sensor will wreak havoc on when a tranny is supposed to shift, automatic transmissions are basically a hydraulic computer that uses hydraulic pressure to overcome spring pressure to open and close valves, then you add a computer to it and a sensor is giving invalid information the tranny goes into la la land and doesn't know what to do when the math doesn't add up to what it is supposed to.

Older trannys used to use a vacuum line or a metal rod that told the tranny where the carburetor throttle was located and that would help determine when the tranny was supposed to shift, if the vacuum line or metal rod came off the tranny wouldn't come out of first gear until the engine RPMs were extremely high which caused a very abrupt shift.

[Max]

mbdog. Where are you located? If close by, I might be able to provide a good low mileage tranny off my spare 2WD, GV 2000' engine which I think will match up. We can run the part numbers if interested.

[sblrog]

Hi all,

I have automatic tranny issues (1.6L 1999 Esteem) similar to Flynworx, but also somewhat different. At around 80 km/h (55 mph), if I come off the accelerator, the car will downshift out of overdrive very abruptly. If I go back on the accelerator, the car will upshift back into overdrive immediately (and so on and so forth if the cycle is repeated). Seems like the TCC is engaging and disengaging at the same speed. I have only had it happen to me once, but my wife says it happens to her all the time (she may be more abrupt in her use of the accelerator pedal).

Does this sound normal, or does it sound like a more serious problem is developing?

Thanks.

[jim_naisium]

Check your transmission fluid level and make sure that it isn't low.

Even if the "Check Engine" light is not on have it scanned for codes, it may be storing errors but not enough of a certain kind to make the light come on.

[sblrog]

Thanks Jim. You are a big part of the reason I just went and bought another Esteem (1999 1.6L wagon) (for my sister-in-law).

My fluid is actually too high (about 1/2" above the top "hot" line when the car is cold). Very recently, I've had another symptom. On three occasions, the car had troubles upshifting into OD when merging onto the highway. Twice was with my wife who likely guns it so that the car downshifts to merge. The other time was with myself. I turned the OD off to merge , but when I turned it back on, the car didn't upshift, but revved up to 3500-4000 RPM. It took a few seconds to upshift to OD, even when I let off the gas.

I will try to buy a code scanner soon. The CEL came on twice, a couple of weeks ago, probably around the time we started having the tranny issues, but went back off. Can all code scanners clear the codes, or just the more expensive ones?

Thanks

[jim_naisium]

Fluid level that is too high can cause trouble too sometimes it will cause the fluid to turn into foam which doesn't transmit power very well, on the bottom side of the tranny there is a hex plug that unscrews to let the fluid out, it shouldn't take much to drop the fluid level 1/2 an inch.

The code scanner should say somewhere on the package whether or not it will clear the codes.

Once you get the trouble taken care of... I starting using 75,000+ mile Valvoline transmission fluid in mine around the time it had 80k miles on it, the car has 138k+ miles on it now and has never had transmission trouble, that might be something to consider doing.