Emergency: Transmission Problem need help Fast

[CBRA928]

Hey guys

first off i depend on my car to get me to school and 2 jobs....

tonight after i got off the freeway, i came to a red light, then when green i press the gas like always and the car revs to 3500 before starting to move..??..?? then the engine light goes on, i know that light relates to smog problems mainley so i pulled off the road and checked all connections and its fine... so i disconnect the battery and put re connected it and light went away. so i try to get back on the road but the car wont shift into 1st or 4th the car beassicly goes from 2nd gear to 3rd gear and i dont know what to do. i dont have a lot of money so taking to tranny shopp and and getting rebuilt is out of the question for now..
any help would be appreciated.


-Arman




EDIT: oh yeah the cars an Automatic

[pecora55]

when u step on it do the rpms kind of jump around?? does it feel like the gas is cutting out? what mileage are you at? im at 58000 now and my mass air flow sensor went out and my car feels like crap, i can rev all the way up to like from 2000 up to 5000 rpms and my car maybe goes 5-7 mph faster....could be the problem

[CBRA928]

im at 106k today

if youve ever driven a stick put the car in 2nd and try to go thats how it feels like, RPMs only goto about 3500 at most then it starts to move and once its at about 15-20MPH it goes normal but still ownt shift/downshift to 1st gear or 4th gear on the freeway

[pecora55]

dont know, talk to flip...he'll help ya or maybe DavPak

[adam2562]

sounds to me like u lost ur tranny fluid, happened to me on my 94 camry... try putting some in and see how it is, then taker it somewhere to find out where the leak is

[CBRA928]

i checed theres no lkeak and level is fine

[Jackass-Jeff]

To test the AIR FLOW SENSOR

You can drive you car while the engine is cold. The ECU runs without taking in the air flow readings, so you will run slightly rich, but if your car works while the engine is still cold... then it is the sensor that has to be replaced....

Sorry to hear about that =\ good luck finding a cheap solution

[CrazyCraig]

Sounds to me like your tranny is toast. Your probably gonna' hafta' get a rebuild. Sorry man.

[Guest]

After reading your problem, it sounds like something I've encountered in the past with older, rear wheel drive cars but I'm not sure if it would apply to a Solara. Whenever I had that problem, it was always the vacuum modulator that was at fault. On older cars, it was used in the shifting process. It was mounted on the outside of the tranny so it was easy to fix. Again, though, I can't say whether "modern" front wheel drive cars even have one.

[Stock Solara SEV6]

I agree with the post about checking to see if it operates normally when the motor is cold. Had similar problems with my SHO and it turned out to be a short in a wire to the computer -- took the shop a MONTH to figure it out. It ran fine when it was cold -- when the computer is in closed loop mode. Once it warmed up the car would barely run. So if yours runs OK cold, it's likely to be an electrical problem somewhere.
Did you check the color or smell of the fluid? Is it red and clean -- no silver particles? Have you been changing the fluid and cleaning the strainer in the transmission?

[CBRA928]

thanks for all your help guys... i took it to a bunch of tranny shops here and they all said the same thing.... "its a fully electronic tranny and the cylanoid is clogged or needs to be replaced and it costs $250-300"

so im gonna go have that sone tomrrow morning

[99solarai4]

It ran fine when it was cold -- when the computer is in closed loop mode.

A vehicle is in open loop when it is cold.

[Stock Solara SEV6]

You are correct! Sorry for the mix up. I was thinking "closed" because at that point it's not looking at the sensors, it's just going off the computer program. Guess my thinking was backwards.