Delayed shifts.....all gears

[muleears]

Yesterday I drove the car to work and all was fine. Drove home for lunch, again all was fine, after lunch it would not shift until 3K RPM, regardless of pedal position. This was the 1>2 and 2>3 shifts, never go fast enough for fourth. Stopped, opened the hood to look for a loose vacuum line, couldn't find any. Got back in the car and it drove perfectly! Today I drained the fluid and put in a new filter and 3.5qts if mobil 1 ATF. On the way home it did it again Could I have an intermittant vacuum leak? Is my tranny on its way out Someone please help me, tell me what to look for. Could it be as simple as low fluid? I checked it but I could have misread the stick.

[muleears]

This morning I drove it about a mile and it worked perfectly again!!?? Anybody got any thoughts? Modulator going? Sticking valve in the tranny? If the fluid change is going to help how long should it take? Shouldn't it be immediate?

[d.delano]

Did you drain the torque converter? 3.5 qts. doesn't seem like quite enough for a fluid change, but that's on a 722.315. Don't precisely know about your 722.317. If it were me I'd drain ALL the fluid out again, since you replaced the filter & gasket already you might be OK with leaving that, but I'd find out the fluid capacity for your '87 and substitute one quart of that with Trans-X and see what happens. If there is a bowden cable I'd look at adjustment there also. Before I conclude that the transmission needs major work though I'd look at any mechanical linkage that could be malfunctioning first. Look at a stuck kickdown switch too.

[muleears]

I did not drain the converter. I'll do a search on the bowden cable as the accelerator pedal does feel different when it is acting up. Would low fluid cause this? Each time I check the level I get a different reading. So far today I have taken two short trips and it has worked flawlessly.

[Brian Carlton]

Originally Posted by d.delano

Look at a stuck kickdown switch too.

I agree.

Check the switch below the accelerator pedal. If the symptom happens again, disconnect the plug at this switch and drive it again. See if the symptom goes away.

[muleears]

But I have used it recently. I will check. But would this cause an intermittant problem. I would understand if it acted up immediatly after using the kickdown but it doesn't. It starts and stops spontaneously For example today I have taken three short trips (all less than 1 mi.) never used the kickdown and have had no problems. I will take it for a longer drive later today and see if I can duplicate the problem.

[d.delano]

Originally Posted by muleears

It starts and stops spontaneously

Such is the nature of electro-mechanical gremlins. Intermittent is the name of their game. That's how they manage to stump so many people.