[Shotimes] Tranny, Computer or Both? ATX

[Kevin & Cheryl Airth]

Jonathon:
 Yes the transmission has a whole slew of codes just for itself. So run the
codes and see what you have! Yes the transmission does slowly get worse over
time. The bushings wear and then the oil clearances open up. Which starves
the parts at the end of the lubrication trail. Which then fail from lack of
lubrication. Part of the proper rebuild is replacing the bushings with
bearings so the clearances don't change over time.
.
.




> I apologize for the length of this....
> Funny thing happened on way home yesterday.  I had an emergency with the
wife,
> so I was driving, shall we say aggressively to get home.  You know, a lot
of
> hard acceleration after braking around morons doing 50 in a 70, etc.
Right
> after I got on the interstate, I noticed a burning smell that went away,
so I
> didn't think much of it.  Anyway, about 2/3 of the way home, my O/D light
> started flashing.  Kept driving, cause I had to get home.  I get off the
> interstate and I'm at a stop light and the smell returns.  So, I'm hoping
to
> get home, but as I pull out into traffic and make a right turn, the engine
> sputters, dies and I'm SOL.  But I get to coast into a parking lot.  Try
to
> start the car again, it fires up, dies.  So I'm thinking WTF, tranny
shouldn't
> be connected to the engine like that.  Engine should still run, even if I
> can't get forward movement, right?  I checked the fluids, everything is
coming
> up roses, even the color of the tranny fluid is the same pink red that
it's
> been since I flushed it about two and half years and 43,000 miles ago.
> Get a ride home, deal with the emergency and sit thinking about this car.
> I go out later and try to start the car with my neighbor.  No fuel pump,
but
> great cranking.  So we check the switch in the trunk and sure enough, it's
> been tripped.  Push it back in, fire it up, drive it home with no
problems,
> but that O/D light is still flashing.  Once I got it home, I unplugged the
> battery for a little bit and then started the car back up, took it for
some
> spirited driving.  No more flashing lights, nothing.  Today, I drove it to
> work and have had no problems.
> Now I'm sorta flummoxed by all this.  Will the tranny throw codes?  And is
> there anything that could cause the fuel switch to trip?  It's purely
> mechanical and related to an impact, right?  Do they ever fail?
> A little history on the tranny.  It has slipped under WOT from 1st to 2nd,
but
> not always for the three years that I have owned it.   My understanding of
> auto trannys is that they don't fail gradually over three years.  So, I
> thought maybe it had a shoddy rebuild?  It also sometimes will, in the
> immortal word of Chevy Chase, "act surprised" and not shift up from 1st to
2nd
> after slowing to go around corners, etc. which causes the engine to race.
> Almost like it sits in neutral and "takes a holiday." But it's done this
for
> three years.  All other shifts up or down are great.  Could this be a
computer
> issue, or is it more likely a transmission problem?
> Any ideas, suggestions?
> Thanks,
> JB