tranny problems... yay

[whoareyou1982]

i've had my car for about a year and it's been doing the same thing for more or less that time. when it's cold and i come to a complete stop and i get on the gas to move it sits there and revs for a second or two until the car catches and moves. BUT, it never really does that after the car warms up. i know these cars have tranny problems and she has 144,000 miles on her, but i've never heard of a problem like this. any ideas?

[ScreamingBird]

my guess would be torque converter. My GMC Syclone was doing the same thing for a while. Its either your torque converter or transfer case, and being your not 4wheeldrive, its not your transfer case :D
Your torque converter of course transfers the power from your engine to your auto tranny. If your torque converter is messed up, it probaby not transfering the power correctly. Thats my guess! But id take it to an expert to find out exactly. Also, for starters try changing your fluid, that could be the whole cause of it, my Van was doing the same thing, until i put tranny fluid in it. So do that, then if it still does it, take it to the shop.

[2-77s, 1-85, 2-86 TCs]

When I first got my '93 T-Bird, I had that problem, but don't let it go too far. I only had mine for a month. Then one day I went to a friend's house to visit (and the shifting problem never got worse, either). I was there for no more than an hour, went to leave, and my car wouldn't move until I got the car revved to about 3,000 rpm! My guess is that it's the torque converter, too, but while you have the tranny down to do the torque converter, you might as well get it rebuilt. Just my opinion.

[rlj51]

I have a 1990 Tbird LX, 3.8 Auto. It has similar miles as yours, about 140K. It used to do that same thing, where it would rev up for a second, then suddenly engage and launch the car forward. It would only do this when cold as well. Well it started to get worse and worse until the tranny would hardly engage at all. Then it dawned on mr to check the transmission fluid. The dipstick showed nothing at all! So I filled it up with fluid, and now it engages properly. It turns out it is leaking tranny fluid though. I think it needs a new gasket for the transmission oil pan. That seems to be where it is leaking from. So hopefully thats the problem, and the transmission itself is fine. I went down to a reputable transmission shop in my area, and they said that the AOD transmissions were actually pretty reliable.

[2-77s, 1-85, 2-86 TCs]

Yeah, they're pretty good trannies. When I did have mine rebuilt (stock rebuild), I could have the car in overdrive anywhere from 40-60 mph, stomp the gas, and bark the tires! :) Believe me, I loved it!!! That was a great car. Oh well. I'll have another some day! :)

Rick