tranny blues

[3two5]

Hey everyone, I have an '89 325i with an automatic tranny and lately it's been acting up. I noticed that it's taking longer for it to shift into the next gear. I've found that I need to rev the engine higher for the tranny to shift into second then third gear and so on. I took it in to the dealer for a tranny flluid flush, and $277 bucks later the problem still exists. The dealer says that everything is in order but the shifting is still slow, especially when it's in 2nd getting ready to go to third, the engine needs to rev higher for 3rd gear to come into play. Is there an adjustment that can be done to the linkage maybe, or do y'all think it's something more internal, like a band or mechanical on the inside of this tranny? thax everyone!!! 3two5

[BimmerKris]

the old lady's noen did the same thing... so we got rid of it. New fluid would help for a day then it would come back. JUNK

[Fox]

Yea, low fluid.

[flipsgonetopless]

Well you know it could also be the Kick Down cable, it might just need adjusting. I changed th tranny on mine and and I replaced the Kick Down cable and it wanst shifting correctly till I got it adjusted. Give it a shot maybe it will work for you.

[bigred318]

yeah i would say that if it keeps giving you hell, dont keep throwing money at it, after a while you could have a new bmw! haha i would say if worst comes to worst get a new e30 if thats what you drive! Get one witha 5 speed dont have towrry about it!

David

[3two5]

I checked the throttle valve cable and it's in spec. You know, the funny thing is that I checked the work order which was given to me after the tranny flush was done and it shows that they only used 3 quarts of ATF to refill the tranny. Isn't there more than just 3 quarts of fluid in an automatic trans??? What about the fluid in the torque converter??? I've always known that a trans-flush is when ALL of the fluid, including the fluid in the torque converter is taken out under pressure, then replaced, and when thats done it's at least 8 or 9 quarts of ATF...most of it is usually sitting in the torque converter. Simply removing the transmission pan and replacing the filter, then refilling with ATF fluid is considered a "transmission drain" and NOT a "transmission flush". Do you all agree? I'm going back to the dealer to double check this. Let me know what you think..............thanks 3two5

[gotKRAUT]

the first thing i would do is replace forward and aft muffler bearings...they should do the trick..you can pick them up at your local bmw dealer or any hardware store...if not go, ahead and rip that tranny out, find a big dumpster, chuck it in...and get a 5 speed...

[flipsgonetopless]

I filled mine with 5 quarts of atf, it could be that. I know that the atf in the torque converter will only come out if the engine is running, so maybe thats why they only put in three quarts.

[AdigA]

change it to 5 speed manual transmetion