trouble with v6 cavalier

[agz]

hiya petrolheads i have a v6 cavalier auto my problem is when i start it up in the morning after its been stood afew hours,i put it into drive and the sport mode light flashes and it wont goto 1st gear,it stays in 4th gear.so i have to wait until the car is warmed up so i can turn off the ignition and start it again,put it into drive and then its ok.this sometimes takes me 15 mins to get over this problem.can someone please help me as i need to know the problem to get it fixed.thank you.

[macca]

That's a strange one! I'm not used to Vauxhalls but there's a couple of people on here who have experience so hopefully one of them will be along soon to offer some advice!

[AW09]

Is the engine management light on?

[agz]

no the engine management light isnt on.

[lambo-lude]

haveing had a selection of potato wagons i would first check that the correct transmission fluid is being used .. if the wrong fluid is in it the trans will malfunction .. ok..with foot pressed when cold it wont go into d4?

[Ang]

Hi welcome to the forum. :)

Not sure if this will help but I think you will need to find a way of getting the diagnostic code to flash up for that transmission fault, we've managed to do this on other cars but not tried it on a vauxhall yet.

If you have trouble finding the coding then post more details on the model of the car and I will have a search myself and see if I can find them. Alternatively it will be much easier to get it plugged in to diagnose the fault?

[lambo-lude]

fault codes wont show if its mechanical .. if it engages when warm but not cold its fluid related in my thoughts ..as the transmission warms up so does the fluid making gear shift sooner when hot ..but its just a guess and a possability

[agz]

thanks lambo lude it makes sense what your saying ill give it a try and let u know the out come.thanks!!!

[agz]

no when its cold it will only go into 4th.then once warmed up itll go into 1st and be normal gear changing (auto of course).

[lambo-lude]

:)so.. it will go into d1 ..but not d2 d3 d4?... its unusual for it not to slide into d4 then drive off when it will go from park into d1 when you gotta slide past d4..3..2 to get to d1 ...
or do you mean it will only drive in d1? but not in d4? :blink:
an auto box uses the fluid to trip the gears at the rev point ..hotter the fluid ..sooner the gear change ..if its not changeing from 1st gear check the kick down cable and fluid lvl .. also remove the console surround to check cables there .. but reading back it looks like the drives arnt correcting .. keep us posted

[Ang]

fault codes wont show if its mechanical .. if it engages when warm but not cold its fluid related in my thoughts ..as the transmission warms up so does the fluid making gear shift sooner when hot ..but its just a guess and a possability


In this case would be a good idea to drain the fluid, have a good look at the fluid that comes out and put the correct grade and quantity back in. I would still, however, ;) find a manual and get that fault code brought up, it won't cost you anything to do except time and effort and will/should point you in the right direction. The light after all is recording a fault code.

I have had a similar problem in the past with my auto prelude, we ended up having to replace the auto gearbox with a secondhand one, that went about 3mths later, similar problems. Ended up converting it to manual!


Still I am just having to put an alternative point of view against Lambo as he likes a good debate or two :innocent:

[agz]

hiya lambo thanks 4 showing interest.my problem is when starting the car and putting it into drive it goes into 4th gear and stays there until its warmed up.then i turn it off and start it back up then its ok it goes into 1st and gear change is normal.wiered isnt it?i once got told it could be a cellanoid valve in the gear box but im unsure.

[agz]

hiya lambo it will only drive in 4th until its warmed up.then once warm i turn it off restart it then put into drive and then it drives how it should automatically.

[lambo-lude]

well like it shows the gears arnt resetting it could be the oil pressures not right ..from vastly incorrect fluid .. it could be the box is shafted from lack of transmission fluid change .. it could be that ang has crept up at night and deficated in it ;):d
only the other day my tyre was flat and so i checked the fault codes as the petrol light was flashing :D:D:haha:
but in all fairness if zee flashing lights are fault codes from the sport mode then like flange says check it out if its resetting when u turn it of then on it could well be electrical ..well done ang ! your not just a ..school teacher for nothing lol ..autoboxes mostly go wrong from lack of maintainance ..the transmission oil should be checked twice a year and the colour shouldnt be brown and smelly !

agz have you tried starting off in d1 ..then as you drive shift it to d2 ..i know it wont cure the issue but it would be interesting to see what it does

[agz]

thats what i do i drive the car by selecting 1st then shifting to 2nd manually and so on.until it warms up a little then i turn off the engine start it up again shift it into drive mode and its ok.

[Ang]

While the car is warming up it will be ticking over faster and just wondering if this is confusing the system and so it thinks it should be in a higher gear. Reading up on these some people have suggested with similar problems that the throttle position sensor, even the exhaust system and also the selector sensor can cause problems. These should be picked up in the fault codes I would have thought.

Have you managed to change/check the fluid? Have you made any recent changes to your car? Otherwise its running and driving as it should?

I could be talking complete bollocks but hey its a thought process, not just a science teacher though............. I spend my life around cars :drool:

[agz]

thanks to everyone who has passed on suggestions im more than greatful.ill be trying 1 or 2 things to see if that fixes it.unfortuneately cant try until weekend im away working.but ill let everyone know the outcome ok? :):)

[lambo-lude]

no ang everything your saying makes good sense ;)
if the tps is acting up then theres a good chance its that .. u gonna beat me up if it is ang?? :sos::tounge:

[Ang]

no ang everything your saying makes good sense ;)
if the tps is acting up then theres a good chance its that .. u gonna beat me up if it is ang?? :sos::tounge:
Yes, sexist pig!;):p

[lambo-lude]

me! sexist .... never! :alex::duel:
i would get duffed up every day if i was ;)
now get back in the kitchen :d:d:eekout::innocent: