Survey - fix hard shifting tranny when hot using shift kit?

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

Even my local shop said that it wasn't a death sentence, just that it'd hasten the death of the transmission. Sheesh, they quoted me $417 with an alignment to install a new PCS. $3k for a rebuild of a common transmission is highway robbery. Even a brand-new Honda transmission is cheaper.

[00Beast]

I paid $2400, and that was with a new axle and tons of new internals that don't normally get replaced...

[Billha]

You guys are right, and I already knew that the tranny shop's recommendation and price estimate is not reasonable.

I've driven the car every day and it shifts fine. It was only a problem the 1 day last week when there was a lot of extended idling in traffic.

I'm still thinking about what, if anything, I need to do in the near future.

[Billha]

Yep, it's highway robbery, and people get away with that kind of stuff here in California.

Even my local shop said that it wasn't a death sentence, just that it'd hasten the death of the transmission. Sheesh, they quoted me $417 with an alignment to install a new PCS. $3k for a rebuild of a common transmission is highway robbery. Even a brand-new Honda transmission is cheaper.

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

If it doesn't do it all the time or have any other symptoms, I'd install a TransGo shift kit, a transmission cooler, and call it good until it's truly dead. Based on my car, it should buy you about 40-50k miles until it's bad enough to warrant replacement.

[sparky]

I installed the Thrasher shift kit (replaced springs) 2 years ago and 30 thousand miles and have not had a hard shift since.
It worked for me

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

I got the PCS replaced today for a shade under $500 including taxes, an alignment and rental car. With the shift kit, shifts are fast, smooth, and the best part: No shuddering with hard launches! I tried this twice with the transmission warmed up to be sure. Yep, it just goes.

I'm glad to have it fixed properly after a few years of driving with a car that couldn't launch harder than approximately 2000 RPM's.

[RJolly87]

So, in answer to the original question, it has helped for many. How do I see it? It is a relatively simple procedure, and the worst that can happen is that it doesn't do what you want it to, or it firms up the nice fluffy shifts on your nice fluffy Buick. The procedure is easy to reverse, especially when the car is at a shop already getting the PCS replaced.

Do it.

[jedwards83]

Do step by step instructions for installing the shift kit exist? Is it something that can be installed in the driveway? How much does it cost, and where can I find it cheapest?

Today is the second time my car has gone into shifting hard, and it was only 65 out. Wow, the thing really BANGS into gear, I can't imagine it being good for the transmission in the long term.

Do all cars with this transmission exhibit this behavior when they get older? FWIW, mine hasn't set an SES light, is that normal?

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

No check engine light will show.

Search my posts. There should be an installation thread somewhere. I installed mine in a driveway.

If it's banging into gear, do the shift kit, and then have money for the PCS set aside in case the kit doesn't correct it to your liking. The shift kit (s) worked for me for the harsh shifts for ~50k miles total before they got harsh again. Then I replaced the PCS, and things have been peachy so far.

This is a known problem with the 98-03 4T65's.

[00Beast]

Shift kits aren't hard at all to install. It's a glorified pan drop and filter change.

[jedwards83]

Wanted to do this today. But where do the springs go? Where is the accumulator? Using pics from the techinfo article would sure help.

[harofreak00]

http://www.w-body.com/showthread.php/32 ... tall-Guide

or

http://www.midwest3800.com/forum/kb.php ... icle&k=187

[jedwards83]

Thanks for the links, Haro. I tackled this project today and didn't have any trouble. The instructions included with the Transgo kit are rather vague, but once the pan is dropped, it's pretty self explanatory. I was not prepared for how messy this would become. It seemed like every time I thought, "wow the fluid finally stopped," more poured out at the next step. Also I wish I would have known which four bolts removed the accumulator, instead of undoing every one and having the whole assembly fall apart in my hands. I'll know next time.

Shifts now feel like a new car instead of an old Buick. I really like the firmness. I can't comment on whether it makes the hard shifting go away, as it only happened to me twice in six months. Time will tell.

[justmike]

Howdy!

Hate to post a reply to an old thread, but it hits the nail right on the head of what I'm dealing with.

'00 Pontiac Bonneville. Rebuilt Trains at 98,000 miles and then again at 118,000. Yep, said to say, 1st rebuild job done be an "alleged" quality shop didn't make it past 20,000 miles. Torque converter was junk and when I called to scold the shop about it, they said "oh we don't use those torque converters anymore, they went out of business". Unfortunately, I had moved out of state 2 months earlier, so I was stuck. It was a paid-for car, so plopped down the money for another rebuild job. My luck struck again and after getting the vehicle back, I would not downshift into 1st gear and would never shift into 4th gear. Took it back and made the shop (in the new state) tear it down and fix again. Worked fine the 2nd (or 3rd, if you're counting) time around. That was 11 months ago.

Fast forward. Last couple of months I've noticed the exact same symptoms that many others report here -- slow shifting, hard shift at times -- all after vehicle has warmed up to operating temperature (usually > 30 minutes). Since I drive my vehicle mainly to work and back, it only crops up when I am out and about running errands for longer than 30 minutes. Tranny only gets sloppy after getting warmed up.

I would say PCS -- but hey, this tranny is not even 1 year old and currently at less than 12,000 miles on it. In fact, I have until mid-May to take it back for warranty repair.

My question is this -- seems to me that this tranny (4T65E) has a historical issue with PCS solenoids. Would installing a shift kit help in this situation? It appears most think yes, but I am need of a long term solution. This is not a tranny with 90k miles on it hoping to stretch out another 20k-30k more. This is (relatively) freshly rebuilt.

More than capable of installing a shift kit -- will probably take it in for warranty checkout before I do anything else -- no sense in giving shop the opporutunity to try to claim I voided the warranty, but this is currently Plan B.

Thoughts? Much appreciated!