Listen to this one...Transmission solenoid swap = problems

[keegan]

Car is a 2000 Buick Park Avenue – Has around 100k on it. I bought it with 60k.

It started to shift a little harder than normal once I had been running around town. I decided to swap out the filter, switch to Dex VI, and installed a shift kit in the accumulator hoping that may help the hard shifts. This didn’t do anything. Tranny kept shifting harder and harder. I found a thread where someone swapped out the solenoids from the side case. I just recently did this. Swapped out 4 solenoids. 1-2, 2-3 solenoids. TCC solenoid, and another one (forget right now). I got everything back together. Took the car out for a quick spin, shifts great. BUT………it starts to get hot, quick, and it’s even causing the coolant temperature in my engine to rise…(rise above normal).

My radiator is hot to the touch, the transmission cooler not even luke warm…

I haven’t driven more than maybe 2 miles like this because I was unsure of what was happening.

Any takers? – could it be the transmission pump? It had to take it off to get to one of the solenoids, but I figured it would really only go back on one way due to it being gear driven?

ANY help is appreciated…

Thanks,
Keegan

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

Did you forget to hook a fan back up? Coolant temperature sensor wire come loose?

Also, what gets hot, the engine or the transmission? If it's the engine, I bet you have air in the cooling system that needs to be bled out. The thermostat also may be stuck shut. It's worth taking a look at before condemning the transmission.

[keegan]

Well I assumed that it was actually my tranny getting hot. The driver side CV boot (the one that goes into the tranny) was unharmed during this whole install, band clamp is still super tight, but the heat from.....?? made it so hot that it was slinging the grease out of it.

What do I need to do in order to purge all the air out of my system like you speak of? I can do that tonight and report back.

thanks for the help.

[Oldman]

There's a bleeder valve on the top of the thermostat housing. It looks like a grease fitting or bleeder for your brakes. I think it takes a 10mm wrench. With the car running, open the valve a little and leave it open until it stops bubbling and only a stream or water comes out. If this is the problem, you will get lots of air and bubbles out of this bleeder valve.

[00Beast]

IIRC the bleeder fitting is a 7 mm, but a pliers or something would loosen it.

[keegan]

update:

I installed a 180 stat. It seems that the old thermostat was not opening.

At the same time I figured out that the reason why my tranny dipstick was so hot when I would check it, is that every time I pulled it out I would touch it on the dipstick where it was closest to the exhaust manifold (of course it would be hot)

As far as the grease on the shaft spewing out. I took that as maybe I did damage it or flex it too much when I took it out.

Car is running good, and shifting 100% better. No shutters, no hard shifts, no hard whining when hot!

[00Beast]

Glad to hear you don't have to dig back in.