Impala's a whiner

[jmg]

Looking for some advice. Was driving my wife's 2000 Impala yesterday. As I accelerated from a stoplight, it started making a whining sound as it got into the 32-45 mph range and didn't want to shift out of that gear very easily,unless I would ease off the accelerator and press down again, repeating it a couple times, then it would shift and the whine ceased. Checked the trans. fluid level after driving it approx. 30 miles home and it was full, a pale red color and did not smell burned or anything unusual. Used it in the afternoon and it did the whining thing constantly at the speed ranges mentioned or when shifting when going up a hill. If I put the selector at 2, it ceases, but I can't drive it very fast that way. Just put new tires on it and it runs well otherwise, but doubt it's worth sticking much money into, considering it has 137,000 on it. But, financially, now is not a time to get a different vehicle. I first thought of getting the transmission flushed, but wondered if some Seafoam tranny stuff would be good to add first for a few miles before the flush and if so, how do I get some of the fluid out so as to not overfill the transmission? Any help would be appreciated.

[Whoaru99]

Guess I'm not even sure if you can change the fluid and filter on newer vehicles simply (relatively speaking) as you could on older ones, but if so that's probably where I'd start.

[JOHNBIGDOG]

I don't do allot of trans work but DO NOT PUT ANYTHING IN YOUR TRANS OTHER THAN OEM TRANSMISSION FLUID or applicable fluid!! Trans fluid is a highly cleansing fluid, it doesn't need help from sea foam, I would trust some other flushing aids, but not sea foam.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I don't do allot of trans work but DO NOT PUT ANYTHING IN YOUR TRANS OTHER THAN OEM TRANSMISSION FLUID or applicable fluid!! Trans fluid is a highly cleansing fluid, it doesn't need help from sea foam, I would trust some other flushing aids, but not sea foam.

REALLY?

[MJ1657]

137,000 is nothing to worry about on a vehicle that has had some basic maintenance nowadays.

[JOHNBIGDOG]

We use Wayne(? I don't remember the exact spelling) flushing products with out any problems at the dealership, I personally don't like using them, but the customer is paying for it so I use it.

I kind have to back the OEM stuffs right?

I realize I'm lacking in the experience but I would not use sea foam in the trans.

Or are you talking about me not doing a lot of trans work? If that's it we have one Tech that takes car of most of issues, which scares me because he is near retirement area..

[Jeremy airjer W]

I agree 100% with the flush additives.

When there is already an issue with the trans than it can't hurt to run a fix in a can, change the filter, and then top off with fluid. I don't have a lot of experience with trans tune but at the same time I have not had any issues with it. I can't say anything bad about trans tune or motor tune. I was just curious why seafoam was no good?

[RangerJack]

I would change the filter and fluid, and flush the entire system. That's about all you can do without taking it to an actual transmission shop. There is a good transmission shop in St. Cloud, but I can't remember the guy's name!

As for transmission additives, it's not uncommon to throw in some limited slip additive or such. BG products seem to work well.

[jmg]

Airjer, I thought Seafoam had a specific product for transmissions. Maybe I was wrong. My thought with this situation was to put in an additive for a few days and then have the tranny flushed, a new filter put in and refilled with new fluid. Does that sound like a reasonable approach or is the transmission on its way to the graveyard no matter what I do, given the symptoms? I know it's usually impossible to tell without seeing it, driving it or hearing it. The transmission hasn't been serviced for 60,000+ miles, since some type of electronic shift module was replaced. I think that's what they called it. At that time, I had them replace the filter and put in new fluid. Any thoughts?

[Jeremy airjer W]

Seafoam trans tune is the specific trans product.

I think I know the sound you are describing although I do not know specifically what is causing it I do know a new trans will fix it!

The service will likely not improve the symptom.

[JOHNBIGDOG]

I was just curious why seafoam was no good?

I learned something new, I did not know sea foam made a "Trans tune." only new about the top engine cleaner.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I learned something new, I did not know sea foam made a "Trans tune." only new about the top engine cleaner.

Silly ranger, tricks are for kids!

Here I thought you knew something I didn't. I knew that was virtually impossible!

[JOHNBIGDOG]

one day.....