1998 Buick Regal GS transmission problem

[BruceUSA]

Do I need a transmission rebuild or an electrical problem? The car were driven fine, I stopped by the gas station to fill up. I restart the car and put in gear ( D) and nothing is happening, it is like in neutral but I am not in neutral. I have to shut off the motor and restart again, then it will be in gear when I shifted in (D) but as I drive, and let off the gas pedal, it will act like neutral again. To be able to drive it again, I have to repeat the above, shut off and restart motor.

I went to a transmission shop ask for a rebuild transmission price, I was told $1600 + tax. It is worth rebuilding? Is is a transmission problem or electrical problem?? It has 103,000 miles on it.

 

[92sub]

Sounds like a rebuild issue to me. These electronic shifted transmissions will compensate for clutch wear over time so when they totally fail it's usually a surprise.
Take it to a couple more places for verification but the price sounds ballpark.
The engine certainly has the ability to go 200,000 miles but without knowing the condition of the car it's hard to say if it's money well spent. $1600 is only 6-8 months of new car payments so if you make it that long after fixing your breaking even.

 

[BruceUSA]

Thanks for your input. The car is in good shape, not rusts no engine problem what so ever. The hardest part is that, the car is probably worth 3000 or less? and the rebuild is almost 2,000 after all set and done. I plan to keep the car for a long long time. I got the car used in 1997 and this is the first major cost of repair, I hope the car will last me a while before another major repair. I do all general maintenance and repair myself. I just can not take on major project like transmission.

 

[LARRY70GS]

I'm surprised that the transmission shop couldn't tell you whether it was an electrical problem or it needed a rebuild. Try another shop. I find it curious that you can shut it off, and restart it, and it is OK for a bit. Have you checked fluid level and color?

 

[BruceUSA]

Hi Larry,

I want to clarify this. The transmission shop did not see my car. I simply went inside the shop tell them the year and model of my car and cost of a rebuild tranny. They ask me what is wrong with it, I told them the problem as I have described here. I did ckecked the fuild level and it is normal color, no burning smell. I am thinking about maybe take it to the buick dealer to let them check it out. With that said, it probably cost me an hrs labor just to have them look at it. I hate dealer. I seldom take my car to dealer because they seems to always cost more to do repair work. I definately check out a few more shop for a better deal than $1600 quote.

 

[LARRY70GS]

Hi Larry,

I want to clarify this. The transmission shop did not see my car. I simply went inside the shop tell them the year and model of my car and cost of a rebuild tranny. They ask me what is wrong with it, I told them the problem as I have described here. I did ckecked the fuild level and it is normal color, no burning smell. I am thinking about maybe take it to the buick dealer to let them check it out. With that said, it probably cost me an hrs labor just to have them look at it. I hate dealer. I seldom take my car to dealer because they seems to always cost more to do repair work. I definately check out a few more shop for a better deal than $1600 quote.

You need to let someone who knows what they are doing look at the transmission. Even if it costs an hour labor, to me, that is worth it. The dealer will put a Tech2 scan tool on it, and that will give you an answer. You can save quite a bit if you remove and install the transmission your self. It's not an easy job though.

 

[Oneill5491]

When it does that, will it slam into gear if you apply a little gas? Does this problem seem to vary with the temperature of the engine (i.e. what happens in the morning)?

What happens if you try to manually select 2nd or 1st gear when this happens?

 

[faybert]

Do I need a transmission rebuild or an electrical problem? The car were driven fine, I stopped by the gas station to fill up. I restart the car and put in gear ( D) and nothing is happening, it is like in neutral but I am not in neutral. I have to shut off the motor and restart again, then it will be in gear when I shifted in (D) but as I drive, and let off the gas pedal, it will act like neutral again. To be able to drive it again, I have to repeat the above, shut off and restart motor.

I went to a transmission shop ask for a rebuild transmission price, I was told $1600 + tax. It is worth rebuilding? Is is a transmission problem or electrical problem?? It has 103,000 miles on it.

Did ever get a solution to this problem? I am having the same issue at 168,xxx