[Gearbox94]

Hey guys. So I picked up a '88 hatch a few months back with 69k original miles and I'm having some issues with the trans.. So it shifts through all the gears and goes into OD all of the time but occasionally it gives me trouble shifting from 1st to 2nd.. usually it happens after I accelerate moderately hard from a stop and ease pressure off the accelerator just before the shift. Its almost like it commands the shift but it takes forever for it to catch. If I let off the throttle completely it will catch but if I keep the throttle on it will take around 5 seconds for it to engage. It doesn't do this all all shifts but I would say at least once or twice every time I drive the car.

The other issue I've been having and I'm not sure if its transmission related but on cold starts when I go to drop the car into gear it will stall. The only way to get it moving is to drop it into gear while simultaneously giving it some throttle. I did pull codes from the computer and I got a code dealing with the Converter Clutch Override solenoid. Would this be something that's causing both issues?

I'm not smart on these auto transmissions so any help I can get would be much appreciated. I'll also say the trans fluid is not in the best shape. Its a dark red/brownish color. I'm going to be replacing the filter and fluid here shortly but if there's something internal that needs to be replaced I want to be able to do that at the same time.

 

[1QUICK23]

From what ive read about a4lds this is a common issue especially when the trans is cold. The consensus seems to be the governor sticking.

 

[Gearbox94]

From what ive read about a4lds this is a common issue especially when the trans is cold. The consensus seems to be the governor sticking.

Yeah cold starts seems to give it the most trouble. Once winter hit the engine wouldn't even stay running unless I held the RPM around 1500 for a minute or so. Doing this actually fixed the stalling issue when I would throw it into drive or reverse. So every time I start it now I just hold 1500 rpm for a minute and its perfectly fine. I would think the car would command that high idle by itself on cold starts like most other vehicles and then kick down but for whatever reason it doesn't. Oh well the 4 banger is coming out soon enough so I guess I'll just live with it for now.