Auto transmission only shifting manually

**jordya** · 04-22-2009

Hey all,

Yesterday, my automatic transmission just stopped working. I pulled out of my garage, put in D and...nothing. I tried 3rd...nothing. I tried 2nd and 1st...both worked. As I started driving in 2nd, I manually shifted to 3rd and then D...and that worked.

Any thoughts what could be the issue? I have not had any Tranny issues or symptoms...no slippage or anything. This problem came from nowhere.

Thanks in advance.

Jordy A.
CAR - 99 Grand Prix GT 3.8

**WhiteDevil** · 04-22-2009

I think you need to get it into a good shop, sounds internal

**Red97GPGT** · 04-22-2009

I'm gonna go with linkage or TCS

**Trannyman95** · 04-22-2009

You likely have a broken forward apply band. If you search for that in the trans section you will find a handful of other guys that have ran into this and that the symptoms are the same. The car will shift fine after it gets into 2nd gear from 2-3-4 and 4-3-2, but as soon as it goes down into 1st gear and the shifter is not in manual 1 range you will not have any forward movement. This means an overhaul as the forward apply band is one of the last things to come out of the case. If you drop the lower pan you may find a piece of broken band laying in the pan or you can look up at a windowed out section just to the right of the end of the filter and you will see where the apply pin applies the forward band and it may be broken or fractured and the piece has not fallen out yet.

**jordya** · 04-23-2009

Thanks for the input. Any thoughts on what the cost is to fix the forward apply band? Also, if I have to go the route of getting a rebuilt tranny installed, what does that typically cost.

thanks again.