Auto Tranny Issue (Will not shift into 3rd)
 

Hello all, Sorry for the lengthy post but I wanted to give as much detail about the problem I am experiencing.

I currently have a 98 automatic tranny that is experiencing an unusal problem. After about 40 miles of constant driving the transmission will stop shifting into 3rd and 4th gear. It will shift from 1st to 2nd, and stays in 2nd (all the way to redline). Once the tranny cools down (temp wise) it works normally again, shifting in all gears and the shifts are smooth. When it's about the fail, the shifts become more harsher. Also, say if I get on the freeway and keep it in 4th it will run fine in the top gear, but if I exceed the 40 mile mark and have to stop or slow down or need to shift down for a steep hill and it goes into 2nd it will lock out and not shift back into 3rd and 4th.

Here are the full symptoms when the tranny acts up:

Will not shift into 3rd gear from second, but it will shift between 1st and second no problem....so stop to start is fine in the first 2 gears, just will not shift into 3rd until it cools down.

No TCM/cell light or fluid light temp whatsoever. Also engine temp guage is normal (about 1/3 on the guage), but of course it doesn't read trans temp. Also I replaced the two fluids in the tranny and put Amsoil ATF (& 75-90 gear for the diff section) right after the tranny started to act up with no effect to the symptom (still acts up after the 40 miles of constant driving) it just will not overheat as the fluid is designed to handle much more temp then standard fluid. Side note: The first time the tranny acted up I had to run it for an extended time at high rpm (on a mountain road with no shoulder) and the tranny fluid temp light then came on and fluid was flowing out, but after changing to the synth stuff it has not overheated the same way since. Since the problem began & we determined when it would fail we have not driven the car much behond the 40 mile range. But we know it still happens as I have on occasion have driven the car a couple times and it still acts up the same. (Last time was 3 days ago)

When acting up, If I rev the engine up (max speed is 60mph in second to redline) if I let off the gas the tach drops off as if it is in neutral (engine rpm goes to idle, around 750rpm) and the car just coasts with no load from the tranny whatsoever. If I step on the accelerator it will rev up freely until it gets to a point where the rpm is high enough to match the transmission speed and the car begins to accelerate (still in 2nd only). There is no load applied until it rev matches the gearing. So no engine brake.

I have the subaru transmission manual and it does not cover the condition I have. But I am thinking that it must be a faulty shift solenoid #2 that is failing when it gets to a certain temp.....below that temp it works fine but the signal fails when it reaches a certain temp (which happens about 40 miles of constant driving)

What do you guys think? I planning on doing the work myself if possible, but I do not want to throw money at any thing until I can narrow it down to a certain part(s), and would appriciate any expertice or prior experience in the matter.

Thanks in advance

EddyL.