After driving for 15 mins, car drops into neutral?

[Ludachris]

I have a coworker with a 92 Talon Turbo automatic. He explained that just about every time he drives it, it warms up and after 15 minutes, it loses all gears and goes into neutral. It happens about 75% of the time. He'll park it, let it cool down and drive it again - same thing.

Auto trannies are completely foreign to me so I couldn't really give him any good advice. Would it be the tranny or something less expensive like maybe the torque converter? Ideas?

 

[khartley]

The only automatic car I've ever had was an old Ford LTD (your first car isn't supposed to be a nice one, right?) It had a tranny fluid leak, and every time the fluid got really low, it would be like it was in neutral, thats how I knew when to add fluid. Maybe his fluid is so old and burnt that when it gets hot it loses all viscosity.
I believe torque converter problems result in shuddering, and a noticeable loss in power.

 

[Bender]

Sounds to me like it may be the transmission, especially since it only does it when it's warm. I'm guessing his frictions and steels are starting to go out, and then when the fluid gets thinner, it can't hold them together.

Granted, there may be other issues such as a sticky PCRS, a worn out bleed off spring in the valvebody, a cracked checkball, or a TCU that is on its way out.

The frictions/steels is a much more common problem though.

Is the car modded at all? You can get OE rebuilds for only about 200-250 bucks which would include more than enough to just replace the friction packs.

 

[rbwtrans]

Tell him to try replacing the filter and fluid. As the fluid warms up the crap on the bottom of the pan get loose and will get picked up by the filter easier. When the car is not running, the trans pump is not pumping and this will let the garbage on the filter fall back down into the pan. Once it's up and running again the filter will pick it back up and again get clogged. A tell-tale sign is that the pump will whine when the filter gets stopped up.

 

[Ludachris]

It's completely stock, and I believe he changed the fluid. Looks like it might be time for a rebuild.

 

[Bender]

If it's stock no need for a fancy performance rebuild kit (although I can get you one for $400 shipped if he plans on upgrading in the future). If you have trouble sourcing an OE one, you can email me at [email protected].

 

[the_mork]

Replacing the fluid and filter fixed a similar problem for me. You said he had changed the fluid but if the filter wasn't also changed then he didn't fix the problem.

I he has a stock car then personally I would go for a used transmission before a rebuild due to the lower cost and work required and the likelihood that a lower mileage transmission will likely outlast the rest of the car if it is well maintained. If it does have to be changed don't forget to clear the transmission cooler so that bad fluid doesn't add chunks to a new transmission.