potential auto tranny issue(?)

[buster95]

hey all. to preface this, I am still an absolute DSM and car noob. I have a '95 talon tsi fwd auto that hasn't had any major issues in the few months I've had it apart from a bad parasitic drain and a few chassis related things that needed replaced. the engine and transmission have been great. my oil pressure gauge does get low at stoplights occasionally though, so to keep the pressure up I put the car in park and give it a light rev before putting it back into drive once the light turns green. *yes* I know that the sender can be inaccurate and I don't have any lifter tick, but until I actually get an external gauge I have to assume it's right. when I did this today, my car barely inched forward when I pushed on the gas before stopping completely. I threw the car back into park and then into drive again, and it carried on as if nothing had happened. I drove home completely fine without any noises or problems. I am going to guess that maybe I just didn't go far enough into D when I shifted and it went into neutral instead, but I'm wondering if some other issue may be at play.

also, please be nice. I feel like I shouldn't have to say this but I'm very new to cars and I see people get flamed for these types of questions all the time on other forums. just trying to learn.

 

[Blinkyblinx9]

It's not a stupid question at all. The likely cause is either you didn't have it all the way in drive, the selector lever on the trans wasn't pushed all the way into drive despite the shifter lever in the car being in the correct place, or you might just be low on fluid.

If you want to investigate the cable then its sheath??? Yeah, lets go with that because IDK what its called. Any who, its is held in place by a bracket mounted on top of the trans close to the middle. The selector lever is on top closer to the front passenger side of the trans. The bracket is supposed to be a bit flexy but they can get a little too loosy goosy as the rubber in the bracket gets old. The cable can also over time need adjustment after years and years of pushing and pulling.

Have someone shift around with they key on but the car not running (don't forget to pull the parking brake or chock the wheels) to check its movement. If it looks like there is a delay from the time the shifter is moved to when it slips into gear it may not be pushed far enough or the rubber piece in the bracket is old and worn out. Sometimes if you get it close they will slip in on their own but just because it kinda works doesn't mean its right. There is only one bolt through the bracket so getting a view of the rubber spacer wont be too difficult.

On a side note its not that the factory oil pressure gauge is inaccurate because it's actually much closer to useless aside from telling you that the pressure is either there and or wasn't what it was a few seconds ago. Sometimes it doesn't even to those things very well. I advise getting an oil pressure gauge soon if your THAT concerned about it.