I have a 1995 Buick Regal 3.8 L 125,000 miles and I changed the transmission fluid about 4 days ago. Now the car feels sluggish and seems to have trouble going up hill where it never had problems before. I have checked the level and it is still full. The only other thing I did was the day before I flushed the break fluid. Any ideas on what is going on?
Oh, I used a generic Dex 3 transmission fluid for the change. Also I did undid the hose at the radiator to get the fluid coming out while pouring in at the same rate to get extra fluid out. Everything went great. The filter was a 15 dollar kit with the pan gasket from NAPA. Not sure if that info helps.
I have a 2003 Buick Regal that is got the very same problem. Just had the transmission serviced a couple weeks ago, and now in is very sluggish. I thought it might have something to do with the transmission, so I toke it to a transmission shop. They toke it for a drive with it hooked up to a tester. He said the transmission was working fine, maybe a clogged fuel filter. I was sceptical because it would rev up fine in park, but would not while driving. I went and had the filter changed anyways, it did not help at all. I am wondering if you found out what the problem was with your regal. If you had any luck fixing it, please post here.
I put some Lucas additive in with my transmission fluid and that seems to have giving me back most of the power, but I am a bit leery of the stuff. I have read a lot of conflicting reports to if it is bad for the transmission or not and wish I had tried looking at other less “quick fix” options. Anyways it seemed to work for me but I am not sure if it is doing damage to my transmission. Perhaps other more knowledgeable people could say their opinion on using additives.
Losing power is a tough description to follow. If stepping on the accelerator seems to make the engine rev but the car doesn’t speed up then the transmission could be slipping internally. If steeping on the accelerator makes the engine labor as though you were holding the brake the transmission could be pulling in 2 ranges simultaneously. Be as descriptive as possible and possibly someone can get you going.
Is the car downshifting when it should? It probably isn’t, but you weren’t very clear in your description.
What happens if you try to downshift manually?
Not a good idea to do your own home flush, you might have damaged the transmission. Now, for the second problem, Lucas. Never put that gooey junk in an automatic transmission. I would go and get that junk professionaly flushed out by a TRANS SHOP. Have them evaluate the trans at that time to see whether you damaged it. In the future, a simple pan drop, filter change is sufficient every 25-30k miles.
transman