Hi I have had a 2000 Chevy Cavalier 2.2 liter 4 cyl Automatic for about 5 or 6 years now. I have noticed the whole time I have owned it that when I start the car and shift from Park to Drive I hear a clunk and the with the hood open the engine pivots back and forth one time more than it is supposed to. This only happens from park to drive, it does not do this from park to any other gears, and once the car is in drive everything is normal. The car has no shifting problems at all, no slips or clunking while driving or hitting the gas real fast on take off. I changed the all three mounts on the car yesterday. Upper engine mount (still in decent shape), lower dogbone (tore to hell), and Transmission mount (decent). I really haven’t noticed it get any worse over the years I just know its not right. I have never changed the fluid or the filter since I owned the car, and most likely it has never been changed in the cars life. Could a dirty filter, and dirty fluid cause this problem? Or could the linkage need adjusted or replaced? Thanks in advance
I hate to admit this , but I failed to do a drain and new fluid on my wifes old Corsica. I thought that the tranny was a goner too. You’d put it in gear and it would just do some clicking…like a gear was stripped. My son bugged me that I should drain and replace the tranny fluid. I did that just to make him get off my back, and lo and behold it runs fine now. I figure that the fluid must have been pretty bad and I know you only drain less than 50% when you do drain it, the rest is trapped inside the tranny. So before winter hits hard I plan to replace the filter again and add new fluid…to dilute the old stuff even more.
Yosemite
Guess I will change it then Thanks
For the price of a new filter and a few quarts of fluid, it’s a small price to pay.
If it doesn’t seem to fix the problem, then you can consider your other options.
FYI. I t still made a few noises, but after a few miles it was back to it’s old self.
Yep you are right and thanks for the quick response
I recently Had my transmission rebuilt and re installed. Seemed to have done a great Job , but I have this annoying vibration when Im on a slight incline or pulling away from traffic lights or stop signs.Any ideas or suggestions? on what if might be.
scot, I don’t think that changing your transmission fluid is going to solve your problem, but not changing it is going to shorten its life and lead to other problems, so by all means, change it. In fact, as Yosemite has suggested, change it twice within a short span of time, say a couple of weeks apart.
It may help a little if the sudden rocking is due to a sticking valve inside the the transmission, but I think you might look into the CV joints for excess play. Not saying that this is the problem, but it is worth the look.