I have a 93 GT and I was wondering if this is normal or not.

Now before I explain my question I just want to give you some info on my car. It has a MARCH Ram Air kit, BBK Equal Lengths and 3.55 gears. It is also an AOD trans.

Now the question is, when I punch it from a dead stop the car will accelerate moderately while the engine is just revving up to 3500rpms or higher until it shifts into the next gear and then it will give it some quick pick up and then do it again; just rev really high and moderately get the car moving until I hit about 45 or so it will kick into the next gear and then it will start accelerating pretty quickly. Especially after 60 or so the pull on it is great. Is this high revving not a lot of moving situation in the first couple gears normal? Or I heard I may need a new tourque converter?

The reason why I do not know if it's normal or not is cuz ever since I bought it last year it has always done this and I didn't think anything of it until I have been getting smoked easily from the line.

Thanks a bunch! Have a good night!

 

You need to have your tranny looked at, it should not rev that high and only move out moderatly. I have it looked at I have 3:73's in my 89 and it jumps out quickly!!!

 

Other than the tranny what else can it be? Is it possible the tourque converter could be the culprit?

Cuz yeah it seems like I have no low end power whats so ever unless I "lean into the gas", but even then if I press the gas too quickly I will lose power and the engine will rev really high and the car will seem to just chucg along.

The best analogy I can refer to it as is if you run in place really fast and move foward a lil bit while doing it, then when the auto trans changes gears it will give me a brief power **** and do it again until about after 45mph or higher then it will start pulling hard.

Thanks for the tip and quick response!

 

the converter could be the problem, if it is shot it will let the engine rev high, and not really transfer the power to the tranny. Either way, it is a transmission problem (the converter is part of the tranny). Take it to a reputable transmission shop and take a tech for a test drive showing him what the problem is. They would be able to give you a good idea of what your looking at. (converter, tranny's guts, or both). Best of luck!

 

Awesome thanks for the great help! I will definately get it looked at!

 

Sounds like what a slipping clutch does to a manual equipped car, I'd get it the tranny looked at for sure.

 

Can anyone tell me how I can do a stall speed test on my car? Or is this not recommended to do on this car?

And if anyone can tell me the engine RPM numbers for the stall test that would be greatly appreciated also, if not, tomorrow I can just see if they have that in the Chilton Manual.

Thanks!

 

Sounds to me like your overdrive may be slipping/burnt. Is the TV cable still attached to the throttle plate? Does the fluid look dark or smell burnt?

 

Cable is fine, the fluid is a healthy red... but I do SOMETIMES notice after some drives short or long when I park it in the garage I can smell some trans fluid, but there is nothing leaking, that i can see at least. I just had a seal in the back of the trans (I think), replaced in november, due to wear; trans fluid all over the floor in the garage under car. The reason why I do not know what seal it was is cuz I just had it towed out and put into the shop. I can get the reciept tomorrow to see what it was if you need to know.

The things I have been reading on the net though about "symptoms of bad torque converters" the symptoms are the same things I have been having, so I think I'm gonna put my money on that being the problem.

I plan on bringing into the shop on monday and have my mechanic test drive it with me and see what he thinks.

I wonder how much this is going to cost...

 

Well, I'm skeptical about a bad converter simply because I have found it to be an extremely rare problem in my travels. However if the trans has ever been rebuilt and/or the converter replace with a rebuilt one then it is more likely than if it were original.

 

Hmm... well to my knowledge it is the stock tranny and it hasnt been rebuilt.

This is so depressing, it has been a bad winter for my fox.

It will be in the shop soon... I will get it looked at monday.

The thing is I can not leave it in the shop cuz I need the car for college so its gonna have to wait for spring break or something. Luckily my class is ending early this semester (2nd or 3rd week of April).

 

I gave the car a stall speed test and the engine would not go above 1800rpm while flooring it. I do not think it stopped any lower than 1600rpm but that is the range. I gave it about 3 tests with the engine warm and gave a 5 minute break with each test for it to rest. Do these numbers sound ok?

Also could it possibly be that one(or more) of my catalytic converters may be clogged and causing these symptoms to happen: the chugging and the high revving and little go from a dead stop problem?

I am clueless... I have never been so upset about my car.

Again thanks for all the advice this is a great site!

 

Now a stopped up catalytic converter makes MUCH more sense here...that's where I would start checking.

 

Hmm yeah I kinda got the idea about the cats when I noticed that hissing from under the car and such.

I am gonna take the O2 sensors out this week, see how it runs.

Ill keep this thread updated.

Thanks for the help!

 

Just taking out the Oxygen sensors is not going to help...not enough air can flow through those little holes from a V8 to do any good. You need to just simply remove the Cat pipe and drive it...yes, it's very loud but a brief drive won't hurt and will tell you if that is your problem.

If you do this make sure to tie up your cat back at least to keep it away from the driveshaft and from hanging down. If you had a lift then you could do this test on a lift and not have to drive the car.

 

Ok here is an update... I ran open headers. Took it around the block, floored it from a stop and also from a roll. I did not notice a huge difference (if any) in performance.

So I am thinking it may not be the cats being clogged... maybe it is something else (tranny)? Or possibly normal for the gearing set up I have I guess.

 

Could it be the clutch bands in the tranny slipping? Not sure about these new trannys but years ago this would have been your problem.

 

That could be possible, for it is the stock/original tranny. 64,500 miles on it.

 

That's my guess also.

 

UPDATE!!!

Ok so i took it to a trans shop on friday and they test drove it. They said that it is not a tranny problem, but it could be a fuel system problem such as clogged fuel injectors or bad fuel pump.

I just replaced the fuel pump last month and it was clogged, before I replaced it the pump was making that ringing noise but I havent noticed it since. I was thinking my problem was an injector problem (clogged or stuck open or closed) until today I took the car on the highway and gave it my own test. I was doing about 65 and floored it and noticed a violent hesitation. I have never had this happen before even at that speed. I tried it again and sure enough it happend again. Would this be sign of a bad fuel pump or does it still sound like a tranny problem?

What I am thinking is that IF the fuel pump is bad it is not sending enough fuel pressure giving me poor gas mileage and a sluggish engine (chugging and poor acceleration; especially at high engine speeds).

What do you guys think?