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Transmission doesnt want to work when weather is cold/freezing

12K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  eloc431962  
#1 ·
Hi, I am obviously a Blonde, but not your run of the mill Blonde. not that Blondes are stupid, people just tend to make jokes....Some are quite funny.

I do need help with Truck Chevy s10 2000, has only about 158,000 or so miles, not sure of exact milage. Have had this vechicle for about a year,
when it is cold and I do mean COLD outside, the truck seems to have to warm up before it will engage into drive.....I thought it was a sensor of some sort, cant pinpoint it. Last winter, I would let the truck warm up for ten to fifteen minutes, then it would go into gear, well then spring/came and then it was fine. Well now it is winter, and I have blown the trany line 3 times. The third time, I said, forget it, thought it was the clutches, had work I was told the work was done, just hard to believe still having problems. anyways,
The truck is worse, the truck now has to warm up for a longer period of time, and had difficulty going into gear. I am trying to figure out, if the guts of the trans was replace, and someone said they also replaced something about the springs, I am not sure exactly I did research as much as possible about the parts of the transmission in as much detail I could find. But my question is if the clutches of an automatic transmission was changed with a kit, how come I am having the same problem, and is there a sensor......Yes the check engine light is on, thought it was an 02 sensor, not too worried about that.
and having problem with ABS brake icon light going on and off, so I am just not worried about those little lights, but I just dont understand what is going on with the transmission. can anyone please respond, email is Blonddiekimmm yahoo Thank you.
 
#2 ·
Welcome. You know how to can tell a smart blond? She will laugh at dumb blond jokes. And since it is so hard to communicate over the internet, I really meant that as a complement.

Back to your transmission. Check the fluid level. There is a lot of fluid in the transmission, and torque converter, and like most oils, it expands when hot, and shrinks when cold. A typical automatic transmission, and torque converter can easily hold 3 gallons of fluid, but the difference between "add" and "full" on the dipstick is only a pint. If you are already a half pint low, but still above the "add" mark, when the engine is warm, the level could actually go too low in below freezing weather.
 
#3 ·
C4 transmission won't go into gear cold

My c4 trans used to require warm up before it would engage in gear.
Slowly got worse through the years.
Just sat in garage until trans warmed up before car would move.
Once warm, it would work fine all day.
The internal pistons that activate clutches have rubber piston seals.
The rubber piston seals got hard and would not function cold.
The warm fluid would soften the piston seals enough to stroke the clutch pack.

I rebuilt the transmission. All clutches were fine. Only problem I found was hard rubber seals.