2001 Saturn L200 Strange Problem with Transmission?

The hole in your muffler is probably the drain hole they put in when they make the muffler its to let the water out to prevent it from rusting out. You can check your fluid level but your car has to have all four wheels off the ground and be level theres a sight level hole right by the passenger side axle on the transmission that you remove while idling and filling the transmission. When the fluid starts comming out of the hole your full. But if you don't have any leaks then I wouldnt worry about it. But you are over due for your next transmission service which I would get done. The fluid gets really dirty between fluid changes because the clutchs in your transmissions wear and then the pieces get in the fluid. Do you have any codes?If you dont know then go to a auto parts store like autozone and get your codes read and bring me back the numbers of the codes. Let me know what you find.

Thanks, did not know about that hole. This hole is is definitely rusted out, since I could pull a piece of rusted metal off of the bottom of the muffler and can feel exhaust coming out of it.

Yeah, it is a pain that it is not easier to check the transmission fluid levels. Do you think old transmission fluid could be causing this problem? How much does the transmission service usually cost?

I had the car scanned at advanced auto parts, but no codes. I did take it in to a mechanic and he scanned the computer during driving and said he was getting error codes on the TPS during shifting. He said that to start we should replace the TPS and then he could look further for other issues.

Reviewing the maintenance schedule it also says we should renew the cooling fluid, which we have not done since we bought it @ 48,000 miles, could old cooling fluid be the culprit?

I read this thread: https://www.2carpros.com/forum/2001-saturn-l200-saturn-l200-hard-shifting-when-fans-come-o-vt450777.html in which the person seems to have a similar problem in that it happens on hot days with the air-conditioner on. He replaced the TPS and cleaned the throttle body and that seemed to have fixed his problem which makes me think a TPS replacement and or cleaning the the Throttle body might fix the problem. But again testing the TPS with an ohmmeter showed no dead spots and the throttle body looked fairly clean.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the car conked out the second time this problem happened. So when I was pulling over to the side of the road because I could not get the car moving, the engine stopped as I was slowing down. Someone told me this could be due to a clogged fuel filter. I do not see "replacement of fuel filter" in my maintenance schedule, is this recommended after a certain amount of miles?

Thanks for all your help on this!

PS: what should be the normal idle speed on this car?[/quote:5cf0d56477]
If your muffler is rusted out then you will need to get another muffler.No i don't think the transmission fluid is causing the problem.I would think your transmission fluid change should be around a few hundred dollars.If someone is seeing the tps bad while driving i would have that replaced and go from there.You should get your coolant flushed its over due but that's not going to fix any of your transmission problems.Your fuel filter should be replaced every 100,000 miles.

That's crazy what's happening sounds like you have a engine problem not a transmission problem with your throttle not responding. You have a throttle cable so your throttle not responding doesn't make sense if your throttle plate opens and you get more air in your engine then your computer adds more fuel which gives you more power and rpms.I want you to go check for codes again you should have some from all this crazy stuff happening. Let me know what you find.

I thought you said you were going to change the tps?You said that the tps readings were showing bad when the shifting was acting up so I would be looking at a bad tps or the wiring go to it. Yes I would go to a auto parts store like autozone to have your codes read. Let me know what the numbers are.

Ok keep me informed on how your car is doing.

Sometimes flushing the transmission stir's up problem's on those transmissions. Particle's get pushed into the line pressure actuator causing hard shift's just to be on the safe side I would take it to a auto part's store and make sure there isn't any code's.

We used the fluid exchanger at our dealership and we say problem's like I was telling you about it didn't show up at first it showed up later. Just giving you a heads up.