1995 Saturn SL1 Transmission going?

HERETIC121

MEMBER
1995 SATURN SL1
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
50,084 MILES

I have a 95 Saturn SL. It has 50,000 miles on it, and I bought it 3 years years ago with 32,000 miles on it. Lately When I try to get on the highway and I really need to acellerate fast I have to do it slow cause if I hold down the pedal hard the RPMs just shoot up and I get no power. Also when I hit the break the RPMs bounce up, like it is having trouble down shifting. The car is 15 years old and as far as I know it has never had a transmission flush. Do you think it could be dirty trans fluid, or is it about to go?

1 Reply

MATHIASO

MECHANIC
1,209 POSTS

Hello heretic121

When you change the tarnsmission fluid you could find lot of information about the transmission itself,
I think it a good start to diagnose the transmission with the transmission fluid.
Remove the drain plug on the trans.
Inspect the drained oil for gold color metalic and other particles.
The gold color particles come from the brass blocking rings of the synchronizers.
Metal shavings result from the wearing of gears
after the oil has drained out, take a small magnet and insert it into the drain hole, then sweep it around the inside to remove all metal particles. Because brass is not magnetic, it will not show on the magnet.
An excess of iron or brass shavings indicates severe wear in the transmission.