Transmission will not shift unto third gear

89,638 MILES • 3.6L • V6 • 2WD • AUTOMATIC
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NAJAE CAMERON
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
Shift from park to drive just fine, goes into second but refuses to go into third. It sounds like it slips into neutral and just revs.
Aug 18, 2019 at 7:07 AM
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KASEKENNY
  • ✓Experienced Mechanic
  • 18,907 POSTS
Hi,

What happens with this is the pump begins to fail and it cannot build the pressure in the transmission anymore and so it cannot engage third gear. There are some (especially on the internet) that say adding the transmission fluid additives fixes the issue. Unfortunately, if you get any results they are short lived. There is a conditioner in those additives that causes the clutches to swell and they can operate on lower pressure. Unfortunately, this has the same effect on the seals and eventually they fail and you will need a rebuild or replacement transmission.

At this point, I would suggest having it scanned for any codes just so we can try and confirm this. If you have codes, I would expect to see gear ratio errors which will confirm the pump has failed. On this age vehicle you may not have any codes but that doesn't mean this isn't your issue. However, lets start with codes and go from there. Thanks
Aug 19, 2019 at 8:24 AM
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