Transmission Troubles

[Timage]

Hey guys.

After finally getting my S2 Stagea RS4 running properly after 3 months of ownership by replacing the coil packs, I've got another problem. Driving home on the highway today the A/T light came on and the gearbox would no longer shift into overdrive, so at 100km/h I was doing almost 4000rpm. By using the tip-tronic I could see that it was indeed in 4th, not 3rd. Jumping off the highway to the streets presented another symptom. The car would not pull at all, and it feels exactly like driving a manual and holding the clutch in half-way. This still occurred in tip-tronic mode in all gears.

I did the self-diagnosis thing and the A/T light flashed through 13 times and didn't pause on any of the flashes.

Am I screwed?

Background information just in case:

Bought the car in April with a dead coil pack. Replaced that coil with factory item in June which started to die 3 days later. Replaced all coils with splitfire items two Sundays ago. Installed a pod filter last Sunday (still don't know why). Everything else on the car is completely standard.

[chook]

Did it only do it once or is it ok once you turned ignition off/on ? My Skyline did similar thing once, then never again. If it only did it once good chance it is only electrical.

Could be solenoids or a bad sensor/connection.

If it was my car, with or without your issue, as with all imports where fluids are seldom or never changed in Japan, I would get auto serviced, fluid/filter changed/ bands tightened etc, if it hasnt been done recently + get your valve body shift kitted (stage 1 is adequate), with new solenoids.

[Timage]

Did it only do it once or is it ok once you turned ignition off/on ? My Skyline did similar thing once, then never again. If it only did it once good chance it is only electrical.

Could be solenoids or a bad sensor/connection.

If it was my car, with or without your issue, as with all imports where fluids are seldom or never changed in Japan, I would get auto serviced, fluid/filter changed/ bands tightened etc, if it hasnt been done recently + get your valve body shift kitted (stage 1 is adequate), with new solenoids.

Just drove it then and it was perfectly fine. Car had a full service and inspection in June by a mob familiar with imports and it was all fine (except for the coil pack). I'll go down to a local automatic place tomorrow and see what they say. Roughly how much are those shift kits?

[chook]

shift kits are around $400 from memory, plenty of threads about them throughout the auto and stagea forums. MV automatics in Adelaide are the only ones who do the R34/S2 'B' (RE4R01B) boxes last time I checked. Basically send them your valve body, they modify it and send it back, but best removed and installed by a 3rd party Auto shop if you are not in Adelaide.

Basically they tighten up the gear shifts, dramatically, remove the slushiness, and consequently reduce friction/temperature inside the box.

If it happens again, pull over, turn it off, restart.

[Timage]

shift kits are around $400 from memory, plenty of threads about them throughout the auto and stagea forums. MV automatics in Adelaide are the only ones who do the R34/S2 'B' (RE4R01B) boxes last time I checked. Basically send them your valve body, they modify it and send it back, but best removed and installed by a 3rd party Auto shop if you are not in Adelaide.

Basically they tighten up the gear shifts, dramatically, remove the slushiness, and consequently reduce friction/temperature inside the box.

If it happens again, pull over, turn it off, restart.

Interesting. I think one of the local Stagea's near me had that done (Gold Coast) so I'll stalk him one day and ask him. So it's basically a small issue (solenoid, sensor) and the gearbox isn't functioning properly as a way of protecting itself?

[RBPOWA-(TJ)]

limp mode i think its called. Solenoids are letting you know to get it checked out. happened to me, turned out i had a small leak, temps went up real fast.

i got it serviced and put a shift kit it. shift kit all it did was make the bands work under more stress along with the clutch packs, and everything was over worked and stretched.

basically couldnt drive it. now full rebuild.

get some one to look over it properly and has some good advice

[fergo308]

My last series 2 wore out the clutch packs in second. it would occasionally flare on the 1st to 2nd shift when launching hard,and after a while would then go into limp mode and the A/T light would come on on the dash. pull over and restart,and the light would go out.

eventually the clutches wore right out and I lost ALL drive one afternoon on my way home from work.

Had the box rebuilt by CATS in alexandria using internals from an R34 GTT box. apparently the clutch packs in the skyline boxes are slightly larger.

my current car is beginning to show the same symptoms even on std boost,so it looks like that box will be coming out before long as well.

Justin...

[pixel8r]

No pauses between the flashes on self-diagnostics means no fault code is showing up. This almost certainly rules out a faulty sensor causing the issue (unless the sensor is faulty but still reading within normal range - but if this were the case it wouldn't trigger the A/T light).

There are a few places that offer shift kits on the RE4 trans. SA RACE (Adelaide Transmission & Diff Specialists in the white pages) at Holden Hill in SA can do them and they offer a few different options depending on what you're after. Highly recommended (as are MV Automatics - I had one fitted by them to my previous s2 and it was great). Not sure if a shift kit is all that good as far as the extra pressure exerted on the driveline, but mine did last 2 years without issues and was still working fine when I sold it.

There is at least one place in Brisbane that will do them as well, but the name escapes me.

If you get it serviced by a good auto transmission workshop, they should be able to identify any potential problems at the same time. There is a difference between a proper transmission service and just flushing the oil.

Hope you get it fixed. I've had an auto trans go kaput on a silvia and its not fun, nor is it cheap to fix.

[Timage]

Taking it down to get it checked today. I'll get him to check the computer and see if that A/T code is stored. I'm not sure what is meant exactly by flaring, but sometimes under heavy load it will ride the clutch between first and second for a good couple of seconds. Haven't had that issue again since friday fortunately. Will report how it goes.

[Timage]

Taking it down to get it checked today. I'll get him to check the computer and see if that A/T code is stored. I'm not sure what is meant exactly by flaring, but sometimes under heavy load it will ride the clutch between first and second for a good couple of seconds. Haven't had that issue again since friday fortunately. Will report how it goes.

Well taking it down to these other people did nothing as they couldn't even get into the ECU to see what the code was and they didn't want to take it apart for a look. They were also rude as hell. Stay away from Burleigh Automatics.

The problem happened again today, and like last time, happened after about 15min driving on the highway. One mechanic said the filters in the transmission may be clogging up and causing the issue. Could it be that simple?