don't know the inner workings of the tranny. just seems like it is an eventuality with these s car auto trannys.

Alpha will likely be able to tell you the deal. I'm past my tranny tech level as it is.....

Alpha?

Alpha?

 

Just wanted to post an update on the status of this SW2.

First the good: Up until last week it had continued to be my daily driver and had driven quite well except the missing 2nd gear and reverse. I did eventually discover that if I park on level ground I can come back to it after about 6 to 8 hours and I can start it and reverse will kind of work enough to back out of my space. It will only work once and if I don't try to back up before about 20 seconds has elapsed then reverse will be pretty much gone. Also, sometimes I think it has actually managed to catch 2nd gear under light load.

Now the bad: Last week it had started making an interesting noise when cold and in first gear. Kind of a high pitched rubbing sound, like a salad spinner on steroids. It's pretty loud. Over the last few days I was driving it the sound started to occur even when warmed up and even in higher gears.

Last week just before the monsoon started I got my Grand Voyager fixed so I can drive it in the rain. I've retired the Saturn to only necessary trips when the van is not available. I'm pretty sure the shaft nut is loose and things have worked their way loose to the point I've got stuff rubbing on the case cover. Once again I'm waiting for the rain to stop and my next paycheck so I can do something about this.

 

So this transmission has been noisy and acting worse to the point where one day it barely made it home. The next morning it didn't want to move so I decided to check the fluid level since I noticed it was leaking. It didn't even touch the stick.
DOH!
Now, to be clear, one of the things I really liked about this car is that there were no leaks. No drips or puddles where I park. I've gotten out of the habit of checking the tranny level because it never changed. It's been nice but lately I've noticed a few drops of tranny fluid left behind. This particular day I noticed it was pretty bad. I figured I've gone and worn a hole in the cover from the rubbing noise I've been hearing lately.
What's weird is that when brought the fluid back up to level (took almost a gallon) the transmission not only worked again (still without reverse and 2nd) but the noise was gone!
How can that be? I thought it was from a loose input shaft nut. Fluid level wouldn't affect that would it? If it was low fluid level causing the noise all along then what WAS that noise? And how can I be so stupid as to not keep an eye on the fluid level when I know I've got a sick tranny? By the way, that last was a rhetorical question, I don't need any help with the answer to that one.
It's been a week or so now and for the first few days reverse even worked well enough to back up from one end of the parking lot to the other.
I also got the occasional slamming gear changes again.
Today it started acting lame again so I checked the level and it was two quarts low. Topped it up and back to relatively good again. That's a serious leak and I plan to find the source tomorrow.
I'm still scratching my head on what that noise was though and why it doesn't happen anymore even with the fluid level low.

 

serious leak indeed.

Put a huge absorbent pad (or 4 smaller ones under the tranny. Put a long one under the tranny cooler up by the radiator.

Start it up and let it idle while watching the pads. you should see something dripping somewhere. The pads should tell you where.

Knowing you work on wet gravel, I hesitate to suggest the next test .
DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK IF YOU DO. THIS IS A TWO PERSON TEST.
_______________________________
Leave the car where at its current location.
With the car running, parking brake on, in park, place all four corners on jack stands, placing a square shaped piece of plywood about 5 times the size of the base of the jackstand UNDER EACH JACK STAND to evenly distribute the weight and to resist sinking.

CAREFULLY get into car from a step stool -- do not pull on the car's body to get in -- it's not the most stable set up.

Move slowly. Once in the car, shift to drive, and simulate the RPM of the shift points in the order they occur. Just remember the tires have no resistance so everything is easy to overrev.

Have your friend (2nd TEST PERSON) watch both the tranny and the front tranny cooler lines as you do your mock shift through the gears several times.
Then bring the RPM up to about 4K in 1st (if you can) and hold while your helper tries to locate the leak.

AT NO TIME SHOULD ANYONE BE UNDER THE VEHICLE FOR ANY REASON.

The leak may not be a geyser, but the above tests are as almost as close as you can get to real driving conditions with the car stationary.

If you find a leak early on in the tests, continue as you may have more than one leak.

PLEASE BE CAREFUL. DO NOT PULL YOURSELF UP INTO THE CAR--USE A STOOL TO GET IN.
_______________________
The only reason I dare suggest such a test (which is much safer done on a lift) is that you seem to have he wherewithal to perform the test without injuring yourself and others.

PERFORM THIS TEST AT YOUR OWN RISK

BE SAFE

 

Still driving this thing with a leaky transmission and no reverse or second gear. Just too much drama in personal life to worry about some stupid transmission that at least still gets me where I'm going.

Some things I've noticed over the past few thousand miles. Yes I've been driving this thing for several thousand miles now and it's still hanging in there. I replaced the valve body with a used but good unit a month ago. It helped a little. Reverse only works (kind of) when stone cold right after start up. Weak but there but goes away as soon as the fluid starts to warm up. On these frigid (10 degree or so) mornings I think I can feel second gear try to work leaving the house. No doubt, that darn nut is loose. Both vehicles we have on the road are kind of iffy right now so I've hesitated to take one out long enough to fix anything that's not actually making it undriveable. That noise I posted about a while back has come back anytime I let the fluid level get over two quarts low. It leaks about 3/4 quart a day.
Still haven't taken the time to locate the leak because I keep thinking I'll wait to check that when I go to tighten the nut. Too much going on to take it out of action for that long.
I've become so accustomed to this thing that I don't even think about the fact I'm driving on a funky transmission. I automatically park so I can just pull out forward or drift down hill backwards. Every once in a while I'll forget and I have to push it out of the spot (glad this car is light).

When I finally do get around to fixing this thing I'll be really interested to see what condition things are in after all this driving around.

 

Heya Jamnar,


Welcome back.


Sorry you did not return with better news, but your Satty is hanging in there.

 

Finally had a chance to check the transmission thanks to an additional vehicle and a great deal on a portable garage. This is what I found.
Yeah, a few thousand miles with the input shaft nut loose is not a good idea.
I'll put more pictures up in a bit.
Now I need to get another case cover and probably another clutch pack since this one's been severely overheated and almost worn through on the back side.
At least now I know why it was leaking so badly.

 

Got the pictures up in an album
Saturn Forum - Saturn Enthusiasts Forums - jamnar's Album: Fixing the TAAT MP7

I'll add more as I go but it'll probably be a few days before I can do any more to this poor car.

 

Hey jamnar,


Sorry to learn of your now confirmed woes, but am grateful that you are taking the time to document this both in word and especially in pictures.


People always express their TAAT woes but very few ever open up the tranny to actually see what's happening (or not happening) and even fewer take the time to report back what they found, and even FEWER take the time to capture pictures AND upload them


Thank you and please keep us posted

 

OK, I'm not having much luck finding another case cover or clutch shell without buying a complete transmission.
I've been thinking lately (usually as I'm filling both tanks on my F250) that if I could just seal the crack in the case with something that could take the heat and the oil then I could probably put the car back on the road at least temporarily so I could save my gas money and actually buy one of those darn transmissions.
Well I was wandering around the clearance isle of the local Tractor Supply and saw this stuff called Q-Bond. It's made by K Tool international and right on the front of the box it says it "repairs almost anything". I'm like, yeah, right. So I look on the side of the box and it shows what looks like a motorcycle crankcase cover. I think to myself, well maybe that claim wasn't so far fetched after all but I'm still skeptical. Then I look at the back of the box and there it is:
Heat resistant to 356 degrees F. Oil and Petrol resistant.
They also claim it can be used yes on motorcycle casings but also carburetors.
Truth in advertising laws are frequently stretched and broken but this stuff seems to actually fit the bill.
Has anyone else messed with this stuff?

I intend to give it a try this weekend and see if I can get that poor thing back on the road again even if it's just for a little while. I know I'll have to baby it because of that clutch pack but with an 80 mile daily commute I'm ready to try it because 10mpg with my truck is killing me financially.