S-Series Automatic Transaxle "Reverse Slam Cure-All"

[Chazberry]

Originally Posted by Ez2rememb3r

The filter exploding and blowing tran's oil all over the place is also gone with the old valve body, I seriously believe that the new one had some internal flaw(s) and was malfunctioning.

Who are you getting your VBs from? The one that was over-pressuring the Filter probably had a bad Pressure Regulator.

[Saturngears]

Hi guys, I just got done torquing the input shaft nut on my '02 SL2 (with a $75 kit purchased off ebay) but I think I have a more extensive problem (it didn't need a whole lot of extra torque to click to 112 ft/lbs)

When I removed the side cover I only had one shaft come out. Why might this be?

[Gatorpain]

Okay so here's my problem I bought a Saturn SL2 99 I bought a 99 SL1 and swap trainees took the valve body out of the SL2 and put it in the SL1 training Kohl's come up gear ratio thing but as I'm driving if I erase the codes it shifts gears and then goes right back into second in the weather gear could this be my computer problem or what do you think

[billmik]

Thanks so much this fixed my car. remove the 2 bolts from the strut and the 2 bolts holding the frame to tranny and drop it a inch its worth it i bent my tubes by not doing it and had to straighten them after lowering the tranny and removing the 2 bolts from strut

[S-forever]

I replaced the pressure regulator solenoid in the valve body and the buss plate since the connector was burned rather badly on those associated pins. I also soldered in another harness connector from the JY since the pins were also burned. Yes, I checked the wiring several times and am confident in it. After taking the car for a short drive, it still shifted harshly in all gears. I'm wondering if the computer output transistor could be toasted since the bad solenoid measured only 1.6 ohms. The fuses are good. I don't know the complete history on this car since it was given to me as is.

Any help is appreciated. Possibly the entire VB needs changing, but I am a bit concerned about the computer getting hit with such a low resistance solenoid. Is there any way to check the VB before changing it?

[Hiisi]

How I made it
I had a sever reverse slam on my 98' SL2. After reading on this forum I decided to replace the valve body. Got one from ebay for $127 with all the taxes.

I don't think it is actually a rebuilt one because it came dirty with old ATF and the gasket was damaged (but two spares came with it). So, replaced the gasket and disassembled whatever was necessary under the hood to reach for the gearbox:

Here's the pic of my beautiful gears

Next, I had to replace the fluid in the gearbox. To do it I first made a pair of ramps:

The gearbox filter seems to be factory original

The car has 72k miles.
I have also replaced the gearbox temperature sensor:

The fluid I used is Castrol 03520C TRANSMAX DEX/MERC ATF, 1 Gallon. Reviews on amazon mention saturns, so I hope it won't cause any problems. That's it! No more reverse slam or any other issues with the gearbox. It shifts now so much better.

[Ecomike]

Well it seems it is time to replace my Saturn SL1 , 2001 Valve body again. Its been about 50,000 miles and about 6-7 years. I used a reman with the Sonnax valve. And it bit the dust a day ago. Reverse and forward hard/slam shifts, with no warning. Then hours later, cold engine, shifted normally relocating the car for 2 minutes.

[Ecomike]

Just ordered a Sonnax upgraded Saturn TAAT valve body for my 2001 Saturn SL1.

2-3 day Priority mail/ $200 Delivered. Had a great long chat with the owner.... Great fella!!!

https://www.kenpartintransmissionparts.com

I bought one from him for this same car almost 10 years ago. He says it sounds like the pressure control solenoid is going bad (heat...) and offered to help me get one to rebuild mine. With my hand arthritis, I am no longer up to the challenge, and I already have enough round to its, LOL, but others might want to do that when theirs goes out like mine did. He knows this valve body front and back......It has 5 solenoids, and I got the impression they are interchangeable. I'll have two cores after this, and I may send them to him for a super low cost repair. So I will have a spare(s)....

[Ecomike]

Did you ever solve it? If not and still working on it, call this guy. My guess, is yes, it could have damaged an output transistor.

https://www.kenpartintransmissionparts.com

Originally Posted by S-forever

I replaced the pressure regulator solenoid in the valve body and the buss plate since the connector was burned rather badly on those associated pins. I also soldered in another harness connector from the JY since the pins were also burned. Yes, I checked the wiring several times and am confident in it. After taking the car for a short drive, it still shifted harshly in all gears. I'm wondering if the computer output transistor could be toasted since the bad solenoid measured only 1.6 ohms. The fuses are good. I don't know the complete history on this car since it was given to me as is.

Any help is appreciated. Possibly the entire VB needs changing, but I am a bit concerned about the computer getting hit with such a low resistance solenoid. Is there any way to check the VB before changing it?

[jbuenavides]

Originally Posted by Ecomike

Did you ever solve it? If not and still working on it, call this guy. My guess is yes, it could have damaged an output transistor.

I feel like OP has managed to resolve the issue but I will keep this link so that I can use it in the future if the same problem takes place.