Post by mikeyhoi on Mar 13, 2012 2:22:33 GMT
Hello, new to the forum! A little over a year ago my wife and I got a 1970 Innocenti minimatic that has been a great addition to our triumph herald (they're both equally nimble and modestly powered). Generally the mini has been great, but it has a quirky intermittent problem. I'm admittedly not overly familiar with automatic transmissions so I figured I'd ask here for any tips on what avenues to pursue or to see if anyone else has experienced a similar problem.
If I drive for a while and then make a short stop of (i.e. gas top up or during quick errands) the car will sometimes temporarily lose forward drive when restarted. The odd part is when this happens it will pull away from the parking space/gas pump just fine and then lose drive about 10-20 seconds later, basically feeling like your in neutral while revving the accelerator. It usually happens as you pull out into traffic which can be a little scary. The car will get going to about 15mph and then lose drive as stated. If this occurs and I shift into a specific gear (i.e. 2 or 3) forward drive is instantaneously regained at which point I can return to "D" without any further problem. This only seems to occur if the car has sat for about 5-15 minutes, any more or less and there's no problem. Other than this random issue the transmission has been shifting smoothly with no real slippage. The only other known issue is the "4" position on the shifter does not seem to work when you "shift manually" - I've always pulled straight back from "3" to "D" in these cases and 4th gear engages fine then so I never really worried about it.
I initially thought it had to do with heat buildup under the hood and maybe thinning of oil. The car never overheats, but the temp gauge does tend to climb and be a little on the high side when you get back in the car after these short stops. But now I wonder if there's some kind of valve sticking or some issue with the selector since the transmission did it today with a normal temperature reading on a cool day. Also I figure if it was a heat problem, manually shifting shouldn't override it as it currently does.
This last paragraph is pure speculation, I've never had to work on an auto box since I've never owned one before the mini. Sorry for the long post, I wanted to give as many details as possible. Thanks in advance - any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
If I drive for a while and then make a short stop of (i.e. gas top up or during quick errands) the car will sometimes temporarily lose forward drive when restarted. The odd part is when this happens it will pull away from the parking space/gas pump just fine and then lose drive about 10-20 seconds later, basically feeling like your in neutral while revving the accelerator. It usually happens as you pull out into traffic which can be a little scary. The car will get going to about 15mph and then lose drive as stated. If this occurs and I shift into a specific gear (i.e. 2 or 3) forward drive is instantaneously regained at which point I can return to "D" without any further problem. This only seems to occur if the car has sat for about 5-15 minutes, any more or less and there's no problem. Other than this random issue the transmission has been shifting smoothly with no real slippage. The only other known issue is the "4" position on the shifter does not seem to work when you "shift manually" - I've always pulled straight back from "3" to "D" in these cases and 4th gear engages fine then so I never really worried about it.
I initially thought it had to do with heat buildup under the hood and maybe thinning of oil. The car never overheats, but the temp gauge does tend to climb and be a little on the high side when you get back in the car after these short stops. But now I wonder if there's some kind of valve sticking or some issue with the selector since the transmission did it today with a normal temperature reading on a cool day. Also I figure if it was a heat problem, manually shifting shouldn't override it as it currently does.
This last paragraph is pure speculation, I've never had to work on an auto box since I've never owned one before the mini. Sorry for the long post, I wanted to give as many details as possible. Thanks in advance - any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!