Transmission Shifting issue: need help please

[44ficus44]

well im getting the tranny fluid replaced. hoses cheked and all the solenoids/ mode switched. it works fine till it hits traffic. then it just stays in the lower 2 gears till it decides not to even go hajaha. gears are good it just decides to go newtral. itle be back friday roaring im sure.

it started to miss 3rd i think. they the upper gears went. Noticed it more when i tried putting in my 4X4. but as stated above, the mech said the gears were good, i guess the comp was just ignoring them due to faulty solenoids.......... mabe

[FlyingV77]

Did it affect cruse control on yours as well?

[tom4bren]

Did it affect cruse control on yours as well?

Actually, I haven't tried the cruise control since the tranny started the wonky shifting. I'm guessing not since my wonky shift is between 1 and 2, not 2 and 3 like creeg.

[LittleBeast]

I have done two full solenoid swaps on my VX and I can tell you that the '01 transmission takes almost all the solenoids from the new kit 2000+ Isuzu's except one solenoid in the smaller pan requires a solenoid from the Kit for Isuzu's made before 2000, I think it is the 97-99 solenoid kit. You can easily see which one is the odd one out by visual comparison. Be careful though because you can install the wrong solenoid, it will "fit" in there, but it is the wrong solenoid. The body looks similar but the "head" that is not visible once installed is not the same, and functions differently. Not sure about the 99 and 00 trans solenoids, isuzu changed a lot around that time with the solenoids and torque converters and I found a lot of confusion from people that had not personally opened up the trans in a VX.
Aamco rebuilt my trans with the incorrect torque converter and one incorrect solenoid and it only lasted 1 year after the rebuild and then they did some type of repair after that and it lasted another 5 years but burned out again. I only know this because I personally removed and replaced the transmission with an untouched stock transmission myself and documented the process. I just haven't uploaded any photos here sorry :-)

Also I would like to mention that the bolts to resecure the pan to the tranny once you have put the new gasket on, only need to be hand tighten. Be careful, it is very easy to strip them out.

[creeg]

I think the shop charged me around $800-900

[Bird Dog 36]

So I tore into the dash this weekend to get to the stereo's sub output; and while I was at it I took out the gauge pod. It turns out that my "D" light bulb was burned out. So obviously we can't say that this would be the answer to D light out issues, but it was mine. I don't ever remember coming across those type of bulbs at the parts store, so I just swapped it with the "L" bulb and now my "D" works great, and I figure when and if I go to into 1st gear, I'll know anyway.

[Bird Dog 36]

tom, have you installed the solenoids yet? And if so, how was the install? What year is your VX, and the solenoid "kit" did it have what you needed?

Now my '00 is having the "same" issues as my '01. Looks like I'll get to do it twice.

[tom4bren]

Sorry, no I haven't done the repair yet. Life has gotten in the way in some fairly major ways. It'll probably be late spring before I'll be able to get to it.

[TexasVX2015]

Gents, I've been reading your posts trying to find the possible solution to my problem. Here we go.....I've left my house ( errands to the store)and the tranny shifts hard between 2nd & 3rd. It happens Up shifting and down shifting. This is the catch, when I return home, there are NO hard down or up shifting and none the the issues you are guys are having; like flickering lights or slippage. This only happen on the first drive of the day. FYI. I had the transmission serviced last week. They cleaned the screen , flushed the system and retop the fluids. I revisited the shop today and talked to the manger about my problem. He insured me that the service they did was text book. He even said that it had been serviced not to long ago and the insides look great. Any idea?

[siemprelisto]

@TexasVX2015

Might be far fetched but look and see if you have an AutoTrans Interceptor electronic shift modulator, (shift kit), installed.



Good Luck

[TexasVX2015]

Will do. Thanks

[Mile High VX]

A word of caution and something to watch for depending on your mileage if the POs did not flush the system and you have now done so it could be an issue.

Several members have experienced transmission failure after flushing a system that had not previously been flushed.

Hope all goes well for you on this one.

[MSHardeman]

Also, make sure that the shop topped off the the trans fluid correctly. Our transmissions have a very specific way that they need to be filled. They need to be brought up to temperature, topped off, shifted through the gears, topped off, etc. If all of that wasn't done then you may be low on fluid which might be causing the hard shifts.