95 900S automatic transmission problems
 

Hey guys!! i have a 95 900S 2.3L and im havin some problems....i was drivin to my friends house one day last week and all of a sudden the transmission went out of gear and Check Gear Box light came on!! Shut the car off for 5 or 10 minutes and it got me home! but it does the same thing...it will go for 5 or 10 minutes and then go out of gear but when i shut it off and turn it back on its fine?!? does this sound like the neutral safety switch?? or a sensor?? or just a screwed tranny?? lmk ok

scania19 :eek:

anybody wana help me with this?

normally the trans light will come on when you are low on fluid.all it is is a pressure sensor. is there no grinding popping out of gear harsh shifting?

well let me tell you when i first started having problems with the tranny! i noticed in the mornings when it was cold or the motor was cold that it would not go out of first gear....after awhile of driving it that way it would slowly catch into the other gear or the CGB light would come on and go into "limp home mode" its gotten worse from there! but i havnt noticed any slipping or hard shifting!

i could be a bad sensor . ive never had an trans go into limp mode it usually other things like the throttle position sensor,amm,map sensor,dirty throttle. but a bad sensor on the trans could cause this

i could be a bad sensor . ive never had an trans go into limp mode it usually other things like the throttle position sensor,amm,map sensor,dirty throttle. but a bad sensor on the trans could cause this roto will prbably be able to tell you for shure he is better suited
to help with the gm/saabs.

I wish I was suited to answer automatic transmission questions...they'e about as simple to me as quantum mechanics. I've only ever owned one and it was the reason I only buy manuals...

So i have been doin some research on this car and its problems and it seems like ive found the problem....torque converter lockup solenoid...these go bad often in these cars!

it can also be the netral safety switch

thats what i mainly thought it was....everything is such a bitch to get to on the tranny so i cant get to it to take it out and clean it

everything is easy if you pull the battery/tray,intake piping,coolant hoses, driver side fender well. you can make it a little easier by unbolting all engine/transmission mounts
and lifting/jacking the engine up a few inches

i guess lol is it worth fixing? i love my car and its FAST! keeps up with the automatic stock turbos....i just need to know FOR SURE what the problem is u know? i have a CGB light on now and it wont go in gear AT ALL...i dont have a OBD-l code reader so i dont know what its tryin to tell me

i just recently had this problem where all of a sudden i would be driving and i guess the tranny would fall out oh gear and i would have no power. i asked some guys at a repair shop and they said it probably got stuck between two gears.

What I learned about the 900 automatic Transmission
 

1995 Saab 900 Automatic
I had the gearbox light. Also gone through limp mode with no lights showing up. Also had slipping transmission where the engine was running fine, but the car would not go anywhere, it was as if in neutral regardless of which gear I put it in. Below are what I went through to fix it.
- Neutral safety switch./ range switch/ selector - depending on which country you live in, its the same part, called different names. Anyhow, contrary to what other posters state, the NSS is not your problem if your gears are slipping. However if your car won't start, or you have random gearbox lights, its worth pulling it out and cleaning the inside, in most cases you don't need a new one. I pulled mine and cleaned it several times, works fine, wasn't my problem. See other posts, there are several on how to remove and clean the NSS. Gearbox light is usually due to fluid issues.
- Bad transmission - this is the first thing a Saab mechanic will tell you when your transmission is slipping. However, it was not the case for me, even though 2 Saab shops said it would need to be replaced. Its about $2k to replace the transmission, I found no one who will rebuild it, checked most of So. CA. Fortunately, I pursued other ideas.
- Transmission fluid - this is where it gets good. So I drove my 900 around and got it hot, then drained the fluid and it looked like chocolate milk. It hasn't been replaced in 15 years. I read that after many years of not changing the fluid, condensation gets in and causes the fluid to break down ... into chocolate milk. I changed the fluid, three times after driving/warming car each time (this is how you have to do it unless you take the transmission apart). You only get about 3 quarts each time you drain, and the transmission holds I think 7.5 quarts. So you have to drain/fill fluid 3 times to get it all.
- BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT WHICH TRANSMISSION FLUID YOU USE, OR YOU HAVE MASSIVE SLIPPING ISSUES. Since these gearboxes use Dexron 2, I read since they don't make it anymore, you use the new Dexron 5 or 6. DO NOT DO THIS, OR YOU WILL END UP STRANDED WITH A TRANSMISSION THAT SLIPS AND WON'T MOVE. I learned this the hard way. The new Dexron is synthetic, and trust me, it won't work in the Saab 900 transmission. Other threads say it doesnt matter, these people are WRONG! I have had to drain and fill now about 8 times to remove all the Dexron 5 I used. Instead, use a Dexron 3 compatible fluid, which is not synthetic. I used one from Pep Boys called PROLINE DEXRON 3 & MERCON BRANDS. After 8 drain/fills with the correct fluid, I no longer get gearbox lights, no slipping, and no more limp mode. Runs excellent. BTW, if you or a shop puts the wrong fluid in, 3 drains/fills are not enough to remove all the synthetic fluid. It will slip when it gets hot. You really need to do it about 8 times.