Perhaps some of you autotap gurus can help me with some insight into these issues....

After two rebuilds (soon to be three, or possibly soon to be a new 4T65E !) my transmission continues to have long shift times, especially on 2-3 shifts, and is generally in bad shape (whining, some harsh shifting, running high line pressure (I think, because of the whining, esp. on uphills), etc. (At least fluid isn't spewing out of the vent on the transmission the way it was just before the last rebuild).

Autotap shows the line pressure at idle and in PARK to be hovering at about 10 psi, but that drops to ZERO when I place the gearshift into Drive, 3rd or 2nd gear. In 1st gear it shows 50 psi.

What should I be seeing for pressures in each gear selection, standing still and at idle?

(During a test drive, I recorded pressures from zero to 80 psi in autotap. Does this sound right, especially the fact that at many points
during the trip, it was showing zero ??
If autotap is showing this correctly, I'm guessing it may be a bad pressure sensor or other problem since I can't believe I'd actually be able to stay in gear with no line pressure.)
Could this even be a PCM problem ???????

Do any other autotap owners have problems with
the autotap software saying it has lost communication with the autotap hardware ?
Clicking on "retry" does not re-establish
the link. I must exit the program and restart
it, and it works OK for a little while before
it dies again.
I'm also getting errors saying "subscript is out of range" during playback of a file I have saved to disk. I can't clear the error
window, and must kill the program from the windows task manager when this happens.
A final question about the autotap software...
When I record a test drive that takes 10 or 15 minutes, the playback only takes about a minute. Is there any way to have to playback the file at the same speed it was recorded at, so you can watch the guages as they really looked in real time ???

- Kenny Likier (A slightly confused autotap user)

Well, nobody has chimed in yet, but I have some more data on my problem.....

The '97 shop manual says line pressure at the test port on top of the transmission, at 1250
RPM and in D, 3 or 2 gear with the car being
held ststionary, should be anywhere from around 75 to 180 PSI, if I recall, depending if minimum or maximum line pressure is commanded by the PCM or by a scan tool like a Tech2.

Under these RPM and gear conditions, my Autotap
reads ZERO psi in D, 3 and 2 (but it reads 50
psi in 1st gear (it should be even higher in
1st than in the others. Sounds Impossible??????

Maybe I'm missing something ?

Should the line pressure reported to Autotap
by the PCM match what would be seen at the test
port on the 4T65E ??

Thoroughly Confused !

- Kenny

Does the prndl switch properly indicate your gear selection? Have you verified the line pressure with a mechanical gauge. If the the trans pressure sensor is reading the wrong pressure you could be in a world of hurt. If you really had 0 line pressure when you were driving to me that indicates a problem with the pressure sensor itself or the wiring. It also sounds like the transmission was rebuilt without an actual diagnosis of the problem. A whining sound is typically caused by a pump that is going south or a low fluid level. Also check your grounds, they always try to f with you and do strange things.

Jeff....

Your reply is on the money. No, I don't feel the trans was diagnosed properly either of the last two times they rebuilt it. Both times, they repaired the damage caused by the underlying problem, by doing things like replacing a cracked clutch drum, replacing the clutches, etc., but they never solved the problem causing the slipping, long shifts, pump whine or (last rebuild) the fluid spewing out of the vent on the top of the transaxle. (I believe the line pressure is getting bumped up to maximum by the PCM in an attempt to control the long shifts, regardless of the line pressures reported by the PCM to my autotap tool. I put a gauge onto the line port before the last rebuild, and saw pressures close to 300 psi. I think that probably blew past one or more seals internally, causing the fluid to spew.
Also to answer your first question, the actual gear the trans is in, as well as the PRNDL indicator on the dash sometimes disagree with the gearshift lever. Sometimes, I have it in D but it actually goes into 3rd. Nudge the shifter back a little and it returns to overdrive and the dash indicator goes back to D. That might be a misadjusted shift cable or a bad manual switch, but I'm certain it isn't causing the majority of the problems, and it didn't happen until AFTER the first rebuild.

- Kenny

when it comes to fluid level, I had the shop check it right after then changed my fluid. The dipstick read full. when I got home and checked it, there was only a little blip of A/T fluid on the stick. I had to add 1 gallon of fluid to make it full. Beware of others doing your fluid and the the tube being coated with it which will give you a faulty reading and your tranny in pressure and timing.

Could be the Pressure Control Valve Assembly. Tell your dealer to look up service bulletin #00-07-30-002B posted July 19,2002.

Sorry, that was supposed to read "Pressure Control Solenoid Valve Assembly".