Funny gear change F3A auto

[Jimmybav]

Hi all,
Im JIm from SA. I have a 93 festiva (WA festive here in downunder shittsville) that had a bad vacuum modulator. It was pulling trans fluid into the inlet and smoking like a bastard. Got that fixed then the mechanical fuel pump was pumping fuel into the oil. Got that done. While the vacuum mod was faulty I always checked the trans fluid (by the book) every morning to keep it topped up. Now that all the above have been "fixed" the car wont shift from 1st to second when cold (without revving its nuts off) and the shift from 2nd to third is odd as the car revs up just before the change.

I'll plug for a new filter (the car is 28 years old and I have no idea how old the current filter is) but the engine has just over 100,000kms. Any ideas on what could be the issue?
1. trans stuffed?
2. band need adjusting?
3. Filter degraded and not drawing enough fluid for smoother changed until warm?
4. something I have not thought of.

would love some experienced thoughts on what the problem could be.

Cheers all
Jim

[1990new]

Hello Jim.. I'm Jess from SC (South Carolina).
Always happy to see more people posting here on the forum and asking questions Jim. It's getting lonely here since so many of the longtime members have jumped ship to facebook. Lots of people are still searching this forum for the treasure trove of good answers to many Festiva problems that it contains though.

I had a very similar problem with my Rosie a few year back and after changing the modulator, filter and fluid I never did get that transmission to work like it should. I ended up switching the automatic out for a manual 5 speed and eventually sold Rosie to another member here on the forum and last I heard she was still doing fine. (There is a thread on the forum that tells all about my adventures with Rosie).

Wish I had more answers that could help you. At 100,000kms (only about 62,000 miles) that engine and transmission should still be running like new.

Hopefully some member who has a lot more experience than I do with automatic transmission will chime in here to give you some more helpful advice.

[Jimmybav]

thanks for the reply. I've found forums to be much better than the socials for things like this as theyre infinitely more searchable. Have been reading up about swapping the trans but parts are hard to come by in South OZ.
Thanks.

[WmWatt]

I'm not an automatic transmission person so I looked this up in the Haynes do-it-yourself manual troubleshooting section which is not at all helpful as it refers you to a garage for automatic transmission diagnosis and repair. However it sounds like it might be a generic automatic transmission problem to I searched the Internet on "automatic trans won't shift from 1st to 2nd when cold" and got 23 million hits. The ones at the top of the list look promissing if you want to give it a try. Good luck. BTW Changing a leaking manual fuel pump can be done at home. I bought a new pump and gasket for $37 many years ago and followed the instructions in the Haynes manual. No problem.