F3A Auto transmission, weird behaviour

[Agustin Alfonso Cesar Charles]

Hi guys, as you know, I am the owner of a 1995 Suzuki Swift, with the 1.6L engine (carbureted) (used on the old Vitara and the late model Esteem but those are FI) and the F3A automatic transmission (the same used on the Ford Festiva and the Laser, also the Mazda 323).

The car runs quite good and has 3 modifications (more like improvements): banana:
1. Weber Carb (remember the old one?, now is gone)
2. 2 row radiator without the transmission cooler inside, is actually separated into an external cooler.
3. Suzuki Esteem exhaust manifold.

The car runs fine and has great power, but there is one detail I am trying to pin point about the transmission. :S

Today I was able to change the vacuum hose that goes into the modulator, because I have a weird behavoiur when the car goes from 2nd to 3rd gear on smooth acceleration, it feels like a slip but: :dry:

1. when cold, it doesn´t happen now, it happened before I changed the vacuum hose, but after changing it it seemed to be less or almost non-existant. 🙂
2. when hot, the car has quite a lag from 2nd to 3rd on smooth acceleration, or even soft. :S

Those conditions only happen on smooth or soft acceleration, BUT, on hard acceleration it doesn´t happen, it shift quite good and tight, and on almost no acceleration it doesn´t happed either. B)

My guess is that the hose could be lose (again) and I need to put a tighter hose (for better vacuum on the modulator), or the oil pump is worn, vacuum modulator old and needs a change, or the valve body needs some work. :pinch:

What do you think?, also, the transmission oil is changed every to engine oil changes. Dexron II and I put in some additives. 🙂

Topic

[college man]

see if this helps.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-transmission-problems

[Agustin Alfonso Cesar Charles]

Thanks, first place I went to, but still, the behaviour is odd, all normal checks were done. The first thing I will do is take out the governor to see if the governor´s filter need replacement.

[EricTheCarGuy]

The 2-3 shift is the hardest for most automatics. The reason is that most automatic transmissions use a band to engage 2nd gear and a clutch to engage 3rd gear. That said, when you do the 2-3 shift, you have to release a band and apply a clutch. As transmissions get old, this shift gets ‘looser’ in my experience. You can sometimes tighten the band a little but you have to know what you’re doing, if not, you can burn up the transmission. At the end of the day it may be a rebuild or replacement that solves the issue. I don’t think it has anything to do with the governor or other transmission controls.

Keep us posted.

[Agustin Alfonso Cesar Charles]

That´s the thing I did when I replaced the torque converter oil seal, and improved the 1-2 shift a lot, but the 2-3 shift still was loose, BUT, only on smooth or slow acceleration, on hard it still shift thight and quickly. Looking up the service manual, there are a few thing the transmission doesn´t do either, for instance:

*. if it is below 40km/h, going in third, and I try to do an overtake, in doesn´t kick down to 2 unless I do a complete full throttle, that means it is using the solenoid for kick down instead of the vacuum modulator, and the funny thing is that on those moments there is absolute no slip, thight shift.

*. on rolling first thing on the morning there is no slip until it gets to normal temp, and I can feel how it start to slip a little until it gets to the normal slippage, so I am kinda lost, if a clutch if failing, it should do it all the time, right? or could this be a sign of an oil pressure issue?

How does it explain the tight 2-3 shift on hard acceleration?

[Author]

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