This is a '98 Blazer w/4.3L and I assume 4L60E, 219K miles. Trans must be started manually in 1st then progress up through each gear, although it will move from a stop but very slowly in OD. Seems to have all four forward and the reverse gear plus neutral and park.

Most importantly: when you release the throttle, the engine immediately drops to idle RPM and the tranny does not give any deceleration at all. I've seen the manually-shifted problem mentioned before, but after searching for an hour, did not find anything about not having any deceleration. Any ideas?

Thanks!
SteveH

 

I forgot to mention that when I bought the truck, the PO mentioned that he suspected he broke a solenoid while reinstalling the tranny pan. He could not, however, think of the name of the solenoid. Also, there is no SES light; but I keep forgetting to look to see whether it comes on at startup. It could be missing or burned out; I'll have to check for codes. I know the ABS light is on but am uncertain whether that'll also cause a SES light.

 

Sounds like the valve body on it maybe sticking.With that amount of miles..It maybe time for a replacement.When`s the last time you`ve changed the fluid and filter on your transmission?

 

I just got it back from the shop Saturday; hadn't had a chance to drive it other than taking it to the shop for new brake lines (my driveway is a mess of mud and I have no garage so I wasn't anxious to spend hours in the mud trying to route new brake lines). Today was the first time I've been able to drive it for any length of time, and I found I was mistaken about several symptoms I mentioned earlier.

It definitely has no 1st gear; you have to downshift to 2 or 1 to get it to begin moving then it's in 2nd gear. Once it's moving, you can upshift immediately to OD and it'll upshift normally through 3rd into OD, locking up the TC when over 45 mph or so. When it's in OD or 3rd, it does have deceleration (rpm drops to 1500, for example, from 1800 under throttle) and I *think* it does in 2nd but hard to tell, you have to watch the tach closely. But definitely no deceleration or acceleration in 1st. No SES light, either.

Some PO had unplugged the big 60A ABS fuse under the hood and that apparently kept the SES light from coming on during startup; when I plugged it back in, the SES light now shows up during startup but then goes off, as if there's no codes. I'll try to stop by AZ tonight for a free code read, I bet it shows some. The ABS light is on and I think the problem's in the rear, I'll find out next weekend.

As for the tranny fluid and filter change... the PO told me he thinks he broke a solenoid when he reinstalled the pan the last time and he'd not driven it much since. That would imply the fluid and, I assume, filter, shouldn't have many miles on them although they both may be old (the guy may have had this vehicle parked for months or years). I will do a fluid and filter change myself ASAP when the weather warms and dries up. Hopefully, there will, indeed, be a broken solenoid in the pan and replacing it restores full tranny operation.