I'm a budding home mechanic who has managed to fix quite a few things in my 1999 Lumina. But now I'm having a serious issue that I fear may be the automatic transmission. When I put the car in drive, I have to practically put the pedal to the floor to get any acceleration. There is also a rhythmic grinding or chattering sound coming from the engine (or the tranny?) during acceleration. It goes into reverse just fine. Recently I had a transmission fluid leak from the lower lines going to the radiator. I've tightened that and slowed the leak, but can't seem to stop it completely. Could the problem I'm having be the result of low fluid/leaking line? I'm currently working on this issue and haven't driven the car other than up the street and back. I've checked my brakes (just in case) and as far as I can tell they're not locked. My other suspicion is the gear shift cable.

Any advice or ideas would be REALLY appreciated. Been banging my head on the hood of the car here.

 

I've added some stop slip & leak fix to the tranny. That seems to have gotten rid of the grinding noise during acceleration, but I'm still not getting enough acceleration in drive. However, if I manually put it first, it seems to work just fine.

 

i have a 1995 chevy lumina and i was having that same problem check your throttle body may need adjusting

 

now my problem is this: when i turn the key in ignition, all i hear is a single "click". what could that be ? some advice i have gotten was starter,another said battery,when i tried to start it today after having it on battery charger it seemed to want to start, maybe i should change out the battery.

 

After all that work, I've discovered the problem is a blown transmission fuse. I replaced it and it blew again. That means a short or a malfunctioning solenoid. According to the wiring diagram in my Haynes manual, the wire in question is a pink wire... But there are seven pink wires! All bundled in tape, in the wiring harness, all the way to wherever the heck they go. Any advice on how to find a short without ripping out the harness? What tape is it they use to bundle to wires in the harness? I've heard regular electric tape gets goey from the underhood heat.