Bad transmission?

so today I was driving and all of a sudden when I go to give it gas the gears don't grab. The engine just reved up really high. I looked at the fluid and it was really slow so I filled it up and still the same problem. There has been no indication of problems prior to this and it happened really suddenly. Its a 94. Changing from 2 high to 4 high doesn't help. It still slips and doesn't grab. I don't know what's wrong with it at all.

I would also like to know what transmission I have and what cars I can pull the same one out of and if its a hard task to take on.

What year truck do you have??? That is a good way of finding out what transmission you have

Looks like he has a '94 4wd.

'93 and up use the 4L60E tranny.
since your is a 4x4, get one from a 4x4.
Donors, beside other '93-'96 S10-blazers/bravadas include fullsize 1/2 ton trucks and SUV's. Call the salvage yard, they will know if what they have will work of not.

How hard of a job is it, I'll let you decide.
http://www.blazerforum.com/m_29933/tm.htm


Since your going with a salvage yard unit, replace the input and dipstick tube seals/gaskets.
Put in one quart of Lucas Tranny treatment in place of one quart of tranny fluid, this will help with tranny shock, ask your local autoparts store about addatives for tranny shock.

Got any more questions, post up.

If you mechanically savy its not that hard of a task to undertake, just make sure prior to doing the job if you decide to do it yourself you have a tranni jack and are able to put your blazer up in the air safely to do it. Another thing is to have someone give you a hand, tranni's are sometimes a pain and need two people to do the job!!

The entire problem is as follows:

In 1st and 2nd gears the transmission seems fine.
When it gets into 3rd gear it slips when you give it gas and just revs up really high.
It doesnt shift into 4th at all nomatter how much you try.
The tranny fluid barely registered when the problems started happening but was filled right after problems happened and it didnt have any positive or negative effect to the problem.
So i was wondering if this is due to low tranny fluid and it ate some gears away or what.

And i have 138,xxx miles so would it be better in the long run to pull and engine and tranny and put both in instead of just a tranny.

if it aint broke dont fix it. 

quote:

ORIGINAL: rastaskater

if it aint broke dont fix it. 

Um...  It is broke...  Guess you missed the fact that it doesn't engage 3rd gear??...

It sounds as though the lack of fluid has worn out the clutches required for 3rd gear...  You could take it to a transmission shop for a thorough diagnosis as they have the proper machines/tools for reading the CVI (clutch volume index) for each gear as well as other functional checks.

quote:

ORIGINAL: AtreyuManiac

In 1st and 2nd gears the transmission seems fine.
When it gets into 3rd gear it slips when you give it gas and just revs up really high.
It doesnt shift into 4th at all nomatter how much you try.
The tranny fluid barely registered when the problems started happening but was filled right after problems happened and it didnt have any positive or negative effect to the problem.
So i was wondering if this is due to low tranny fluid and it ate some gears away or what.

And i have 129,xxx miles so would it be better in the long run to pull and engine and tranny and put both in instead of just a tranny.

Thats the same way the tranny on my Blazer went. I was driving on the high way I got off exit to go to g/f's house and then it started screwing up. I had fwd gears. But no reverse

does it cost money to take it in and get it checked out and diagnosed?

Depends on the place.  Might cost you an hour at shop rate, but you can ask before you have them look at it.  Some places will give free repair estimates.

Sounds to me like you lost your 3/4 clutch pack. Rebuild time.
Color and odor of tranny fluid?

You don't need a tranny jack, a regular old floor jack works, if your careful and follow my tips in the thread posted above. As for getting the truck off the ground. I backed my truck up my car ramps and put the front on jack stands to level it out.  Or you could leave it on all fours if you can fit under the frame rails, this takes more work and makes getting the exhaust system out harder, plus you will have to tip the tranny  practically on end to clear the bell housing, however it is doable. I ahve done it both ways, ramps was easier by far.

Although I'm new here, I've wrenched on cars and motorcycles since I was 14. As stated above, it sounds like the trans has seen better days. I use to own a '95 Formula with an auto trans. When I bought it had low fluid. I topped it off, but months later it started to slip in 1st-2nd. I changed the fluid and filter and found a lot of clutch material in the pan and a semi clogged filter. I knew then the trans was toast. Big bucks for the rebuild, but that's because in part of it being in an F body.