Well hello to all who read this post. I have a 1999 Saturn sl2 recently acquired from an estate sale. I am the 2nd owner, started off with a delayed reverse and then it got to the point where we had to drive in 3 all around town and could only use reverse when it was cold no operating temperature. Did a trans fluid and filter change and drove good for about 5000 miles in D. Now I finally got some money in my hands and wanted to fix this car so everything I have learned pointed me towards a new rebuilt sonnax valve body so I bought 1. Put in the new valve body today and now my car will not catch any gear at all. I can shift through all the gears just fine except for 2. The car will not go into 2nd gear, but when I get close to reverse meaning I am in neutral. The car starts making this noise like something is spinning and hitting something else that is spinning. So as I do not want to cause further damage I keep the car neutral and turn the car off and then put it into Park. I did not have this problem before I placed the valve body. Does anybody have any ideas on what it could be? Also all my fuses under the hood and inside the car by the glove box are good no blown fuses, no burnt or frayed wires, and I'm thinking I'm going to go to the input shaft nut and try to change that unless somebody wants to put me in a different direction

 

https://procarmanuals.com/pdf-online...service-group/

I can't say what the problem on your transaxle is, however the above link is a reputable document containing diagnostic procedures for the S-Series transaxle. DOHCs have the MP7.

There is a complaint/condition chart on page 40. Might be a good place to start. Sorry I can't be of more help than this.

This forum also has a Sticky for S-Series transaxle problems https://www.saturnforum.com/forum/sa...mp6-mp7-11537/

 

Well let me start off with thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my post and to then reply to my post. There is still good people in this world that take the time out of their day to try to help a complete stranger and that's awesome in my book and I just want to give you a big thumbs up and a big thank you I appreciate it. I plan on reading it ASAP and if I have any luck whether good or bad I will respond and let you know what happens...

 

We're all here to help. Unfortunately, I can't help because my only experience with the Saturn transmissions was in a 94 SC1 I had with the terrible TAAT4 transmission. I replaced the entire valve body on it and it still shifted hinky, so I got rid of it. Then I turned around and bought an SC2. They both got phenomenal mileage, but since my wife has had so many back surgeries, she could barely get in and out of it, so I had to sell it and get a taller car.

 

Did you get with Sonnax about this?

 

The reverse/2nd gear problem is a common problem on S series saturns. It is related to the nut on the end of the input shaft at the driver's side end of the transmission. The nut comes loose, allowing the shaft to slide inside it's bushings. Therefore the hydraulic ports don't line up, causing the transmission to slam into reverse and have a very sluggish/soft engagement into 2nd gear. When left like this long enough, you will lose 2nd gear completely, and reverse just bang harder and harder, requiring higher RPM's to engage.

IF you've lost 2nd gear entirely, you will require a transmission rebuild. But if 2nd gear is still there, you can extend the life of the transmission as it is by removing the driver's side end cover (not easy, but simple) and tightening the nut. Books and manuals say that you will need a new nut which is no longer available. Some people say to torque down the existing nut more than required, IE: with an impact gun, and yet other say to locktite the existing nut. In any case, it will require a special socket and a hold down tool available on ebay.

Transmission shops will cost about $300 to do this for you. (That's what it cost me).