I hate Chevy(a car problem question)

Spectral Swallow

Oy, so out of the blue my 98 Astro van starts acting a fool, it is:
A. Not accelerating quickly(only in first).
B. Making ungodly revving noise when accelerating.
C. Battery not retaining charge.(Which I actually fixed by swapping out the alternator, but it's included here for clarities sake).

I'm not real familiar with Chevy's unfortunately, so I'm pretty well in the dark as to what could be causing problem A & B(pretty sure they're linked though). Any ideas?

stigweard

It is the transmission. What part I couldn't really say but it could just be low on fluid.

Marathon

Sounds very similar to my car right before the transmission went to hell.

Re: nholder

I'll third the transmission. Same thing happened to me.

Dioltas

I'll fourth the transmission and add that when it happened to my car, the diagnosis was "replace the transmission". Needless to say, we just got a new car.

Beazle

Could also be the O2 sensor. The computer may be going apeshit and then starving and flooding the engine. Go to a quick lube place and have them pull the codes before you tear into the transmission.

wmelon

since it's an astro van i'll assume it's an automatic transmission, in which case it's probably the flex plate between the flywheel and the transmission. Not exactly an easy thing to get to as you have to either pull the engine or drop the transmission. But they're generally a LOT cheaper than replacing a transmission. If by some chance it's a manual transmission, then the clutch is gone.

ripefruit

Spectral Swallow wrote: »

A. Not accelerating quickly(only in first).

Thats because its an Astro Van.

redimpulse

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Catalytic Converter. Whereas it may not be the entire issue, it's probably a key player.

wmelon

redimpulse wrote: »

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Catalytic Converter. Whereas it may not be the entire issue, it's probably a key player.

Well i didn't mention that because he mentioned an ungodly revving sound when accelerating. That would make me think that his torque converter wasn't properly translating engine torque to the transmission.

Mmmm... Cocks...

My Chevy(though a Blazer) and my friends EGR valve(I believe thats right) got gummed up and all we had to do was throw some premium and some octane booster in the there and it fixed it right up.

That was on the acceleration thing. I'd hit the gas and it would kinda sit then take off.

Spectral Swallow

Wow, all that's stuff I wouldn't even WANT to attempt on a van(Van's generally have no space to work, but astro vans are FAR worse).

So new question, should I just drive it until it dies, or take some preemptive action? Would it hurt anything else if any of the aforementioned things go out?

FearTheCow

late 90's chevys also are known to have fuel pump problems.

variant

Wouldn't it 'knock' if the transmission was going?

This could be the timing belt but then again if those go the engine usually blows instantly, maybe its about too break?

Diomedes240z

It's probably some form of seal within the transmission that's died, and is leaking ATF onto one of the clutches (Yes... Auto transmissions have clutches... several, in fact)

This causes the clutch to slip, and the engine has run at excessive RPM to do normal speeds.

It's most likely a pain in the ass to get to, and therefore expensive to fix. Sorry, mate.