1997 850TR tranny popping in and out of limp home mode

mapdoc · Post by **mapdoc** » 21 Aug 2015, 17:26

I have issues with my 850 T5. With the help of the Brickboard, I have replaced the breather box, struts, intake manifold nipple, and new battery and am still having problems.

Problem 1: the transmission pops in and out of limp home mode. I thought I initially corrected this with a new battery. Everything worked great for about 2 weeks. The problem came back today. Tranny fluid was flushed and replaced with Valvoline High Mileage Red bottle about 1 month ago when problems first started.

I checked the battery with a voltage meter with these results: car off 12v btw terminals; car on 14v and would fluctuate between 12.5-14 volts with acceleration.

Problem 2: the car does not have the "umph" that it had. It drives OK and kicks into overdrive. But the engine almost sounds like it has a whine instead of a roar.

Is all of this related to a bad voltage regulator or alternator or something else.

Thank you for all of your help (I really want to get this car back on the road)

Post by **abscate** » 22 Aug 2015, 06:06

Check all your grounds..they go bad these cars, and the symptoms are certainly electrical.

mapdoc · Post by **mapdoc** » 22 Aug 2015, 17:21

I cleaned the grounds this morning and put the new battery (less than a month old) on a trickle charge for a couple of hours. The battery was originally at 25% , charged it until 100%. Car fired up and the transmission worked fine. I drove it for about 20 min and was able to get it into OD and the turbo kicked in. Worked great.

I'll have the new battery and alternator/voltage regulator checked. I'll gladly pay few hundred for a new alternator versus a few thousand for remanufactured transmission.

Thanks for the help and suggestions...