1996 850 engine revs without accelerating or shifting gears Topic is solved

[EB53]

Will do, thanks

[EB53]

New piece of information. Was out driving and engine started revving to 3000 at 15 mph. If I jiggle the gear shift lever while in drive, without shifting to 3rd, the RPMs dropped to 2000 and I was able to accelerate normally. Even small movement of the gear shift while in drive, is enough to bring RPMs down. Does this suggest that the lockplate for gear shift is loose? Any other thoughts? Thanks.

[yanga001]

There were two times i have had this issue with two separate causes. One was caused during normal driving and it was due to the transmission fluid being too low after a drain and fill. It would drive perfectly normally but at times you would push the petal and it would rev but do nothing. Filling the fluid to the proper levels fixed that.

A second time occurred when my ignition coil went out on the highway although the car died and i replaced the ignition coil.

Suffice to say it does sound like a transmission issue although it might just be fluid.

[EB53]

Thanks. Transmission fluid is near top line in reservoir. and fluid is clear on dipstick. Car doesn't die, so probably not ignition coil. I agree it is likely a t'mission issue. Really just takes small jiggle of shift lever for RPMs to drop back to 2000.

[EB53]

For those who followed this discussion, the problem has been fixed. Turned out the PNP switch was not working properly. Replacing the switch returned the engine to normal acceleration. It wasn't a problem with the throttle body, throttle position sensor, or transmission fluid levels, none of which fixed the problem when addressed. There never were any codes nor did check engine light come on. Thanks for the various suggestions.

[abscate]

Thanks for follow up post!

[scot850]

Glad you found your solution! Well done!

Neil.

[Clemens]

Since the exact same thing happened to me today as well, I might give that a try