90 Stuck In Low
Race Director
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 12,517
Likes: 19
Your governor is likely the problem. Grab a shop manual, and pull off the rusty cover on the drivers side. If the gear is shot, they are available for a few bucks. If the gear is goo, clean the valve well, and be sure it moves smoothly.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 5,043
Likes: 7
From: Tampa Florida
When it is cold (below 45 F or so) and I first start my car in the morning the car doesn't want to shift out of first until the fluid warms up a bit takes about 5 min. or so...then the tranny acts normal the rest of the day. From what CF members indicate I have debris in the valve system (FSM) or a bad govenor gear. I haven't dug deeper into my no shift issue since I live in FL and the temps never cause the problem for more than just a few days a year.
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 58
Likes: 0
Thanks for the helpful info, PeteK. Since I posted this thread I had a chance to look through past posts and found a bunch of good info. Is the governor from Sannex a good way to go? I don't want to screw with anything other than factory specs/settings. The problem first occurred soon after my girlfriend Dian and I bought the 90. Regular driving, no problem, mash the gas for a thrill on the freeway and get off the freeway, street driving had hard shifts, starting up cold would see the trans bang into low from park and wind out before shifting. I don't want to bore you with this crap, enough's enough. I hope the governor change out does the trick. Can you recommend a place to get a good or better shop manual? Thanks again.
Team Owner
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 23,040
Likes: 117
From: San Antonio Texas
Don't know if the newer transmissions have one or not, but a friend's C3 did the same thing and it was the vacuum modulator. It was just a few bucks at A-zone and was about the size of golf ball. It screwed into the rear side of the trans from under the car and had a little vacuum line on it. Car would go into reverse and drive OK but just stayed in low gear and would just kind of coast when you let off the gas. The vacuum modulator fixed it. Hope yours is that simple.
