2002 C5 Auto Trans Won’t Shift into 2nd Gear
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 12
Likes: 4
2002 C5 Auto Trans Won’t Shift into 2nd Gear
First time corvette owner here, of a 2002 c5 that I purchased in the summer.
It ran fine the past few months but in the recent weeks has had problems shifting into and out of 2nd gear. From what I can tell, it’s not able to shift into second and seems to go from first to third gear.
If I’m in first and try to pull the car, it’s almost as if the car goes into neutral and just revs to the rev limiter, and once I ease off it’ll shift into (what appears to be) third gear.
Even driving normally it may rev up to 4000+ rpm before shifting out of first.
I’ve found very little on this in the forums, and yes, I did change both the transmission fluid AND the filter.
The fluid appeared to be about half of what was supposed to be in the car, so we had thought that was the issue by replacing it, but no luck.
Note: The car is pretty bone stock.
Thank you for any help!
It ran fine the past few months but in the recent weeks has had problems shifting into and out of 2nd gear. From what I can tell, it’s not able to shift into second and seems to go from first to third gear.
If I’m in first and try to pull the car, it’s almost as if the car goes into neutral and just revs to the rev limiter, and once I ease off it’ll shift into (what appears to be) third gear.
Even driving normally it may rev up to 4000+ rpm before shifting out of first.
I’ve found very little on this in the forums, and yes, I did change both the transmission fluid AND the filter.
The fluid appeared to be about half of what was supposed to be in the car, so we had thought that was the issue by replacing it, but no luck.
Note: The car is pretty bone stock.
Thank you for any help!
Pro
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 649
Likes: 54
From: Greensboro NC
Veteran
Sure sounds like 2nd gear clutches slipping and getting hot That tranny is notorious for cluct pack failure. Call a well respected Tranny shop . Ask around with family friends and co workers for a referral and get a writtrened estimate . You may find one in a salavage yard with real low miles . You want to check in to that .
Just my .02 worth
Just my .02 worth
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 206
Likes: 47
From: southwest coast florida
find a shop that has worked on and knows that tranny...its been around a long time and many of them are in circulation so to speak,,,,what color was the fluid you drained out...what did the filter look like? how much mud was on the magnet in the pan?...call around and make sure you get a good honest experienced tranny guy... sounds like your going to need a complete rebuild or find a good used salvage replacement.. somewhere around 300,000 units were produced and about 60% sold were automatics...so you should be able to find a good donor.
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 12
Likes: 4
find a shop that has worked on and knows that tranny...its been around a long time and many of them are in circulation so to speak,,,,what color was the fluid you drained out...what did the filter look like? how much mud was on the magnet in the pan?...call around and make sure you get a good honest experienced tranny guy... sounds like your going to need a complete rebuild or find a good used salvage replacement.. somewhere around 300,000 units were produced and about 60% sold were automatics...so you should be able to find a good donor.
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 1,421
Likes: 302
From: CSRA, SC
Throw some stop slip in the fluid. You have nothing to lose the trans is junk already but you might squeeze some more life out of it if youre lucky. If there's metal in the pan then it must have been run hard without near enough fluid and now there's pieces of pump and every other metal part in there. Good news is 4L60E is ridiculously common and shares much of its guts (nearly all?) With the GM trucks which are even more notorious for gaining extra neutrals. Tons of places to get them rebuilt and lots of upgrades available. As mentioned, go somewhere who has a reputation for building quality transmissions especially for performance applications.
