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[Mark Morissette]

I have a 1997 Grand Prix GTP with about 190,000 Kilometers. (~110,000
Miles, or so).

About 6 months ago, the transmission began to slip badly. I had only
owned the car about 4 months at this point, so I attributed it to bad
luck, perhaps a previous owner who abused it, and I layed out the cash
and had it repaired.

The problem ended up being completely fried clutches - there was more
clutch material in the pan vs. anywhere else.

So, I had it rebuilt by a reputable private shop.. It took a while for
various reasons, but when I got it back I was mostly pleased.

There was an intermittent problem with the lockup, however, that I never
really followed up on...most people probably wouldn't even have noticed
it, but being technically adept I picked up on it ASAP.. Generally,
it would only go into lockup when cold, and then not "firmly", but often
with a slight shudder.

It almost seemed like it was somewhat "slipping" in lockup (Which didn't
make much sense to me), and would rarely stay engaged for long unless I
made a concious effort to keep it there...aka highway speed, *very*
light accelerator pressure.

Anyhow, as most of my milage is city, it was of little concern - I was
overjoyed with how the transmission was performing otherwise. Yes, I
should have brought it back, but I couldn't do without my car for
another 2 weeks. (Going back to the story above re delays...)

Anyhow, about 2 weeks ago, it began to slip again, as well as some other
problems.

The slip is back, but more noticably now when a downshift is called for
- the tranny seems to begin the downshift ok, but then never really
seems to engage tightly into the lower gear, and if the accellerator is
held, it will slip for a long period untill the load is removed from the
engine, and then it will seem to "firm up" the shift, and you can
continue as normal.

Additionally, with the cold weather upon us (REALLY cold recently), the
transmission is balking at shifts when cold..I really have to back out
of the power and give it an extended period of time to complete the shift.

Once warm, it seems better.

There is residue on the dipstick.

Anyhow...the gararge that did the repair the first time is going to
stand behind it, and in early January it's going in for whatever needs
to be done.

My concern is that there is an underlying problem that was not caught
the first time around, and could come back again to haunt this second
rebuild..

Anyone have any ideas? Was there a common problem with this year tranny?

Ideas?

Any info or suggestions appreciated, here or via email. (Remove the
obvious spam-trap to reply via email).

Thanks
Mark