OK! So the car runs again. I got the car to shift into gear today. I noticed that when the car was on, the engine sounded a little different. Kind of like it was struggling with something. I stepped on the gas, and i also saw that the highest rpm it could reach was 3,000. As soon as I let off the gas, it hits idle speed, instead of floating back down like normal. I kept hitting the gas until I heard a loud bang noise (metal on metal?), and the rpms jumped up freely. I put it into drive, and it worked!!! I drove around the block, and I had the usual bad shifting, but that is from the sensor being disconnected, unusable, and stuck. So when I got back to my driveway, I decided to take one last look at the sensor. The thing was sticking out of the hole! Last time I saw it, it was broken up and sitting deep inside. My guess is that the sensor was sitting deep enough to be in the way of something in the transmission, and that loud noise was it hitting the sensor. I figured this was my absolute last chance to get that thing out. Another long-story short, it took me two hours, three blisters, and a big cut on my hand to finally get the thing out. I ended up taking it out piece-by-piece, first by pulling out the inner wiring of the sensor with magnets and such. Wierd thing is that I never saw the metal outside coating of the sensor like there should be. I know this is the older model, but the metal coating was nowhere to be found. I looked inside the hole and I saw nothing. I wanted to check if it was all good, so I put the new sensor in, reset the computer, and started the car. Everything ran fine. I took the car around the block and it shifted beautifully! I even checked for that 1-2 bang, and that was gone! I havent been so happy the entire week. I took the car out tonight when I went out, so I can see long-term effects. The O/D light flashed twice for a brief amount of time. It usually came on when I heard a tick sound come from the outside. Wierd. Im also seeing that if I try to be a little speedy, the transmission slips. This time when slipping it isnt a hard bang, with the new sensor and all, but I still hear the rpms jump before switching gears. This happend about 5 times today. I still havent tried it on the highway, my dad's advice is that I dont, so I dont get stranded on the highway with high towing costs.
What should I do now? Should I just keep driving the car until the tranny goes out again? There are no cel codes being thrown for it, and a mechanic wont know unless he takes it apart or holds it to drive on his own.
Looks like the main problem was not the sensor, or it was and we made it worse yesterday by making it go in deeper. Im just happy to get my car out from under that damn tree (birds eat too much
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