my sister has a 96 gs and she had a problem with the automatic transmission not shifting out of second and it was also slipping really bad. i checked the fluid level and it was low so i put enough in and now it doesnt slip at all..so the only problem now is that it wont shift out of 2nd. even with high rpms it still doesnt shift. i took it to the transmission shop and they said it was maybe the computer and not the tranny, or something electrical..any ideas on what it could be? anyone else had this problem? thanx

source another TCU, i'd start with that. what were the codes that they pulled?

Originally posted by sooster
my sister has a 96 gs and she had a problem with the automatic transmission not shifting out of second and it was also slipping really bad. i checked the fluid level and it was low so i put enough in and now it doesnt slip at all..so the only problem now is that it wont shift out of 2nd. even with high rpms it still doesnt shift. i took it to the transmission shop and they said it was maybe the computer and not the tranny, or something electrical..any ideas on what it could be? anyone else had this problem? thanx

On my 97 GS it ended up being the relay on the firewall near the brake fluid resivoir. That realy allows the trannys computer to talk to the cars computer. When they cant talk to each other the car slips into "limp mode".

Originally posted by sooster
my sister has a 96 gs and she had a problem with the automatic transmission not shifting out of second and it was also slipping really bad. i checked the fluid level and it was low so i put enough in and now it doesnt slip at all..so the only problem now is that it wont shift out of 2nd. even with high rpms it still doesnt shift. i took it to the transmission shop and they said it was maybe the computer and not the tranny, or something electrical..any ideas on what it could be? anyone else had this problem? thanx

ok this once happened to me....I think all i did was pulled the battery for like an hour and put it back in and it worked fine.. but it also could be something more difficult

I had a similar problem with my 95RS.
Behind the master cylinder on the firewall is a cluster of of 3 or 4 relays. The 3rd one from the left is the ETAX relay, communicates the TCU with the ECU. I replaced mine and so far after 200+ miles everything is still working fine. If I knew how to post a pic I would.

The relays from left to right are:
a 3 relay cluster is seemingly more common:
Fuel Pump, ASD, ETAX
a 4 relay cluster:
Fuel Pump, ASD, ETAX, and Backup light (if equipped. mine has 4)

hope this fixes yours as it did mine... it drove me crazy for a while.. good luck.!

Hey guys I'm having the same problem and Im hoping this relay is my problem so I can fix it.

Now this might be a stupid question but how did you exactly get the relay out of the black box cover to replace it? Also, is it easy to replace? I want to replace it myself but don't want to mess anything up. Thanks!

Originally posted by omair8
Hey guys I'm having the same problem and Im hoping this relay is my problem so I can fix it. Now this might be a stupid question but how did you exactly get the relay out of the black box cover to replace it? Also, is it easy to replace? I want to replace it myself but don't want to mess anything up. Thanks!

this also. Im actually thinkin about just swapping to a 5 speed if i need a new tranny