Questions and Answers

Chevy Astro Van Starts Shifting Hard Q. Hello Vincent, I recently purchased a 1998 Chevy Astro Van. Van has a 4.3 liter V-6 Vortec engine with 76,000 miles. Van runs great and when I drove it the transmission seemed to be fine. After driving it home, about 20 miles, I had no problems. A few days later, while driving in city, the van started shifting very hard between first and second gears, and somewhat between second and third.

The van shifts fine for about the first 15 minutes of city driving. The out of nowhere, the same thing happens. I drove the van on the highway about 90 miles and had no problems. Got off the highway and drove with many stops for 20 miles and no problems.

If I get in the city and drive for 20 minutes or so, the hard shift starts all over again. Any idea what is causing this?? Am I going to be looking at a new transmission soon?

Thanks for your help. I just came across your page today, looks great.
Corey

A. Before you get too nervous, have someone scan for PCM codes. You may have a P1870 stored. This a slip code and the transmission will default to a higher shift level to try to save the transmission. This would be a valve body concern or an inoperative TCC.