Hi All,

I have an '89 740 GLE 16v that I owned a number of years ago and recently bought back. The car has 270K miles and is having a strange problem. When the shifter is in park, the car will engage into a forward gear on its own without someone moving the shifter. It also seems to have lost reverse gear (car goes forward when the reverse position is selected). The PO said that he may have overfilled the trans due to a small leak that it had. He also said that the had ran it low a few times in which he noticed it slipping until he added more fluid. Does this explain the problem I'm having now?

Thanks in advance.
Dave

Thanks for the responses guys. I'll do some checking on the linkage and motor mounts and post back as soon as it warms up a bit outside (too cold to work on it now). I'll probably just drain the trans pan and refill with the correct amount of ATF.

Sounds like the linkage is set in the neutral position on the tranny when in "P" and your motor mounts could possibly be failing allowing the tranny to shift into "D". I've heard of ghostly shifting because of worn motor mounts.

Your tranny is robust. I would flush and refill the tranny with new fluid and monitor it over a few hundred/thousand miles. Check the level and color. If the color starts to get dark then your clutch packs are burnt from running on low fluid levels. Worst case if you're handy is to get a good donor and install it.

Would any AW 70 or 71 trans fit the 16 valve or is it different from the regular 8 valve cars?

thanks,
Dave

Also, more in the form of a question, isn't the transmission fluid level to be checked while the engine is idling and tranny in Park? If so, the fluid level would appear overfilled if checked with the engine off - leading you to chase a false symptom.

If so, make darn sure that car can't roll while you're checking!

sounds like an adjustment to your linkage is in your future...

and check the fluid level.
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David Hunter

Do you think the trans would still be any good at this point? The dipstick is showing it to be overfilled, so I'll siphon some out and see what it does. I'll recheck the linkage but it seems ok ( I put bushings on it when I owned the car before ). I'm just a little weirded out by the fact that it goes into gear on its own!

I'll post back with my findings. Thanks for your help.

Dave

If the car drives forward when the shifter say P it is in not in Park, it is in D. Same for R. Check the linkage. After you have the level correct only you will know if the tranny is good. I think you will find a drain on the pan, easier than trying to siphon. If the owner was continually running low then adding oil that does not sound like a small leak. Have you checked where the leak is?
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David Hunter

Sorry for the delayed reply. The motor mounts look original and oil soaked so that's definately a possibility. I'm going to go underneath and have a look around at the linkage. As for the leak I'm not sure since the car is so oily on the bottom. I'll post back with my findings as soon as the weather warms up a bit. Thanks!
Dave