Transmission not engaging properly
 

Hey everyone,

New to the forums and I would love some help understanding my problem.

I drive a 98 Century with 200K miles. As the Dallas winter started to hit, I noticed that on cold mornings, when I started the car and shifted into overdrive, the transmission would not engage for about 30-60 seconds. After the car had been driven once that day, it would be fine until it sat out through another cold night and I would get the same problem the next morning.

Now the problem has progressed to every time I start the car, the transmission does not engage for quite a while.

I have found that if I shift it to 1st, it will shift into gear in about 1-2 seconds with a small, but noticable, 'thunk'. After that, I can shift into overdrive and everything's good-to-go.

Can anyone shed some light on why this might be happening?

Thanks,
DB

Have you checked the transmission fluid? Has it or the trans filter ever been changed?

Welcome. What he said since he hit submit first. Are you using a normal trans fluid change schedule or the 100,000 mile one the 1998 century brochure told you to use?