LS4 Performance - 2002 Monte Carlo SS Woes

Everything was fine with my "new to me" Monte. I initially notice some hard shifting into reverse no matter what. The dealership told me is was to be expected for a vehicle of that age. I did not buy that excuse then and I am not sure that is normal now. To attempt to appease me they put in new motor mounts up front. All around the motor mounts are in fantastic condition.

Anyways, a few weeks went by and I noticed some hard shifts while driving. Every single shift was hard. I shut her off and started her back up, the hard shifting stopped. No error codes, no check engine light.

I've been driving this car as a daily driver for the last three months. Now the problem is there appears to be a delay in all shifts above Park into 1st. In other words, I have to accelerate very careful to keep the motor from revving up and down repeatedly. From 2nd to 3rd it does this but it is far worse from 3rd to 4th where it appears to slip and catch repeatedly. More careful acceleration (read slow) allows it to eventually get into gear and I am not sure it ever gets to Overdrive.

Also, when it does not want to shift, if I punch it any harder than a gentle acceleration (say no more than 20% open on the throttle), I hear a clicking, knocking, or banging coming from under the hood.

None of this is good as this is my only vehicle. Once last week, the check engine light flashed about four times while accelerating but it did not seem to set an error code (I checked with a friend's ODBII reader).

Help me. The dealership was not helpful then and I guess we'll see if they are helpful tomorrow morning. Any ideas?

:confused:

Might be more helpful to check with the V6 forums, I've never frequented them so I dont know which ones. Have you tried the Impala or Grand Prix guys yet? Which reminds me I should check them too, my moms Impala with the 3.8 has been acting up with stumbling real bad if its not fully warmed up and other times not cranking at all.

That might be the PCS (pressure control solenoid) on its way out. I experienced that jerking in 2-3 and 3-4, on my 2000 SS. It stopped when I replaced the PCS at the dealer.

I have the V6 like mike and it is the (pressure control solenoid) mine has went out on the Grand Prix before same issues going on.

try http://www.montecarloforum.com

-- that forum site is geared more towards your particular model/year monte

It was the Catalytic Converter.

The cat wouldn't make the symptoms change if you shut it off and restart it like you said you did, and make the problem go away. If that makes since? The cat is still hot. I agree with Mike and Mel, had one go out myself, tricky little thing since it only acted up on occasion.

When the cat gets hot and its cloged the vehicle most of the time just shuts down