Trans Shifts But Does Not Move When Cold

So my Trans takes forever to shift into gear when it's cold... the guy at the Trans joint called it Morning Sickness, "a sure sign it's gone"... $1,250... is there possibly a cheaper route?

You can try a fluid and filter change.

What year is your car? How many miles on the trans? How long has it been doing this?

$1250 is not a bad price for a rebuild plus R&R.

'95 Supercharger approaching 200K... $850 Lifetime Warranty and $400 Labor... I don't think the price is bad either but I was hopeful someone knew of a quirk that could be repaired for a few hundred...

Foolishly changed Fluid even though I'd heard it would shock it... it diidn't start the problem but it definitely got worse...

Ive neverheard of a "morning sickness" that sounds like bullshit.jus sayin. i would switch out the modulator.when they go bad they send all kind of mixed signals.

I had a '73 Riv back in the day and replaced that Trans in '85 but I know things have changed drastically as far as Engineering of Trans... it's 50 degrees today... I'll see how it starts when I go out then after 10 hours at work...

Mine did the same thing for a several weeks before ultimately overheating and dieing at 151k miles. You weren't foolish for changing the fluid - although it's true that flushing can dislodge debris in the valve body, you aren't going to 'shock' anything by changing it. If a transmission depends on dirty fluid that badly, it's close to being done.

You know the fluid level is good, so that's out of the way. I would start saving for the rebuild service. Make sure your shop will warranty their work for a year or 12k miles at least. You may be able to get a few more weeks or months out of the car depending on how long it's been happening.

50 Degrees and as soon as the RPMs dropped to 10,000 shifted right into gear... I'm hopeful!

The modulator sounds like a good check, also the shift solenoids and also maybe add a trans cooler... let the others chime in though, I'm not positive on that.

I installed a Jegs trans cooler with integral fan.super set up! really keeps temps down.

I'm no expert on transmissions, but I always install a trans cooler first thing on all my cars. I'm a believer and never have had a problem (knock on wood).

I'm beginning to think Electronic/Computer problem. Once turned it off and back on and it immediately moved when shifted into gear...

mine does the same thing i have 94,000km on my car and every morning i try to put in on reverse it doesnt want to move i have to wait and my p,r,n,d,1,2,3 lights start flashing

The slow response I had cleared up with drain/filter/gasket/fluid replacement. It was most noticeable in reverse.

My trans did this for 3 months before it died. The Input Shaft seal was shot, and it wouldn't move until the trans heated up and swelled the seals. When it was cold, the fluid was just rushing by the blown out seals and couldn't build pressure.
A clogged trans filter would act the same way. But, if a new filter doesn't fix it, it's time for a rebuild.
So yes Robo, "morning sickness" is an actual transmission problem lol.

F4n4t1k, it sounds like you have an electrical issue. If your PRNDL is flashing, you more that likely have a trans Range Switch problem. It's easy to fix.....