Won't stay in gear - automatic

My girlfriend has a 1988 BMW 528e well it don't want to stay in gear, we got stuck on the highway unable to stay in drive it just goes out of gear then I have to put it in park turn it off and back on then drive to move a quarter mile and it does it again. It don't feel like the transmission more like it don't know its suppose to be in drive, and the other night I went out to start it while it was in park it wouldn't start I had to shift to reverse then back to park for it to start. Could anyone please help shed some light on this so I can fix her car? Thanks in advance!

Sent from my Desire HD using Bimmer

Sorry but it sounds like the slush box is dieing. It is a common weak point on automatics. The 4hp22 (the tranny) A pack has died. There is a good write up on how to fix it on Mye28.com. You can either replace the A-pack, get another rebuilt or used tranny, or do a manual swap. If you get a used tranny you might have the same problem in a year, A rebuilt one will cost a lot. Getting a manual swap will cost about 500 dollars. It is rather straight forward on this car to do.


Good luck.


ANdy

Originally Posted by maxjivi05

My girlfriend has a 1988 BMW 528e well it don't want to stay in gear, we got stuck on the highway unable to stay in drive it just goes out of gear then I have to put it in park turn it off and back on then drive to move a quarter mile and it does it again. It don't feel like the transmission more like it don't know its suppose to be in drive, and the other night I went out to start it while it was in park it wouldn't start I had to shift to reverse then back to park for it to start. Could anyone please help shed some light on this so I can fix her car? Thanks in advance!

Sent from my Desire HD using Bimmer

There's a chance that you may have a shifter cable that's wearing out, or linkage that's misaligned. You'll need to get under the car and see if the cable and linkage are working correctly. I had to replace my cable and bellows and free up the rest that was rusted. It's not hard or expensive. The cable is about $25. Look at the attached diagram. The cable is #17, but the little parts that connect it to the trans and keep it in place and are possibly the cause of the linkage problem.