NHTSA Complaint #766166 — 1992 OLDSMOBILE CUTLASS

ON LEVEL GROUND, FROM COLD START, COLUMN MOUNTED SHIFT LEVER EXHIBITED RESISTANCE FROM <PARK> TO <REVERSE>. WHEN IN REVERSE, AUTOMATIC TRANSAXLE DID NOT ENGAGE REVERSE GEARS. WHEN IN NEUTRAL, TRANSAXLE APPEARED TO BE IN DRIVE GEAR, THOUGH AS PRECAUTION, ONLY SIMPLE USAGE OF 1ST GEAR WAS TESTED FOR TROUBLESHOOTING. ALL DRIVE GEARS OPERATE NORMALLY, THOUGH WITH SLIGHT SLIPPAGE. FLUID IS GOOD COLOR AND SMELL, MIDDLE OF HASH MARKS WHILE IDLING AFTER 20 MIN RUN. NO PROPER REVERSE EXISTS, THOUGH IF ENGINE IS TURNED OFF WITH GEAR SELECTOR IN <REVERSE> THE CAR MAY BE ROLLED AS THOUGH IN NEUTRAL. LIMITED UNDERSTANDING OF UNDERLYING MECHANICS OF TRANSAXLE, THOUGH BELIEVE THAT THIS IS HOW THE MEHCANISM SHOULD WORK. CAR HAS BEEN RUN AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS FOR 20+ MIN AND WITH NEW ALTERNATOR ADDED PREVIOUS DAY, HAS MORE TORQUE THAN EVER (OLD ALTERNATOR WAS ORIGINAL). REVERSE WAS ENGAGED NUMEROUS TIMES SINCE ALTERNATOR CHANGE THOUGH NO ADVERSE CONSEQUENCE COULD SEEM TO BE POSSIBLY RELATED, THIS IS ABLE TO AT LEAST BE ASSERTED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE. DAVE COLEMAN