Manual transmission: Reverse gear in Saturn 2004 Ion not working. Has been harder and harder the last year to shift into reverse, now almost impossible!

no year car told at all wow. 2004 to 2009
2008 last one made USA.
scan the PCM for tranny errors for sure reverse. solenoids and reverse gear is band actviated.
there are 3 gears (at least) called SELECTIONS
PRNDL (or PRND12)
does L work ,car move in loW?
does D work shift up 1,2,3,4? OR SLIPS OR FLARES
OR?
and R fails. well most times that is a bad tranny.
IF ONLY FAILS SAY SO.
IF CAR FAILS IN ALL GEARS MAKE SURE PARK IS NOT STUCK.
the actual box series name is
4-speed 4T65-E automatic


test 1 is make sure shift linkage really does R detent
in the box. AND PARK WORKS AND CAR ROLLS OK IN NEUTRAL.


the shifter goes to R
and reverse lamps glow. AT REAR OF CAR GLOWS.
if yes the reverse band is failing.
the official list in ATSG IS


Automatic Transmission Fluid Level
• Low fluid level
Transmission Main Line Pressure
• Low transmission main line pressure
Manual Linkage
• Misadjusted
Oil Filter Assembly
• The oil filter assembly (100) is missing, plugged, or damaged.
• The oil filter seal assembly (101) is missing or damaged.

Reverse Band Servo Assembly
• A servo piston oil seal ring (43) is missing or is damaged.
• A servo piston (44) is damaged or is stuck in the case bore.
• The servo piston cushion springs (45, 47) or the retainer (46) is missing or damaged.
• The servo piston pin (48) is not engaged to the reverse band assembly (615).
• The reverse band assembly (615) is worn or burned.
• The reverse band assembly (615) is disengaged from the anchor pin (117B) band.
• The anchor pin (117B) is loose or missing.

It sounds like you have clutch issue if it's a manual stick shift or if it's an automatic it could be associated with your transmission..... I'd definitely recommend it being looked at my a mechanic asap

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Transmission Shift Solenoid - YouTube

? 3:46
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24gkmDDV0C8
Jan 26, 2008 - Uploaded by ADPTraining
Modern transmission use a specific combination of shift solenoid ... hi everyone i just purchase a 2001 L200 ...

I believe this is almost the same engine and transmission as my 2002 Saturn LW200. We had problems with lurching, jerky shifting and occasional stalling. I was worried that the transmission was going out. Got a transmission service for $150 which they need after 125k miles anyway. Turned out to be the throttle position sensor (TPS). I was able to fix it by cleaning the TPS with WD-40 but your engine has drive-by-wire if I'm not mistaken which makes it more complicated. What this means is that your gas pedal is not directly connected to the throttle body with a cable. it works something similar to a volume knob and tells the computer how much to open the throttle body butterfly. A drive-by-wire throttle system is best left to someone with skills in that area. A shop should be able to read the codes and determine if your drive-by-wire system is working well. That will be much less expensive that a transmission rebuild.

sl1 and ion are NOT the same car the only thing that will work from the ion are the rims sorry for the bad news

The clutch & trans are two separate things

You have transmission issues, if you can not
shift into reverse

Hello. As you know, the transmission is one of the more sophisticated components in any auto. It takes the most transmission pressure to engage reverse, third, and fourth gear in an auto tranny. In an auto tranny, the shifter is connected to a linkage that manually shifts between the different gears in the transmission. When you shift into reverse, all transmission pressure is concentrated to engage reverse. When you shift to drive the transmission will operate normally, building pressure until it can shift into the next gear. With third, second, or first gear selected it will lock out all higher gears (Unless the TCU detects overrevving of the engine, in which case it will override gear selection and upshift to avoid engine damage). All the TCU does in a modern auto tranny is control shift points. Years and years ago, shifting was controlled by a spring attached to the gas pedal. When the gas pedal was depressed, the spring would expand. As tranny pressure grew, the spring would become compressed until it was fully compressed, engaging the next gear. The harder you stepped on the gas, the longer you went until the tranny shifted. In modern transmissions the TCU dictates shift points, and not much else. The TCU will also control when the torque converter will lock, but that's where it's duties end. The problem with engaging reverse is either a linkage issue, or a problem with the pump not building enough pressure to fully engage reverse.

Try putting the shifter in reverse, holding the brakes firmly, and giving the car gas. If the car reaches a higher RPM and suddenly slams into reverse it is the pump. The pump will only build enough pressure to engage reverse with higher RPM's. If the pump is severly damaged it won't engage at all, but if this is the case it probably won't engage third or fourth gear either at that point. If the problem is with the linkage, reverse just won't engage whatsoever, despite RPM's. I'd say start with the shift linkage. If it's bent or misadjusted it could cause reverse to not be fully engaged. The TCU doesn't control reverse at all, since there are no shift points and no need for the torque converter to lock.

stop shifting so hard. your reverse gear is the same exact gear as your first, so if you shift hard and grind that gear a little then reverse will be harder to get into. you probably need your transmission rebuilt the harder your engine has to work the more its going to bogg down

The problem is most likely on the transmission range selector switch, this is on th top of the transmission and has a multi-wire connector going to it, a shaft goes through it and the trans shift cable is connected there.