Hi there....

Picked up a 90 Lumina Euro Sedan, 3.1L 4spd auto.  131000kms, babied its
entire existence.

Got the government safety done on it on Saturday morning, and drove it around
for the rest of the day, mostly highway about 200kms.

Noticed that reverse was getting a little sticky... ie when I put it into
reverse, it didn't always 'take'.  Fiddle around with the shifter a little,
and it would finally go in, and all good.

Well finally, in the walmart parking lot, she decided she didn't wanna go
into reverse at all anymore.  Its weird, I put from park to reverse and I
actually feel the car move back about 2-4 inches, and then its like its in
park again, except the revs will only go to about 2000 RPM.

Also, at this point, the car will usually not go into drive either.  I have
to put into Park, then all the way to 1st, then back to park.  Then usually
it is fine in forward gears.  kinda sporadic...  Once I was done having to go
backwards, the car was perfectly normal, shifting perfectly as long as I
didn't have to use reverse.

Called several tranny shops, they all say 'take it out, rebuild it, $1500-
2000'.  I dunno, based on the gradual way this failure occured, and the fact
that it exhibits no problems once in gear, I am wondering if its something
else, some adjustment, or a wire that's disconnected or something?  One guy
called it 'neutralitus', and said it was a common failure mode.  I am
concerned that they are trying to take me for a ride....

Here's a theory... the park/lock function does not work in this car.  IE the
brake pedal does not need to be depressed to move from Park to Drive, etc etc.
..  Is it possible that this cable is not connected properly?  Does the
solenoid that engages the park/key lock also actuate something in the
transmission?  Like I said, when I put it into reverse, its like the car is
in park.  You can't push it either way.

What I have done so far:

Topped up trannie fluid - it was about a quart low.  Made no difference.
Checked quality of tranny fluid - nice red colour and VERY clean.
Checked all connections on the tranny - nothing I could see was amiss.
Checked linkage for play - none present

Want to do:

Check park lock cable (after doing some research to determine if this is a
wild goose chase)
Check Neutral safety switch - It appears to work, ie car will not start in
neutral or drive.
Check TCC - Torque converter control?  Done some reading but have not figured
out how to do this yet.
Replace Tranny filter.

Anyone else think of something I have missed?

I can get a tranny from a wrecked car for about $100, or perhaps a written
off low mileage car from the public insurer here in Manitoba for about $200.
(then I would remove the trannie and take the rest of the car to the wrecker
for about $100)  Its a big job, book time is about 6 hours.  But it does look
doeable.

I bought the car for $300, and am into it another $200 or so....

Input? Ideas? (not just replace the tranny, I have heard that already....
unless you think I am delusional.... :)

Terry in Winnipeg.