Auto transaxle question

[jaybee]

One of my friends has a late model (fwd) Chevy Malibu.  Once the car is warmed up the trans acts up at 65-70mph when the trottle is applied, as in passing a car or climbing a steep hill.  The transmission hunts constantly under those conditions, much more so than when the car was newer.  He made a trip to the East coast this summer and really worried about it through Appalachians.  As expected the dealer can't get it to do the same thing.  Then again they've driven the car around town for an hour and taken it north on I35 across the flattest part of the state.  Does this signal a weakness in this unit and possibly an impending failure?

[sirstude]

I know this might seem strange. but my father-in-law had an Olds 98 with the 3.8 Buick v6 and front wheel drive.  He had the same symtoms and the dealer told him it needed a torque converter, and replaced it.  Still hunted, so replaced the trans, and it got a bit better, but still did ti.  He finally let me look at things (not that I am anything special) and because of the milage, 90k, I replaced the plugs and wires.  The hunting went away.  Just to show you it itsn't always what we expect.  The dealer did not have anything to say by the way.

Doug

[58 Yeoman]

What Doug said. I had the same prob with my 95 Ranger, always on a hill in the S curves here.  Turned out to  be the plug wires, with close to a 100k miles.

[jaybee]

What Doug said. I had the same prob with my 95 Ranger, always on a hill in the S curves here.  Turned out to  be the plug wires, with close to a 100k miles.

Thanks guys, even the older auto trans cars would hunt if they didn't have a lot of power in the first place and weren't running well.  It makes sense.  Will the computer sense a misfire if the voltage is leaking out of the wires?  I ask this because it isn't throwing any codes, which is why the dealer can't seem to figure out what's wrong.