another car question...

a problem like that (i.e won't change gear, or will only change gear when the engine is revved a lot) is reasonably likely to be a problem with the fluid levels.

if the fluid level is low there won't be the required amount of fluid or preassure to change gear, over revving the engine may compensate an amount for this.

really there are two things you can do.

top up the transmission fluid and see if this helps, or change the transmission fluid and see if this helps.

changing is probably the best, again a good service manual will let you know where exactly the drain plug for the transmission is.
also (more crucially) it'll let you know what the capacity should be.

in this instance I think you'd do better to drain completly and refill to the volume that the book tells you to.

this may, or may not, fix the problem. but in reality, even if it doesn't fix the problem you'll have wasted what? half a day, a empty container, a trip to the dump to get rid of the oil and about $10 - $20 on a can of transmission fluid...

but you'll have gained some experiance, which is probably worth the waste even if it doesn't work.
 
changing is probably the best, again a good service manual will let you know where exactly the drain plug for the transmission is.
also (more crucially) it'll let you know what the capacity should be..
Actually, automatic transmissions don't have a drain plug. You have to unbolt the transmission pan and drop it, getting fluid all over the place, it's a messy job. The proper way to change transmission fluid is to actually go to a transmission shop. They will hook it up to an "IV" system that will pump new fluid into the transmission and let the old fluid get pushed out. When you simply drain it, you don't get all the fluid, there is still some fluid in the torque converter that you can't get out just by simply draining it.

It could be that the auto transmission needs fluid since it relies on fluid pressure to change gears. Try that first, before you drain it or take it to a tranny shop where they'll most likely tell you it needs rebuilt.
 
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