Solinoid, fluid level and confussion.

[greggbzz]

I have no engine braking in 3rd. The car is shifting a little hard, rather good actually. I get engine braking in 3rd only for a few seconds, very very rarely.

This all started after Reading. Before the trip to reading I checked all the fluid and it seemed that the ATF was a touch high. (I installed a cooler about 3 weeks ago and added about 2/3 of a quart so I thought maybe I added a little much.) So, I drained out a little less then 1/2 a quart. It ran great for the 300+ miles of Reading, rally, highway and all.

Monday morning I go for a drive and no shifting out of 1st. I let it warm up for a long while. It does shift out of first after about 10 minutes. I check the fluid, and it seems a little low I put about a 2/3 of a quart in. I check for leaks, bone dry. It's spot on now when warm. NOW, I drive it for a while and notice that there is no engine braking. ARGHHH!!!

So, I check the resistor, and it's 12.4 ohms. I check the TPS, it reads .5 at idle. OK fine, now what? I'm not getting any error codes. Is the solenoid bad? Maybe I just put to much fluid in?

I've been driving it for a few days, maybe 30 or so miles. It's been shifting nicely, if a little hard.. I don't want to drive it all the way to NJ tomorrow. What do you think?

Sorry for the long post...

[greggbzz]

I was hoping my 100th post would be more fun.

[Trevor]

You do not mention having confirmed levels, using the dipstick as per the book.

[greggbzz]

It's spot on now when warm.

Yes, I've checked since the engine braking problem. Fully warm, on a level, in park, it seems to be just a hair below the top fill dot marked for warm.


That being said, it's hard to tell and I'm paranoid. Could over filling cause my problem?

[Trevor]

Originally Posted by greggbzz

Yes, I've checked since the engine braking problem. Fully warm, on a level, in park, it seems to be just a hair below the top fill dot marked for warm.


That being said, it's hard to tell and I'm paranoid. Could over filling cause my problem?

It would appear that your transmission is not over full. Even if it were slightly so, there is no reason to suspect that it would be causing the problem you have described.

You advise that the trouble is intermittent and this makes diagnosis difficult to be sure. Observe what is exactly happening in every phase of transmission operation and come back with as much detail as possible.

[greggbzz]

Apologies for the delayed response here. I was out of town for a few days.

This all happened kind of suddenly after reading. Here are the basic symptoms. I drove the car and carefully observed for a few days.
This is what consistently happens.

Car will not shift out of 2nd when cold. When it does, the first few shifts from 2nd to 3rd are pretty hard and happen at high RPM.

Then For a while, say five minutes, until fully warm, I have engine braking in 3rd and things seem mostly normal.

In this state:
The 1st to 2nd shift seems OK. If I outright floor it, it seems to hesitate just slightly. No flair.

The 2nd to 3rd shift has always been a little lazy. If I floor it, it does hesitate, but shifts OK. If I drive it regularly in this state (not quite fully warm) the shifts seem good. From 3rd to D is good. Downshifts are always solid.

When the car fully warms up, after 5 or 10 minutes:
There is absolutely no engine braking in 3rd. The shifts are quick and slightly firm. If I drive it hard after it's fully warm, the shifting seems alright. Still have some hesitation between 2nd and 3rd, as always. I don't detect any flair.

I want to change my external cannister filter soon. It looks very old.

About 6 months ago, the last tranny issue I had was bad flair and no shifting out of 2nd. It was like I had no second gear. I adjusted the break band and this was fixed. No problems really until now.

I'm hoping it's just Solinoid A, or the external filter.

[Earthworm]

To me it sounds like an issue with the solenoid A circuit since your resistor is ok.