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  #1  
Old 08-15-2002, 04:55 PM
lee lee is offline
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Dash gear indicator & Cruise

I started this in Babble, but now I've got added problems, so I switched forums.

Original issue:

1) My transmission is working fine (knock on wood - even though I don't believe in superstition). But today the dash indicator decided to stay in park. It moves on the console when I move the shift lever, and everything shifts fine, the inhibitor works, etc - just the dash issue.

New discoveries:

2) The Cruise control doesn't work (checked the vac line, it's OK)

3) Park, neutral, reverse and drive seem to work fine, but if I select 3 while cruising at about 50mph, it doesn't down shift from overdrive. When trying the manual setting the light does light up when the switch is pressed, but it doesn't function properly. I'm begininng to think this is some kind of electrical/TCU problem, but really have no idea what to check.

Ideas please.
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Old 08-15-2002, 05:17 PM
strange179 strange179 is offline
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probably the switch

there is a multi position switch on the passenger side of the transmission. It is what controls the lights on the dash and it also sends a signal to the TCU to tell it what position the shift lever is in. I'm guessing that the switch is no good or the linkage to the switch has come undone. With a helper in the car jack it up, (jackstands), crawl under there and have them move the shift lever. You will see what I mean about the linkage and the switch.
Hope this helps,
Jay
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  #3  
Old 08-15-2002, 05:22 PM
lee lee is offline
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Thanks, I'll give it a try. Probably while you were posting I did the tranny diagnostics thing and my power light just stays lit solid. Alldata say (when that happens) to check the inhibitor switch, manual switch, idle switch, wiring and TCU, in that order. So I tried starting it in reverse and the engine cranked over - so it's sure not inhibiting (don't know what that means about the switch, but your idea seems sound).
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Old 08-17-2002, 04:22 PM
lee lee is offline
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strange179

Jay,

It was the switch. I changed it out this AM. Thanks.

Amazing what this switch affects.

Shifts were harsh, both up and down. Cruise didn't work. Couldn't get TC lock-up. As a result, my gas mileage dropped significantly. As it turned out, the park lock worked, and I had reverse and four auto-gears forward, but the tranny did not respond to the manual switch, or to selection of 1, 2, or 3. Any of those was equivalent to having it in drive.

On a positive note - DID have forward and reverse, so I was never stranded
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Old 08-17-2002, 08:49 PM
Ron Mummert Ron Mummert is offline
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Smile Re: strange179

Quote:
Originally posted by lee
Jay,

It was the switch. I changed it out this AM. Thanks.

Amazing what this switch affects.

Shifts were harsh, both up and down. Cruise didn't work. Couldn't get TC lock-up. As a result, my gas mileage dropped significantly. As it turned out, the park lock worked, and I had reverse and four auto-gears forward, but the tranny did not respond to the manual switch, or to selection of 1, 2, or 3. Any of those was equivalent to having it in drive.

On a positive note - DID have forward and reverse, so I was never stranded

Lee, congrats on the fix - How did you discover the cruise control was affected? I mean many folks here have had the cruise control go belly up, & it was always the vacuum tube disconnected, or something else. Also the gas mileage issue. Some here get really lousy mileage & don't know why. Is this switch a common failure, or have you been "lucky" enough to stumble on a silver bullet that we could all make notes about. I wonder if the switch can fail "in part", that is the dash shift lights still work, but other goofy things start to happen. Do any codes come up to tell you, "Replace me"?

Thanks, Ron
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Last edited by Ron Mummert; 08-17-2002 at 08:52 PM.
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Old 08-17-2002, 09:51 PM
lee lee is offline
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so few answers...

but I'll try.

Discovering cruise control: I work on Cape Canveral, and the road leading off site is long and HEAVILY police patroled (Federal traffic tickets - no sense of humor). I usually set CC at about 52 (50mph limit). CC worked before switch failed - didn't work after failure - works again (after switch replacement).

Gas mileage: My only other transportation is a motorcycle. We have been having heavy tropical rainstorms of late, so I drove the SVX to/from work for several days with the problem (round trip is about 75 miles). Once at home, we (wife & I) usually go back out in the wife's vehicle so I have a pretty good base to judge mileage (standard route - 375 miles/week). I attribute the change in mileage to no TC lockup.

Most of the stuff I found by messing around as I drove off the Cape. For example, when it wouldn't kick down manually to 3rd, I tried 2nd, then 1st. At stop lights I tried leaving it in 1st; and tried the manual switch. Nothing worked like it did before. The change in shift characteristic (especially downshift on slowing) was unmistakeable. But impressively, it always picked up in a proper gear, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd depending on traffic flow, then upshifted about where it would when all was right, just harsher.

No codes came up - in fact you can't get codes with a defective switch - run the diagnostics and the power light just sits there in steady illumination. Alldata manual says to check inhibitor, wiring, etc. So I ran out to the garage and tried starting in reverse. It DID turn over and the wires were properly connected, so that was my first clue the switch had failed.

I took the old inhibitor switch apart tonight. There's a plastic arm about 3/8" square, maybe 1-1/2" long with three contact points that track copper runners in the housing. Along the lines of an ignition switch's electrical contacts if anyone has had one of those apart. Anyway, the plastic arm broke. I kept the old switch. I think a new part could be made by somebody with talent (not me) and a block of teflon. Everything else in the switch is very robust. I don't "think" it could partially fail as it is a very simple moving arm rubbing copper contacts - contacts that depend on position in the arc to tell the system what gear is selected.

"A common failure?" Don't know, only been an SVX owner for less than a year now.
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  #7  
Old 08-17-2002, 10:36 PM
Ron Mummert Ron Mummert is offline
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Lee, thanks for the detailed reply. I guess my point was since many of us have had problems that would seem to revolve around this switch, would the obvious tip-off be the dash light problem? I.E. "Fail in part". It's never easy is it!

Ron.
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Old 08-18-2002, 11:15 AM
lee lee is offline
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I noticed the harsh shift first, and was worried about that (although my tranny is still under warranty). Then I noticed the dash light didn't change. Then the other stuff like cruise control.
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Old 08-18-2002, 06:08 PM
oab_au oab_au is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by lee
I noticed the harsh shift first, and was worried about that (although my tranny is still under warranty). Then I noticed the dash light didn't change. Then the other stuff like cruise control.
That is a odd happening Lee, when the switch failed, the lever moved the manual valve in the transmission to 'D', but the switch told the TCU that it was still in park.
This brings on a 'fail safe' condition, where only a basic drive program is run. Hence the lack of operational nick naks.

One for the books!
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