It never ends.. Transmission and TCC Problems

Alright, so I just got home after fighting with my 1995 riviera for most of the afternoon. It won't drive. Well, it wouldn't...

I shifted out of park into drive, nothing, just engine revs, into reverse, nothing, just engine revs, any gear but park and its all the same. In park, it does its usual deal. Idles and sits. In any gear, it just sits there and revs. I don't get it. Well, I fought with some selector thing that shifted it from drive to neutral under the hood, and eventually I moved it into a spot where the car started rolling, so I kept it going, and made it home, but it seemed like I was in 3'rd the whole time, I have no OD. Anyone have any information as to what the hell's going on and what I'll have to replace to correct this?

Sorry if this is poorly worded, I'm at a loss right now.

Actually that,(trans. still works) sounds like good news. Your shifter cable is probably broke.

Bert

Yep, sounds like shifter cable. Could be related to a linkage bracket, if you still have resistance from the console shifter.

Heres a bit more of an update on this one.

The transmission seems normal in all gears with the exception of the OD, which is operating at the same RPM as the 3rd gear. I find it so strange that at one point I could not get the car to go into any driving gear, and now I've simply lost my overdrive.

On a side note, my rear calipers are sticking horribly.

not necessarily a side note. If the calipers are dragging, you won't shift into gears properly due to the excess load on the drivetrain. Check that out before you fry your tranny.

Do you have experience changing brake pads? There are writeups about brake jobs on this site that are pretty good.

Sticking calipers in my experience usually means the lube on the pins wore off. Check for missing/torn boots on those pins.

Albertj.

jamie wrote:

Heres a bit more of an update on this one.

The transmission seems normal in all gears with the exception of the OD, which is operating at the same RPM as the 3rd gear. I find it so strange that at one point I could not get the car to go into any driving gear, and now I've simply lost my overdrive.

On a side note, my rear calipers are sticking horribly.

Perhaps the problem is the gear selector/shifter is not allowing the trans. to be placed in OD. In other words, although the shifter indicator shows that the trans. is in OD, it actually is in 3rd gear.

Bert

Hey Jamie - when/where did you get this car - that is, did this problem develop or did you just now get the car and discover it has this problem?

Albertj

I got the car about a month ago, until a couple days ago, there were no issues at all with the car.

I bought it from my father, it had been working great for him too, though he bought a truck and wanted to get rid of this car (which also happens to be bigger than the truck, haha)

Anything happen a couple days ago? hit road debris? under-hood work like an oil change?

Albertj

albertj wrote:

Anything happen a couple days ago? hit road debris? under-hood work like an oil change?

Albertj

Nothing that I can remember.

The only time I lost overdrive it was because a little plastic valve in the transmission wore out. Problem was, it was buried so deep in the works that I had to have a complete teardown/rebuild done to fix it.

Albertj

Another update in this strange, strange event.

OD is back, transmission is working fine now, though when I came to a complete stop, my car vibrated quite bad, felt like it was going to stall right out.

My rear brakes are still dragging, I only used the car to get to the store for some groceries, and discovered that the transmission had dealt with its own issues.

I'm getting front and rear rotors, and rear calipers put on this evening, hopefully this marks the end of the issue.

The vibrating when you come to a slow/stop could be the TCC stuck on. This can make the car buck during shifts. It's usually caused by debris causing a stuck solenoid in the valve body, if that's your problem.

yeah, it sounds more and more like you could be having solenoid issues. When was the last fluid change? Make sure the level is OK too!

AA wrote:

The vibrating when you come to a slow/stop could be the TCC stuck on. This can make the car buck during shifts. It's usually caused by debris causing a stuck solenoid in the valve body, if that's your problem.

I hate to be a nuisance, but could you tell me a bit more about this TCC?

also, where would I locate this solenoid / valve body?

Thanks

TCC (torque converter clutch) locks the torque converter to the transmission drive when the PCM commands it (usually at low RPM in 3rd or 4th gears), so when you are at cruise the transmission can "lock-up" to a 1:1 ratio. In lower gears, you want to use the fluid coupling of the TC as a clutch. If the TCC locks up in a lower gear, the engine can buck or stall because there is no "clutch" to disengage the transmission from driving the wheels.

As far as locating the solenoids, they are inside the transmission case. Some shops are adventurous enough to go after them without actually dropping the tranny, but most shops insist on trans removal. They are not easy to get to. Too bad, the part is probably $40, but it's 7 hours of labor to install it. Since you are digging into the whole tranny, then they'll try to sell you a full rebuild anyhow, then... and then... and then...

Try changing fluid a couple of times in a row first. Make sure you work it through all kinds of different driving conditions and then change the fluid again... if that doesn't work you'll have to have the solenoids replaced.

Well, just the other week I finally got a new transmission put in my '95 riv sc, now it seems I've lost my overdrive.

When driving at about 75mph, my rpm's are at 3000.

When coasting at that speed without applying any gas if I downshift to third, my rpm's shoot up a bit though applying any gas brings me right back to 3k rpm, so I know I'm not actually in third.

Am I going to incur more amazing shop fees on this, or might it be an easy vac hose fix?

when i had secondary problems after they installed my tranny a couple months ago...i had a couple issues after...they took car of what they fucked up. no cost.

I agree with superman, if you JUST got a new tranny, they should make it right for free (and if it was a vacuum hose, I think all of your shifting would be effed up...)

It sounds like the TCC is not engaging. (torque converter clutch)
Bring it back and have it replaced / repaired.

Rick has a good point... I know that I only turn about 2 grand at 75, but I don't know what it would spin if the converter was unlocked. Have you counted the shifts as you accelerate?

It will run at about 3000 or a little more at 70-75mph if the TCC doesn't engage.
I know that because that was One of my issues before I had the trans rebuilt.
They replaced all solenoids during rebuild including the TCC solenoid.
Now at 2000 RPM I'm running at 75 mph.

Get this fixed asap. Your tranny will get too hot on very long trips, and eventually it will die.