legacycentral bbs

the TCU is making the "power" light blink at start up, so I followed legacy777 procedure on his web site and then the TCU wont give me a code after i do this procedure. the only thing i cannot do on this procedure is drive to warm the engine up. the tranny is obviously not working and the TCU tells me that but doesnt give me a code. any help?? i would like to solve this one

The tranny isn't working? What do you mean? It won't shift?

well, the tranny, when put into gear, does absolutely nothing. the rpm's change but it doesnt do anything, and when i start the engine the "power" light blinks at me but wont let me get a code.

What doesn't do anything? The car doesn't go into gear? The car goes into gear, but doesn't move?

well, he gears are not engaging. if i put it into any gear on the gear selector nothing happens, its like there is not tranny in there.

Look under your car.

If there's a big gap where the tranny should be, then I think I know what your problem is...........

If that was the case why would the rpms change?

On a serious note, have you checked the fluid level?

yea, i just got this tranny in the car. its a used one, but there is no gap anywhere, all bolts are tightened, all connectors are connected, and i just put in fresh fluid. but the weird thing is that the tranny i had before this one was doing the exact same thing this one is doing, which is nothing. im stumped on this one. i dont think it would do the same thing to two different trannies. so do you think it would have something to do with the electrical on the car?

Did you put in enough fluid?

It takes a LOT of fluid to fill a totally empty tranny and torque converter.

do you know anything about the condition of the trans itself? like did it function properly before it was pulled? did you see the old fluid? what model/year is it out of? from what I hear there are a few different 4eat's, maybe someone can chime in on that.
couldnt you just let the car idle to warm it up and then try?

no, i dont know about the condition, the fluid was already drained out of it. but the tranny that was in there before had about 10,000 miles on it, it was rebuilt, and then it started to do the same thing this one is doing. and i checked the fluid on that one, it was full, it was pink, and it didnt smell burnt, so i changed the tranny and it is still doing the same thing. and i put in about 6 quarts of fluid i think, maybe 5 but its full. and im pretty sure this tranny came off of a 1991 wagon just like mine. and the tranny itself didnt have oil all over it, which im assuming then it didnt leak any oil.
im temted to just try another TCU from the same year and all to see what that does, becasue the way it sounds, not a lot of people have a tranny that does absolutely nothing, wont even throw a code, i must have gotten the retarded transmission.

6 quarts is not enough to fill it. Theres probably nothing in the torque converter.

91White-T wrote:6 quarts is not enough to fill it. Theres probably nothing in the torque converter.

I like the trim of your jib.

You think it's full, but it's not, and that's why the tranny isn't "doing anything"

ok, i was just guessing how much i put in, but is on the full mark and i let the engine run a bit and checked it and its full

but even if it was low on fluid would the "power" light blink?

How did you check the tranny fluid?

let the engine run a bit, kept it running and checked the long dipstick

if the engine ran, the torque converter should have fluid in it.

yea exactly, so i dont think it has anything to do with fluid. i think its electrical--but i dont know what

legacy777, so in your procedure, if i pull my car would that have the same affect as if i drove it?

I don't think so.

If I understand it correctly, the point of driving it around is to let the tranny shift a bit and to get it to work so that if there's any problem that only happens in 2nd gear or whatever, the TCU can spot it. So if you pulled it I don't think it would have the same effect, seeing as the tranny isn't actually doing anything...

I'll let him give you a real answer though, seeing as I don't really know what I'm talking about on this forum
haha

cheers!


EDIT: And as to diagnosing your problem, does it even TRY to do anything, or does it just seem like it stays in park? I don't know the mechanics of the auto, but is it possible that the gear selector is messed up and the tranny doesn't know that you're trying to shift it?

yea, it doesnt try to do anything. if put in D or any other gears the only thing that changes are the rpm's but the tranny its self doesnt do anything. yea the shift linkage is right. i just put a new one on there, becasue the last one was broken. but the linkage is adjusted properly. i have no idea whats wrong with it, ive been tring to figure it out for over a month now and havent come up with anything... where are the solenoids located for the tranny??

The manual just says to go above that speed. It doesn't say anything about shifting gears. So I'd just give it a shot trying to pull it.

The solenoids are inside the transmission in the valve body.