xtremerevolution Posted March 29, 2009 Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 Not exactly what its called, but regardless, here's my problem. I have this problem when I'm going up a hill, and only when I'm going up a hill. My regal engages the torque converter clutch while driving in 4th gear at anything over 48mph (rough estimate). Imagine I'm driving down a 45mph road at 50mph with TCC engaged, so the car is running at 1500rpm, and I start going up long hill. As I go up the hill, I keep my foot on the gas RIGHT below the threshhold of having the car automatically disengage TCC in order to get more power. So basically, if I were to push the pedal down the slightest bit more, it would disengage TCC and downshift to 3rd gear. Now keeping this in mind, I'm going up a hill at 50mph with TCC engaged and my foot on the gas right below the threshhold where the car would automatically downshift for more power. As I'm driving up this hill, my speed decreases slowly, to the point where it reaches 45mph. A that point (or somewhere around there), TCC disengages automatically, which can be expected. However, after that point the engine does **not** engage TCC again until I shut the engine off and start it back up. So basically, it could happen while going up a hill, and in order to get the TCC to engage again, I'd have to put my car into neutral, shut the engine down, wait 1 or 2 seconds, and start it back up, put it back into drive, and continue moving. Of course this has to be done with extreme care, but that's beside the point. Note that this only happens when the car automatically disengages TCC as a result of not having enough power to keep the car running at the same speed, without me pushing any further on the gas. If I step on it a bit harder in order to gain more speed, everything runs perfectly fine. Any ideas as to what this could be? Its seriously annoying. The transmission wires are all intact, as I've checked them, and there's no SES light on the dash. Just a wild guess, as I've had issues with the throttle position sensor before due to the open Z34 vents allowing dirt to enter the engine bay (I still haven't installed the drip trays), and have had it replaced twice, usually following Chicago winters where salt gets in the engine bay. I'm seriously considering a new hood for the car with properly installed Z34 vents, but could that be a possible cause for this issue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990lumina Posted March 29, 2009 Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 You need to somehow find out if the ECM is commanding the TCC to lock again or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spilly Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Not to Hijack this. But since I have the same car, i'm curious. What is TCC? I know what you're talking about where at just before 50 it will almost seem to go into another gear, but what is it really doing? It will stay in that weird overdrive thing until I release the gas pedal. Sorry, just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Torque Converter Clutch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spilly Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Ah. That biyatch needs to kick in at a lower speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted March 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 yeah it definitely does. especially with the amount of low end torque the 3800 series 1 has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spilly Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Exactly. I don't need to be at 2k plus to accelerate from 35 to 45. Especially when at 1500 Rpm with TCC on I can accelerate from 50 to 60. Waste of gas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 there is very little friction material to the clutch. I know. I have a damaged TCC in my 95 CS. It was ruined because it was operated for too long by my brother who didn't notice that the PWM was making it slip several months. the computer controls it to turn it on and off when it should. mine would probably have been fine it I had known to cut the PWM wire at the transmission to disable PWM, and had been notified by my idiot brother that something was wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted March 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 there is very little friction material to the clutch. I know. I have a damaged TCC in my 95 CS. It was ruined because it was operated for too long by my brother who didn't notice that the PWM was making it slip several months. the computer controls it to turn it on and off when it should. mine would probably have been fine it I had known to cut the PWM wire at the transmission to disable PWM, and had been notified by my idiot brother that something was wrong. Just had my transmission rebuilt 50,000 miles ago, so are you sure that's my problem? Its been running fine till I went through the rockies on my trip from Chicago to LA. The TCC works perfectly fine so long as you don't let the car decelerate up a hill while the TCC is locked. It will automatically disengage as it should, but for some reason, the computer will get confused and refuse to engage it again. If I shut the car down and start it up again rapidly, I get an SES light and it continues to refuse to run, but if I shut it off for 2 seconds and turn it back on, everything is 100% ok. Its not really a problem as if something's broken, but rather an annoyance. I've learned to deal with it by manually downshifting into 3rd gear and letting TCC lock up in 3rd gear to give me enough power at 2000 RPM to climb and even accelerate on the steeper hills I go up to get to my house. It happens probably once every two weeks, but its simply an annoyance when it does. I'm long overdue for a good seafoam though. My car hasn't run as well since I pumped 85 octane in Colorado. My EGR valve went bye bye right after I pumped that gas, and I mean literally the next day. I'm willing to bet that will solve this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 no i am not.... but... supposedly it is a "soft code" (no SES light) if the wire gets cut. you can easily de-pin it and see what the results are... and you could plug it back if it is not the problem. and I believe you are still running with a transmission cooler? just to make sure... it wasn't damaged/pinched off when you got in that recent accident? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted March 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 no i am not.... but... supposedly it is a "soft code" (no SES light) if the wire gets cut. you can easily de-pin it and see what the results are... and you could plug it back if it is not the problem. and I believe you are still running with a transmission cooler? just to make sure... it wasn't damaged/pinched off when you got in that recent accident? Nah, thanks for remembering, but its been happening for longer than that. I'll see what happens after the seafoam and then go from there. Thanks bud! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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