Tranny Woes

Thanks for the tips.
the tranny was also slipping out of gear without the dash board lighting up. A couple of times in lower gears, but put it in tow mode and that went away. Then it happened again at higher gears in tow mode where it slipped and went out of tow mode, but no dashboard lights. Its all very intermittent. Like I said, the dashboard ligthup and slipping out of gear happened twice, but went back in gear after letting off the gas.

I don't have a scanner to read what the tranny is doing while driving so will have to take it in somewhere that does have the tools. But, I can't always get it to do the problems consistently, unless the previous issues are stored someplace. Very intermittent and drives me bonkers.

Will check wiring again, but did not see any loose connections.
I do have a multiswitch for external lights that does send a wifi signal, but it had been driving fine for a while with that installed and powered.

gmartin1215 said:

Thanks for the tips.
the tranny was also slipping out of gear without the dash board lighting up. A couple of times in lower gears, but put it in tow mode and that went away. Then it happened again at higher gears in tow mode where it slipped and went out of tow mode, but no dashboard lights. Its all very intermittent. Like I said, the dashboard ligthup and slipping out of gear happened twice, but went back in gear after letting off the gas.

I don't have a scanner to read what the tranny is doing while driving so will have to take it in somewhere that does have the tools. But, I can't always get it to do the problems consistently, unless the previous issues are stored someplace. Very intermittent and drives me bonkers.

Will check wiring again, but did not see any loose connections.
I do have a multiswitch for external lights that does send a wifi signal, but it had been driving fine for a while with that installed and powered.

Click to expand...

If the trans is. slipping, its probably time for an overhaul anyways so don't feel bad if you can't figure it out in the immediate near future...You may be yanking the unit out to have it gone through sooner rather than later...A shop will put it on the bi-directional scan tool and take for a drive to see what's up. Based on that, they may decide to yank off the TEHCM and Valve Body...If they have the TECHM test block (produced by Bosch under the 'Kent Moore' brand name) they'll be able to live test the TEHCM for both electrical as well as mechanical function..I have one but rarely use it as you need the vehicle for that thing.

Anyways, keep us in the loop as to what happens

gmartin1215 said:

Thanks for the tips.
the tranny was also slipping out of gear without the dash board lighting up. A couple of times in lower gears, but put it in tow mode and that went away. Then it happened again at higher gears in tow mode where it slipped and went out of tow mode, but no dashboard lights. Its all very intermittent. Like I said, the dashboard ligthup and slipping out of gear happened twice, but went back in gear after letting off the gas.

I don't have a scanner to read what the tranny is doing while driving so will have to take it in somewhere that does have the tools. But, I can't always get it to do the problems consistently, unless the previous issues are stored someplace. Very intermittent and drives me bonkers.

Will check wiring again, but did not see any loose connections.
I do have a multiswitch for external lights that does send a wifi signal, but it had been driving fine for a while with that installed and powered.

Click to expand...

Check the grounds.
I had one go bad that looked fine, but cutting back the insulation showed me corrosion.
With that one the dash would light up like a christmas tree, engine would stall or lose power.
And it only happened after I drove through a mud puddle and while I had the AC on full blast with the rear AC blowing.

Many of the grounds are under the driver side of the vehicle, you will see them going to the frame.

Well, I took it to a tranny shop, one with a good reputation, gave my story and the keys and asked them to diagnose it.


Of course, the tranny would not act up while they had it, and they did do a bi-directional scan while driving it and checking for other codes. The scan revealed nothing out of the ordinary, and there were no error codes.

They did pull the pan and the magnet was only collecting normal wear, and there were no other chunks floating around. Everything else while the pan was off appeared normal, too.

They put it back together and gave it another drive. Still normal driving.

Also had them check all them grounds and they did not see anything loose.

At this point, they told me they could not diagnose it further and to drive it until issues are more consistent.

Unfortunately, the issues are sooo infrequent that it is still a mystery. It is driving normal for now, but who knows when it may fail and why.
I'll just keep driving it until something finally goes.

I might try a different shop to see if they come up with something different, but at this point I may get the same story that they need something consistent to find the problem. I bet if I took it to the dealer they would say, "Yup! New Tranny! That will be $6k, please."

What are some symptoms of a torque convertor going bad?
Shifting sometimes seems sluggish. Asked the shop about it and they said they noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Could be me over think and trying to find issues, though.