96 rough shift to 2nd, hanging shifts, etc
 

Hey everyone. I was at the junkyard the other day helping a friend look for some parts for his car when a problem with my 96 occurred. I was heading there, on an on ramp for the highway. I floored it to get up to speed and all was well. Came up to a light after getting off the highway, and when it went to shift from 1st to 2nd, it was pretty rough. Also, in higher gears, it'll get to 3.5k-4k RPM and not shift, and I'll feather the pedal and get it to shift. Also, I don't feel the full torque of 2nd gear. Doesn't have much get up and go in 2nd. I've done plenty of work to my 96, but I've never had a transmission problem until now. I did the TPS a while ago to fix a different problem (not downshifting), but the problem never really went away. I would just manually shift if it ever happened, which was maybe one a week.

Now that you have some backstory, I was wondering if it could be my shift solenoids? I don't have any codes. When I checked the transmission fluid, it was at the right level, but looked somewhat old. Just hit 288k, and I got this car at 284k. (No, I didn't change the tranny fluid when I got it, I know I know :( ) I picked up some tranny fluid/filter/gasket a couple days before this started because I was going to do a poor mans flush on my transmission just to make me feel better since I hadn't changed it.

I know there's a resistance check for the solenoids. Something about resistance between the terminal and the mounting tab, should be somewhere like 11-15 ohms. Do they have to be brought to OT before I drop the tranny pan to check them? I also read something about checking them at the TCU, which I don't know which pins to look for, or even where the TCU is. I'll do some more research about that, but here are my questions for the tl;dr:

1. How likely is it that my shift solenoids are dying?

2. Would this set do or should I get Mopar solenoids (any idea on price difference?)

3. Is anyone familiar with the resistance check of the solenoids, maybe knows where a write-up is?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: I've already tried doing the Throttle valve/kickdown cable adjustment. (Not sure on the proper naming for it)
EDIT 2: Also found this for solenoid testing at the TCU on some forum:
"with tcu unplug you check pins C14 for converter clutch solenoid resistance of 11-15 ohms- pin C15 shift solenoid #2 is 11-15 ohms - pin 16 shift solenoid #1 11-15 ohms"
Anyone know if that sounds right? Also, is the TCU under the passenger dash?

Change the fluid and see what happens. It may be nothing more than that. You got Dex/merc, not ATF-4, right?

Correct about the fluid. The tranny dip stick tube was like ungodly hard to get out. Ended up dropping the crossmember and unbolting the dipstick and pulling it out whole with the pan. Only got it apart when I could get some real grip on it on the floor, and even then it fought for a solid 10 minutes. I highly doubt this fluid has ever been changed. The magnets were full of this metallic goop, and the fluid was dark and definitely smelled burnt. I feel so bad for this transmission.

Anyways. I worked on a few cars before mine today. so I only got about half way done with the tranny fluid change before I called it a night. Tomorrow before I put new fluid in it, I'll do the resistance check and let you guys know what I find.

So, fluid/filter change didn't solve it, which I expected. Didn't get a chance to do a resistance check at the solenoid because I was in a rush and forgot. Couple things I learned:

1. Swivels are godly
2. Transmission fluid is not a suitable substitute for eye drops (wear eye protection, kids)
3. THERE WAS SO MUCH RTV (good thing I have a roloc disc)

Anyways, this is how it shifts. Take off is great, all the torque in first it should have. Coming up on 2nd, it shifts pretty early and it doesn't feel like it has all the torque second should have. Maybe 60% or so. And I couldn't get it to go into 3rd in D. I hit somewhere around 4k RPM and it wouldn't shift. How much more likely does it sound that the solenoids are the problem? They look stock, and the transmission has 288k on it with what looked like stock RTV and fluid, so I'm surprised they lasted this long. I'll do a resistance check on the solenoids at the TCU after cleaning up a bit and doing a little more research. Any input is appreciated!

Just took it for another drive to get my mom some goodies. Like I said, still acts funny in D. But, I manually shifted it to 1-2, hit 5k RPM, and it didn't go into 2nd. I heard it's somewhere from 4500-4800 RPM that it'll shift when in 1-2. But, if I went 1-2 from a stop, then up to like 2k RPM, then put it to 3rd, it shifted great and had torque. Does that give anyone clues?

My 96 had shifting problems at 250K miles that started with it hunting between D and overdrive and then not locking the torque convertor at all. I tried replacing the TCU with a used one which didn't help and eventually found that the forward and middle solenoids had no continuity and replaced all three with what appeared to be aftermarket ones from a junk yard trans (which all measured 13 ohms) for $45. I know what you mean about that upper dip stick tube; mine was a real PITA to get out, but it went back in OK with a little KY jelly. I think I tried the solenoid tests at the TCU plug, but the continuity check on them directly was more conclusive. That was 6 years and 20K miles ago and so far so good.

I'll guess one or more solenoids got gunked up from lack of fluid changes, stuck, then overheated and failed. Would be interesting to check their resistance.
You may have to do a couple of successive fluid changes to get all the old crap out, even dropping the pan doesn't empty the torque converter. You can use the drain plug..

TPS

If you read the first post, you'd see he already replaced that.

Yea, I was going to do a poor mans flush, but I honestly didn't feel like taking those lines off. So I'll just a drain and fill a couple more times every 100 miles or so until it gets nice and perrrttyyy. I think you're right on with that guess, as that was my guess as well.

^_^

I'll be going out in the next hour or so to do the resistance checks on the solenoids. I have some more college classes starting in a week, so I'd like to get this sorted before then. Gotta stop being lazy :)

Good luck, man. I've been having issues with the auto in my '96 for years. I can't seem to get it to shift right, no matter what I do.

So, the solenoids tested bad at the TCU. Lockup solenoid (Pin 14) tested at 42 ohms, Solenoid #2 (Pin 15) tested at 4 ohms, and Solenoid #1 (Pin 16) tested at 7 ohms. They're supposed to be 11-15 ohms from what I've gathered. Do you guys think that's evidence enough to buy some new shift solenoids? Also, from looking at the reviews, these seem to work well in XJs:


Thanks in advance!

I would if it were mine.