I'll give that a try and see what happens. Is there a step by step on testing the engine side? I downloaded the system wiring diagrams and am figuring out how to attack using those.

I understand completely, this is driving me absolutely insane!!!

 

Is Fuse 11 OK?

 

I'm looking at the schematic for 1997 on page 8W-31-3. Park-Neutral does it's own thing, so I'm really thinking it's a problem with the plug.

All the gears go to the TCM. There's power from fuse 11. There's a ground coming out of TCM that might be worth looking at.

 

fuse 11 in junction block is good. Mine is a 98, so our pages won’t match, but I believe this is the page you’re referring to that I attached. When you say problem with the plug I’m assuming internally jumping b and c to the proper pins on the adjoining connector would prove your theory of a bad connector if that solves the problem?

 

where g106 grounds to inside fender visually looked clean and connection was tight. I’ll pull them off and give them a good scrub

 

Yeah fiddle with that, or even just go wire to wire and bypass the socket completely.

 

Now lawson hates "butchering" wire harnesses, but as I see what is presented that HAS to be it.

 

The TCM part number for 97 and 98 looks to be the same, so I believe that schematic does not show the K167 ground and K22 to throttle sensor and I would check them in their entirety. We still have to fix

and might as well start with the cheap stuff, or maybe no start and shifting issues are related (like a piece of harness melted together).

BTW what is "crappy" gas mileage? These things suck up fuel like there's no tomorrow, so "crappy" is relative.

 

Well, I bypassed the connector completely jumpering from back of nss side to back of engine side on b and c. Started, still had cel. Meant to try with one jumper at a time after that but was too excited to try no bypass. Tried no bypass at all, started right up, still with cel. Flashed ecu and restarted, no cel. Seems to be good, for now...

keeping my jumper in the truck just in case. With past history I’m assuming this will continue to be an intermittent problem. Any suggestions on a permanent fix?

 

saw this after I replied. Shifting issues were fixed when trans solenoids were replaced. Helped gas mileage a little. I had been seeing roughly 10 mpg. I’m on 31”s with stock 3.55 gears.

 

Cut the blacks out of the sockets and splice them directly together with a good crimp connect and heat shrink. Repeat for black/white.

 

True, I've run into some "creative wiring harness mods" that left me scratching my head and cursing. Especially when they splice in some undersized wire and use the same color everywhere! If it's narrowed down to the connector broken internally (perhaps from some overzealous back-probing), I'd probably just clip and tie B/C together on the back side of the wiring harness connector. I don't see a need to hardwire around the connector, leaving the next guy trying to replace the NSS *****ing about a hack repair.

 

the po had the connectors separated with the jumper on the inside part of the nss side for who knows how long. I’m guessing, although I’ve cleaned the hell out of the connector, years? Of being left open probably ruined the engine side. I’m pretty ocd, so when I do a permanent fix, I do my best to make it look factory and use the same color wire if possible. Can a source a new connector w/ pigtail for the engine side? I’d hate to cut one out at the junkyard and run into similar issues.

 

aside from taking pride in getting the job done correctly, if possible, the end goal in all of this is to clear the cel so I can pass emissions. The only good thing about covid for me has been no tickets or stops for my plates which expired in feb...

wouldn’t making the permanent bypass as you suggest here leave the cel issue?

 

Part numbers are different. The connectors are molded differently. I have never modified one to fit the other, but all the pins are there, and it looks doable. I can only assume you can use a 98 in a 97, but not the other way around as the 98 uses an extra speed sensor the 97 was never equipped with, so its doubtful the TCM is setup for it. But then again, the 98 might not work in a 97 as the TCM will be waiting for that extra speed sensor signal its never going to get, and probably trip the CEL.

97 TCM 56027951
98 TCM 56041386AA