Automatic transmission stays in 2nd gear

[Tippey764]

Alright so i found a car for my freind. The guy said it had transmission problems so i called him up and asked him the symptoms

He says

When you turn the car on and its cold it drives fine
When the car warms up the car stays in second gear it wont go to first and it wont go to third or fourth.

Im going to go drive the car tomarrow and see how it is but i wanted to know if this is the transmission itself or a TCU or somthing simple. Its a great little car a 1992 DX coupe with 150k for $900

[turboAccordHSF]

Alright so i found a car for my freind. The guy said it had transmission problems so i called him up and asked him the symptoms

He says

When you turn the car on and its cold it drives fine
When the car warms up the car stays in second gear it wont go to first and it wont go to third or fourth.

Im going to go drive the car tomarrow and see how it is but i wanted to know if this is the transmission itself or a TCU or somthing simple. Its a great little car a 1992 DX coupe with 150k for $900

i swaped tcus when this happend to me and it fixed the problem tell your friend to look for the cheapest TCU if its too much dont even bother swaping it....the car is limp moode i think try troubleshooting codes

[Tippey764]

How can i rule out the transmission is alright and will definetly not need to be dropped?

[lilb_1979]

Mine does the same thing right now.
1) Check fluid
2) Torque converter (thats what my problem it)

I have changed the TCU 3 times and that did nothing, I just got a Trans and I'm waiting to get it installed.
This could also be the problem(see pic), I meet up with a member here and he also suggested this could be the problem. (see BLUE circle)
Disregard the red arrow, was for something different.

[Tippey764]

Mine does the same thing right now.
1) Check fluid
2) Torque converter (thats what my problem it)

I have changed the TCU 3 times and that did nothing, I just got a Trans and I'm waiting to get it installed.
This could also be the problem(see pic), I meet up with a member here and he also suggested this could be the problem. (see BLUE circle)

What is the blue circle and how can i test it without swapping it out?

[lilb_1979]

Contact 19dabeast85, he's the one that told me about it. I don't know how to test them personally but he might know.

[Tippey764]

Contact 19dabeast85, he's the one that told me about it. I don't know how to test them personally but he might know.

Alright i contacted him. Maybe someone else here knows what it is though

[rcpaul]

I believe that is the shift control solenoid valve. You can test it be measuring the resistance between each of the terminals and body ground, on cd5's its supposed to be between 12 and 24 ohms, then if the resistance is within spec then connect each of the terminals to the battery and a clicking sound should be heard when each is connected, if you don't hear clicking the solenoids are bad.

[Tippey764]

I believe that is the shift control solenoid valve. You can test it be measuring the resistance between each of the terminals and body ground, on cd5's its supposed to be between 12 and 24 ohms, then if the resistance is within spec then connect each of the terminals to the battery and a clicking sound should be heard when each is connected, if you don't hear clicking the solenoids are bad.

that's exactly what I wanted to hear. Thank you. So if that isnt bad then it's the transmission itself?

[19dabeast85]

I believe that is the shift control solenoid valve. You can test it be measuring the resistance between each of the terminals and body ground, on cd5's its supposed to be between 12 and 24 ohms, then if the resistance is within spec then connect each of the terminals to the battery and a clicking sound should be heard when each is connected, if you don't hear clicking the solenoids are bad.

This is good info except the solenoid unit towards the top is the converter lockup solenoid and the solenoid unit below that is the shift solenoid. The picture above has the lockup solenoid circled in blue.

[Tippey764]

This is good info except the solenoid unit towards the top is the converter lockup solenoid and the solenoid unit below that is the shift solenoid. The picture above has the lockup solenoid circled in blue.

so where is the shift solenoid then?

[rcpaul]

Now that I looked at the picture more closely it looks like the shift control solenoid is just farther down on the transmission. The lock up control solenoid not working won't cause shifting problems. What the lock up solenoid does is bypass the torque converter in various stages (slight, half, and full), its like placing the transmission in direct drive. It is the same for testing both solenoids.

Now since the car shifts alright while its still cold makes me think its not a shift control solenoid problem, I would think it would be stuck in 2nd all the time. I think its most likely a TCU problem. If neither of those are the case it would be some other problem with the transmission itself.

Do you know if you can manually shift it? Will it go into 1st if you put the selector there? Is it stuck in 2nd in both D positions?

[19dabeast85]

Fluid condition has ALOT to do with the transmission working properly at operating temps. Burned fluid will work ok until it heats up and then it loses it's lubrication and pressure qualities and causes issues. Burned ATF will look dark colored and most of the time smell similar to an electrical burn. Check that before digging further.

[Tippey764]

Fluid condition has ALOT to do with the transmission working properly at operating temps. Burned fluid will work ok until it heats up and then it loses it's lubrication and pressure qualities and causes issues. Burned ATF will look dark colored and most of the time smell similar to an electrical burn. Check that before digging further.

Can bad fluid permanently damage the transmission? Or if i just changed it would it be good to go?

[rcpaul]

Burnt or old transmission fluid can permanently damage the transmission because it has lost at least some its lubricant properties. If you drain the fluid and there is a lot of metal shavings or chunks of metal there is very likely some permanent damage, a small amount of metal shavings is to be expected from normal wear.