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2G A/T Solenoid Issue?

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iiNFAMOUSCHRiS

Proven Member
264
0
Sep 3, 2013
Kalamazoo, Michigan
So, i'm looking at purchasing a stock unmolested 98 GST Auto with 140K on the clock. It'll have to be towed and is about 80 miles from my house.

The owner says the trans was freshly rebuilt, but the shop that did it crushed one of the solenoid wires and it is now grounding out to the case, which causes the car to always think it's in neutral, no matter what gear you put it in. He showed me paperwork for the ~$1,100 transmission rebuild.

Now, my question is -- does that sound logical?

Also, the receipt showed the following repairs:

Transmission Pan Gasket w/Filter: $28
Transmission Line: $20
Transmission Fluid: $35
Transmission Pump: $400
Transaxle Assembly Removal & Installation: $576
Rear Transmission Pump: $80
 
On a 2g your 4 solenoids are for reverse, 1-2, 2-3 and your lockup converter....

what you said sounds logical about it grounding out but I dont think that is an issue due to not having a neutral solenoid. I would check the transmission connections under the battery area and make sure theyre plugged in (common to be forgotten to be plugged back in), make sure the shifter cable is moving the shifter lever and finally check the big trans plug for the shifter lever and make sure its plugged in all the way.... after all that I would check the solenoids/ replace whichever one has the messed up wire
 
gotcha, i'm just hoping that the transmission isn't garbage, even though it got a fresh rebuild 2 months ago. the solenoid pack is $155 at O'Riellys in stock now.
 
If the transmission pump wasnt installed right or the converter didnt get seated all 3 steps inward when re-installing the trans back into the car then it will never circulate fluid which will make it not go into any gear and cause your exactly symptoms.... but it would be MUCH more likely that the converter isnt seated all the way in the trans and not spinning the trans pump, over the transmission shop not installing the trans pump correctly.


Even if the trans is garbage, you can find an auto fwd trans for about $300 (or get an auto AWD trans because they are much stronger from what I read, and doesn't effect anything if you don't have a tcase on the trans)
 
either way, it should be a relatively "simple" fix....mostly labor, very little cost.
 
On a 2g your 4 solenoids are for reverse, 1-2, 2-3 and your lockup converter....

what you said sounds logical about it grounding out but I dont think that is an issue due to not having a neutral solenoid. I would check the transmission connections under the battery area and make sure theyre plugged in (common to be forgotten to be plugged back in), make sure the shifter cable is moving the shifter lever and finally check the big trans plug for the shifter lever and make sure its plugged in all the way.... after all that I would check the solenoids/ replace whichever one has the messed up wire

You are correct that there are 4 solenoids, but they are better called:
Shift Solenoid A
Shift Solenoid B
Torque converter Lockup
Line Pressure

The shift solenoids work in tandem to control what forward gear is engaged.
A___B
on_on -- 1st
on_off -- 2nd
off_off -- 3rd
off_on -- 4th

They are controlled by the TCU supplying +12v to the solenoids.

The torque converter lockup solenoid only engages while the car is in 4th gear and at a cruising speed, typically about 5-15 seconds after hitting a steady highway speed.

The line pressure solenoid pulses to control the line pressure. The more it pulses, the lower the pressure in the transmission, and the softer it then shifts. It only drops the pressure to shift.

If the TCU detects a problem, it will go into a limp mode, where you will only have 3rd gear and full line pressure. This basically means all the solenoids are turned off.

Reverse is controlled through a manual valve, as is neutral. Park is just neutral but it engages a parking pawl.

To test the shift solenoids, you can check the resistance between the orange wire and ground and the yellow wire and ground. The line pressure solenoid can be check by checking the resistance between the blue and ground. These should have approximately 3 ohms resistance.

The torque converter lockup can be checked by checking the resistance between the red wire with the blue stripe and ground. This should have about 13 ohms resistance. Early 1g's had a lockup solenoid with 3 ohm resistance. If these are installed, it will burn a transistor right off the circuit board of the TCU. I know. My car has this issue.

None of these being bad should cause the car to want to stay in neutral. There is the possibility that they managed to break the manual valve when installing the valve body. This is easily done by not having the one piece inline before bolting the valve body in. I'm not sure if you can get that part on it's own.


If the TCU has a code stored, it can be read with a multimeter or test light.
http://www.plymouthlaser.com/tcucodes.htm
 
Thanks for the clarification knochgoon24.

It doesnt sound like its the problem... But the manual valve is something I that can be very easily broke when installing the valvebody back In.

In order to check that you pull the trans pan, look at the passenger side of the trans when someone moved the gear selector inside the car and you should see a long silver rod looking thing (manual valve) moving at the same time when the gear selector is moving
 
scrap this thread, the guy is convinced it's the solenoid wire and refuses to budge. Don't feel like picking up a car that needs trans work. besides, i've got another offer for a 1g tsi awd with big 16g, wally 255, GM MAF, maf-t, autometer gauge setup, big fmic, etc etc etc that i'm going to check out tomorrow. nothing wrong with it, other than some body dings & dents.

Thanks a lot everyone for your help, this is why DSMTuners is one of my favorite forums....much more helpful than other forums
 
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