Stuck in 3rd gear
07-24-2004, 11:14 PM
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Re: Best Bang for the $$, exterior 'upgrades' ??
So, this is gonna be a long story...
I have a 99 Tib with an autotragic and I'm just about annoyed enough with it now to swap out for a manual. But that will have to wait. In the meantime I seem to have a problem. It's stuck in 3rd gear. Only other one that works is reverse.
I can put it in park and neutrel and they work fine to. But as soon as I put it into Drive, D1 or D2 doesn't matter, it selects 3rd gear and stays there no matter what. The overdrive button has no effect either.
Now I'm probably responsible in some way for this. See I decided to try out the ECU upgrade from Powerchip and so had to remove the ECU and send it to them.
Well I had a little trouble finding the ECU, confused it with the TCU (Transaxle control unit, same size as the ECU, but different colour). After discovering my mistake I went back under and found the ECU, sent it to Powerchip, yada yada. After I got the ECU back (what an adventure that was) I put it back in as well as the TCU. Hooked everything up like it was before.
Now as soon as I turned the car to on and plugged my laptop into the ODB2 port I noticed right away something was odd. The diagnostics weren't coming back. I wasn't recieving anything on my laptop using Scantool. Usually I do get all sorts of data and such. This time though the sortware failed to communicate with my car.
After a bit I decided to take a chance and see if the car started. It did. Sounded fine. I put it into R and back out, then shifted to D and immediately noticed that it wasn't creeping. I added gas and it was sluggish. Really sluggish. My first thought was that the ECU was horribly downgraded. Drove it more though and got up to about 120 kph and noticed it was now working fine. My buddy in the passenger seat though noticed it had never shifted gears anywhere up to there.
So. The ECU is working just fine, but for some reason the tranny is locked in 3rd.
Now the odd thing is I have this intermittent CEL. It goes on and off. I of course can't pull the trouble code cause the ODB isn't working anymore.
I have the shop manual and I ran through the troubleshooting for the problem. I ruled most things out. I'm left with the electrical side of things basically. Which makes sense since that was the part I've been tinkering with.
I checked all the connections and stuff and they look fine. This seems to me to leave me with the "TCU defective or not functioning properly" item in the troubleshooting table. Yet it was fine before. I don't see how changing the ECU code would screw up the TCU.
It being the weekend I haven't talked to the Powerchip dudes yet about this. I will first thing monday.
In the meantime anyone got any ideas?
I have a 99 Tib with an autotragic and I'm just about annoyed enough with it now to swap out for a manual. But that will have to wait. In the meantime I seem to have a problem. It's stuck in 3rd gear. Only other one that works is reverse.
I can put it in park and neutrel and they work fine to. But as soon as I put it into Drive, D1 or D2 doesn't matter, it selects 3rd gear and stays there no matter what. The overdrive button has no effect either.
Now I'm probably responsible in some way for this. See I decided to try out the ECU upgrade from Powerchip and so had to remove the ECU and send it to them.
Well I had a little trouble finding the ECU, confused it with the TCU (Transaxle control unit, same size as the ECU, but different colour). After discovering my mistake I went back under and found the ECU, sent it to Powerchip, yada yada. After I got the ECU back (what an adventure that was) I put it back in as well as the TCU. Hooked everything up like it was before.
Now as soon as I turned the car to on and plugged my laptop into the ODB2 port I noticed right away something was odd. The diagnostics weren't coming back. I wasn't recieving anything on my laptop using Scantool. Usually I do get all sorts of data and such. This time though the sortware failed to communicate with my car.
After a bit I decided to take a chance and see if the car started. It did. Sounded fine. I put it into R and back out, then shifted to D and immediately noticed that it wasn't creeping. I added gas and it was sluggish. Really sluggish. My first thought was that the ECU was horribly downgraded. Drove it more though and got up to about 120 kph and noticed it was now working fine. My buddy in the passenger seat though noticed it had never shifted gears anywhere up to there.
So. The ECU is working just fine, but for some reason the tranny is locked in 3rd.
Now the odd thing is I have this intermittent CEL. It goes on and off. I of course can't pull the trouble code cause the ODB isn't working anymore.
I have the shop manual and I ran through the troubleshooting for the problem. I ruled most things out. I'm left with the electrical side of things basically. Which makes sense since that was the part I've been tinkering with.
I checked all the connections and stuff and they look fine. This seems to me to leave me with the "TCU defective or not functioning properly" item in the troubleshooting table. Yet it was fine before. I don't see how changing the ECU code would screw up the TCU.
It being the weekend I haven't talked to the Powerchip dudes yet about this. I will first thing monday.
In the meantime anyone got any ideas?
07-24-2004, 11:56 PM
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Re: Lean
Goto the wrecking yard and pick up an unmodded ECU and TCU and swap them into the car, if it shifts fine then replace the ecu with the "modded one" and if it goes back then something is wrong.
This is not the cheapest way to trouble shoot but about the only option you have right now.
This is not the cheapest way to trouble shoot but about the only option you have right now.
07-25-2004, 09:04 AM
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Re: Members
Unfortunatly, the ablve may be right. Have you unplugged the TCU and looked at it and the plugs that hook it into the wiring harness.. you could have a bent or broken pin as well.
07-25-2004, 09:36 AM
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Re: Stuck in 3rd gear
Hmmm. Now there's a thought. I've been checking the wiring on the harness. I hadn't thought to check the actual module to see if one of the pins got bent. DOH!
Thanks guys. Hopefully it's a bent pin, otherwise I guess I'll be phoning around to the wreckers on monday.
Thanks guys. Hopefully it's a bent pin, otherwise I guess I'll be phoning around to the wreckers on monday.
07-25-2004, 02:13 PM
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Re: Squeeling Power Steering Belt
You might also want to check for a good ground. There is still a chance you fried it when handling it out of the car... I just hope not
07-25-2004, 04:57 PM
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Re: Best Bang for the $$, exterior 'upgrades' ??
Well I checked the ECU and TCU for bent pins. They were all good. I made sure the connectors where in there good and solid (again) and its still stuck in 3rd gear.
As to the ground, I don't even know which lead is the ground. I've been trying to find a decent pin out diagram but neither my shop manual nor Webtech seems to cover that.
As to the ground, I don't even know which lead is the ground. I've been trying to find a decent pin out diagram but neither my shop manual nor Webtech seems to cover that.
07-28-2004, 05:58 PM
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Re: What tires should I get?
I hate to double post, but I thought I'd give this thread a bump and post some closure.
I got a TCU from a wreckers, it arrived today and I slapped it in and my tranny works again. So obviously I fried my old TCU or something. Very odd.
Anyway, I'm back up and running now, so probably this weekend I'll see if this Powerchip ECU upgrade makes any difference.
Thanks for the help guys!
I got a TCU from a wreckers, it arrived today and I slapped it in and my tranny works again. So obviously I fried my old TCU or something. Very odd.
Anyway, I'm back up and running now, so probably this weekend I'll see if this Powerchip ECU upgrade makes any difference.
Thanks for the help guys!
07-28-2004, 07:06 PM
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Re: Pay Pal class action settlement
Yeah, I *thought* I was being careful about that. Apparently not though.
Funny really. I'm a computer technician. I've yanked sensitive parts from thousands of big expensive computers with only taking minimal static precautions and never fried a single one.
And then I manage to do it to a computer in my car that is all nicely protected and I was actively trying *not* to fry... figures.
Oh well, that'll teach me to be more careful.
Funny really. I'm a computer technician. I've yanked sensitive parts from thousands of big expensive computers with only taking minimal static precautions and never fried a single one.
And then I manage to do it to a computer in my car that is all nicely protected and I was actively trying *not* to fry... figures.
Oh well, that'll teach me to be more careful.