Engine Stall As Soon As Gears Are Put In "D'',or "2"

Your torque converter lockup solenoid is probably sticky. Very common problem. Bob

I will second that opinion. My 83 Olds Cutlass with a 2.5 liter 4 banger began having this problem by getting balky and almost stalling as I slowed to a stop after freeway driving. Finally, same symptoms as you describe, and allowing it to sit for 30 minutes got it going again. Very strange how immediately and quickly the engine is killed, despite revving it a bit in neutral before engaging D or R. It's been 60k miles since, and it looks like the GM replacement is lasting better than the original.

Ed

Most likely the TCC solenoid...torque converter clutch...It is inside the side tranny pan by the front drivers tire..Not to hard of a job..... Getting the pan off is the hardest thing.... you can get the solenoid at Advance Auto for about 23.00.

You can test it and disable it by unhooking the square appox 1 inch connector at eth top of trans.. It has 4 wires on it. IT is a black plastic push in quick connector style...... This will keep the TCC from locking up at all but will make your check engine light go on but it wont hurt anything to drive it this way until you get it fixed.

Thank you very much for the infor Bob, but what's the fix?

Thanks again.

John

Thank you very much Ed, Could you please suggest any fix to this problem? You help are much appreciated.

John

Thank you very much Dodo,

Could you please let me have some idea about how difficult/easy of this replacement job may be, for a half-skilled backyard mechanic? Obviously, the front driverside wheel has to come off for access the bolt of the Tranny case, what about the solenoid itself, is it just bolted to somewhere and has nothing to do with any parts inside the tranny gear box?

Thanks again for your kindly help!

John

Once you get the side cover off the solenoid is very easy to change. Bob

I didn't have the facilities to pull the trans cover, so I just dropped the car at my friendly Cadillac dealer for an official GM replacement. IIRC, I paid about $300 for the replacement. The car was about 15 years old, but only had about 45k miles. And as I said, with 60k more miles on the replacement part, there's still no sign of any problems. Other posters say this is a moderately easy job, so you may think it's worth it to try it yourself. Personally, I think I'd let the dealer do it.

Ed

in the front of the tranny, there's an electrical plug. disconnect the plug and it may do the trick. the converter lock-up is not releasing and it's like putting it into gear with the clutch not depressed. i had an exact problem with the granddaughter's cavalier. it'll not lock up and won't hurt the tranny but it will use a little more fuel. good luck, sammmm

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who have helped in solving my problem.

I would like to put an record here on how I fixed the Tcc solenoid as a token to help those who might have the same problem now or in the future.

Due to the fact that my tranny also needs service, so I changed the tranny fluid and the bottom filter while I replace the solenoid.

1). disconnect the negative terminal of the battery, remove the front driver side wheel, jack up the vehicle and put a jack stand (or big block of wood) to secure the vehicle;

2). service the tranny as usual, i.e., remove the bottom pan and the filter, clean the pas, put new pas gasket, put new filter and bolt the pas back to the tranny, BUT DO NOT PUT THE TRANNY FLUID IN YET!!!!

3). remove the air filter and its housing, as well as the intake pipe, remove the battery, the air-intake-housing support bracket, remove the mudgard in the whell well on the driver side;

4). remove the tranny fluid cooling tube on the tranny side (there is a bolt behind it), remove the side-cover bolts (11 pieces),there is a bold hide behind the bottom chassis, but there is enough room between the side-cover and the chassis frame to undo the bolt), there will be small amount of tranny fluid drip out, so put a bucket or a pas underneath while removing the side-cover;

5). remove the Tcc solenoid with a torqux Tx25 drive, there is only one screw on the 3T40 tranny (also called TH125C), cut the old wires at the solenoid end, leave about 1 inch, crimp the new solenoid to the wires, red to red, blakc to black, bolt the new solenoid onto the tranny to specific torq;

6). replace the side-cover gasket, bolt back the side-cover, put back all the parts that have been removed before,

7). FILL UP THE TRANNY WITH TRANNY FLUID!!!!!!!!

8). start the vehicle, wait to warm up, check the tranny fluid level while the engine is edle;

9). enjoy your success!

highway driving you should replace it.