98 Civic fuel economy: torque converter lockup?

Question

[snip]Hi guys,A few months ago I posted about my poor fuel economy, and how Isuspected an electrical problem.Suddenly I'm getting mid to upper 30's MPG, and I think I know why:I'm pretty sure the torque converter wasn't locking up at highwayspeeds. I haven't the faintest idea where to even starttroubleshooting something like this, or if it would even be worth thetime and effort on a 10 year old vehicle with 150k miles.... But I*was* thinking of wiring up a manual override toggle switch, if itstops working again. Get on the highway, set the cruise, and flip theswitch.Any thoughts?

jim beam · Accepted Answer

you can hear whether the converter is locking - and see revs if you have a tacho. it's the "fifth gear" rev drop.

if the solenoid is defective, it's relatively cheap and easily replaceable. you should also get a code on the ecu. if it's not working, but you get no code, check whether the ecu's giving signal to the solenoid. wire an led in parallel with the solenoid circuit and you can see it activate. or not. tegger has pics of the tool i made for this exact task this past winter.

randyoo · Answer

Jim,Thanks for the reply!That makes perfect sense: find out if the ECU is telling it to lock ornot, and then I'll know if it's the solenoid or the signal out of theECU. I assumed it was the ECU not giving the signal to lockup, but nowI've got an idea of where to start now, at least. Thanks!

motsco_ · Answer

====================================If your thermostat is opening too early, or your reservoir isn't full enough, (air in cooling system) the computer never generates the lock-up signal. Check both.'Curly'

98 Civic fuel economy: torque converter lockup?

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