boom Posted October 18, 2005 Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 We have a '94 Concours with about 100k miles on it. A couple of years ago my husband changed out the A & B solonoids - thanks to ya'll's help. Now lately, we've been getting a PO39 code regularly, and we know what that is. But this morning as I was heading out of town I noticed that the car wasn't shifting out of 2nd gear. There was no power loss and no SES light and NO CODES. If you have any ideas or suggestions we would REALLY appreciate input. Thanks in advance!! Becky & Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 If I recall correctly, the new solenoid kit came with a bracet to hold them in place and prevent it from reoccuring. Did he instal it? Sure sounds like a shift solenoid failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom Posted October 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 Yes, he installed it with the longer screw that came with it. Thanks for responding Larry. We are going thru our shop service manual now, trying to figure out why the ses light didn't come and give us a code. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 Yeah, a shift solenoid should throw a code but I seem to recall someone once say that it could fail and not throw one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMWburner Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 My solenoids didn't throw a code off the bat. Having to replace your shift solenoids more than once would suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAUL T Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 Your answer maybe with the P039-TCC engagement problem. I would start there in the manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldgamer Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 Try to diagnose and as much info as possible. Go to computer data mode and some data. I don't remember for sure, I guess PD071 shows the gear code. It shows you something like 111 or 101 for example. After you start the engine, go to that mode and manualy shift from P to all gears. Check what it reads. In P or N it should be the same. Otherwize it should be different codes. Verify codes you got with a book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldgamer Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 Sory, forget what I told you. Paul is right: just follow thje manual to track down code P039. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom Posted October 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 IT'S WORKING!!!! It may just be a reprieve. The past few days we have just mainly been pacing and scratching our heads. This afternoon my husband went out and did the thing you(oldgamer) told us to do, while I was reading info in the manual about PCM, TCC, etc. Well, anyway after sitting there in the car and shifting gears over and over, Mick decides to drive it down the road again. He comes in the house and says, "It's working - give me some beer money." Of course, I told him he was lying, and he couldn't drive it to the beer store which is several miles from here. The car is shifting just fine now, and he did go to the beer store. Mick thinks that maybe all that shifting back and forth had something to do with it, like maybe knocking some debris loose. He's talking about changing the transmission fluid and filter. He said to ask ya'll about that. I'm sort of wondering if that might be just a lot of work for nothing, and asking for trouble. This is all strange - the car would shift from 1st to 2nd all week, and now it shifts just great. Does this type thing happen often? I realize that we probably should'nt trust it, and just wait for it to happen again. Mick is more optimistic - but he's not back from the beer store yet. We thank ya'll so much for the input and support. My opinion - Because of this forum financially challenged people(like us) can own Cadillacs!! Becky & Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldgamer Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 I'm glad that Mick is on a optimistic side, but I think that it can be back in any time, we don't know a real cause. I hope like you, that it was a debris or something like that and now it's laying on a bottom. You can find a lot of info about changing transmission oil. The most important thing: don't do the flash. Just drain, clean the pan and refill. I afraid to advice to change transmission oil now, after some trouble happened to other caddy owner. He got fluid changed, but they did a sloppy work and damaged solenoid, which broke soon after. But if it's done correctly it can't bring any harm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom Posted October 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 Well, we're still in the woods. We drove out of town a bit, and the shifting messed up. This time there was some new erratic stuff going on (besides not wanting to shift out of second) , sort of an in and out thing ... can't describe it...sort of shifting indiscriminately-like from 4th to 3rd and back. We got back home and decided to order parts Monday. The main thing I want to ask is, "What is code A040?" It came after "No IPC codes" in history. We have never seen It before. Does it have something to do with suspension? We have'nt been able to find it in the manual. Thanks again for your time. Mick & Becky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted October 23, 2005 Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 A040 .......................................... Air Mix Valve (Door) Circuit Problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acklac7 Posted October 23, 2005 Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 This time there was some new erratic stuff going on (besides not wanting to shift out of second) , sort of an in and out thing ... can't describe it...sort of shifting indiscriminately-like from 4th to 3rd and back. We got back home and decided to order parts Monday. Hmmmm...These symptoms sound familiar. Just to clarify: While driving in "D"...It shifts into first and then into second without any problems...then at the 3rd gear shift point (40mph?) everything goes wacko...and the rpm's fluctuate rapidly between 3000 and 4500 (respectively) Correct? A.J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom Posted October 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 Yes, that's exactly right, except for the times that it shifts from 1st to 2nd and stays in 2nd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acklac7 Posted October 23, 2005 Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 Yea had this exact problem when I "fixed" my solenoids and forgot to install the "L" bracket that came with the update kit. Now it only happened once or twice. My theory went something like this: First and Second shifts went fine. At the 3rd gear shift point trans. fluid would pass through the solenoid filter and attempt to pressurize the solenoids. The force of the fluid partially popped the filter out of the housing. This allowed for some fluid to drain into the pan, and some to pressurize the solenoids. The result? The solenoids received "partial" pressurization, causing them to partially function...This is where you get the "I wanna shift...I wanna shift" 3000-4500 rpm issue. Eventually the fluid forced the filter completely out of the housing and all of the fluid drained back into the pan... And at that point it wouldn't shift out of 2nd..... period. Now I understand you did install the bracket that came with update kit. So I think Mick is right, there debris somewhere in the trans (maybe in the valve body?) that is restricting the fluid from reaching the solenoids. Draining the fluid and replacing the filter is exactly where I would start..Good luck!....A.J. A.J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom Posted October 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 Thanks A. J. - we've been watching for your post. We are going to get started on the car soon. Since we live in "podunk" we usually have to order parts for our Cadillac (poor baby). She's been a good girl since Mick did this job about 16K miles ago. We'll let you know how it goes, and thanks to everyone for your interest and suggestions! Becky & Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom Posted October 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 This past weekend we drained the transmission oil, inspected and cleaned everything. The solenoids checked out to be good but the spacer plate gasket looked a little suspect to us, so we replaced it. The pan did have "some" trash in it and some gunk on that magnet - but we don't know how much is a lot. We're thinking the debris in the pan was a small amount. Well, anyway, we put in the new fluid and closed her up, and she's shifting just fine for now. We've put about 200 miles on the car with no problems. We're thinking about ordering that chip/prom for the PCM in hopes of getting rid of the P039 code. We've read information about it in the archives which leads us to think it's a good idea, but also read in discussion board that the chip doesn't really fix anything but just makes the PCM less sensitive to setting the code. I don't know if what I just said made ANY sense. I'm guessing the new chip changes some parameters. Is that right? Thanks to everybody, Becky & Mick P.S. We're gonna make a "mobile" out of all our old transmission parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom Posted November 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Just an update - Our car is still shifting just fine. Of course, we have the TCC(P039) problem and are still thinking about ordering that chip/prom. If that doesn't fix it, we will at least change the ATF once a year. We appreciated everyone's input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldgamer Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 You didn't check the "slippage speed" data yet I guess (check my other post). It's still interesting to know and it's not hard to do. I would do it in first place, it's really informative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom Posted November 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Are you talking about going into the computer data mode and checking the gear codes? If so, we did that. Maybe we need to do it again. But I bet you're talking about something that requires a tach, which we don't have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acklac7 Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 This past The solenoids checked out to be good but the spacer plate gasket looked a little suspect to us, so we replaced it. The pan did have "some" trash in it and some gunk on that magnet - but we don't know how much is a lot. My bet is that a piece of the spacer plate broke off and was clogging the valve body. In regards to the fluid...I think it's common to have a small amount of material in the bottom of the pan, just as long as the fluid doesn't smell burnt. ...Glad to hear everything is working out! A.J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnikelshpu Posted November 12, 2005 Report Share Posted November 12, 2005 I had a very simillar problem for about a year. The car would not shift from 2nd to 3rd -- sounds like transmission, selenoids...right? EXCEPT that this happened ONLY when it got worm. In early fall it did not work. Winter it worked fine, and in spring it would work at night, but would not shift out of 2nd during the day. What I noticed in an above post is that the tranny spontaneously worked for a while, and then did not work again. I wonder if it were cooler when did work? After myriad mechanics and transmission shops I took the car to a diagnistic center. MY problem was diagnosed to be, if i recall correctly, some wires coming out of the computer. I believe they were burned. The fix cost less than the diagnoses (around $150 altogether). Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldgamer Posted November 13, 2005 Report Share Posted November 13, 2005 Are you talking about going into the computer data mode and checking the gear codes? If so, we did that. Maybe we need to do it again. But I bet you're talking about something that requires a tach, which we don't have. I'm talking about slippage speed data. It possible to check it without any special tools (on car with OBD I, like yours). I guess it's a PD071, but verify just in case. Set computer in that mode and check that data when TCC applied (gear 4, stable speed around 45-50 mph). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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