16x.

Today, I heard a hard "pop" sound from the transmission & now the A/T temp light flashes 16x when I start the car.

 

That's not all.

 

The transmission doesn't bind when I drive it but it DOES bind when the steering wheel is locked from end to end. Also, I have lost complete function of my FWD & the transmission feels "loose", for lack of a better word. It doesn't slip when changing gears & my mpgs are still fabulous. However, I notice a slight backwards "lurch" when I put the car in park & turn off the ignition.

 

Any insight as to what these issues might be?

Wow no fwd? I have some of those symptoms as well but the solenoid not disengaging the rear diff sounds strange. I have that lurch forward sometimes and vibration at a stop, but normal or spirited driving is as normal as could be.

 

^all of those were worse before I got all the old fluid out by just changing it twice in a months time and adding lubeguard to the last drain and fill. The vibration remains but there was a thread that explained that aftermarket cv axles could be the vibrating demon.

 

When the at light flashes like that it indicated a bad duty solenoid, there are three of them of I'm not mistaken and all have a different function...maybe look into that with some fsm's. I am not a fan of automatic transmission and do not know much about them sorry I can't help much DOHC.

Yep, the center diff clutch pack is binding. The AT Temp light might be flashing because either there's a mechanical problem and it has no control, or it itself if the issue and has failed.

 

When you heard the "pop" what were the conditions under which it happened?

Yep, the center diff clutch pack is binding. The AT Temp light might be flashing because either there's a mechanical problem and it has no control, or it itself if the issue and has failed.

 

When you heard the "pop" what were the conditions under which it happened?

 

Kenny (it's always nice to know that there is another Kenny here),

 

The origin to the dillemma is what I believe to be the accident a few weeks ago, where I drove into a deep road pit & ripped the ball joint, steering knuckle, & c/v joint out of place (c/v joint was literally torn out of front differential). The shock, as you can imagine, went through the entire car.

 

The "pop" I heard happened as I was pulling out of the driveway in reverse this morning. It felt like something decided to quit & gave way. In first gear, there is bind but it releases in 2nd gear & the car is totally driveable after that. Also, the FWD switch in the transmission works when it WANTS to, apparently.

 

The A/T Temp light stops flashing & remains off during the duration of it being driven. After which, the transmission will shift normally. The power mode works as it originally did, so that also leads me to believe that it is a mechanical issue, as you have originally suggested.

Report: The transmission binds when in reverse at all times. Doesn't matter. It releases when I shift into drive & the transmission acts normal after that. Still can't access my FWD & light still flashes 16x. It doesn't feel like it's gonna' fail at any time soon but when it does, you can be sure I'll have a 5spd swapped into it.

The only thing I can think of is clutch pack / duty-c failure. At lower speeds, the power is supposed to be around 55/45 and under normal driving the duty cycle lessens and less power is transferred to the rear. That's why there's really only bind at low speeds..

 

Let me do a little bit more reading into the transmission itself and I'll update later.

I think when you crashed you fucked the innards of your trans. Time for a manual swap.

^^ouch

I think when you crashed you fucked the innards of your trans. Time for a manual swap.

 

4 months too soon.

I'll have to ride this out. Literally.

Mods will continue as planned.

As long as the transmission shifts & doesn't bind, I'm in the green.

Work with what you have sir. The 5mt will be the final rewarding notion.

the flashing AT Temp light at start up indicates an electrical fault in the 4EAT the last time you drove the car.

 

you can read the trans code or have it read .

 

depending on what you want to accomplish, you can do some test:

1/ the ''lurch'' when shifting into P = torque bind, shift into N first and wait a bit first.

2/ drive in slow tight circles, if there is binding = bad duty c or bad clutch plates or both.

3/ put in the FWD fuse and see if the AT Temp light goes away (binding too) = duty C is good.

 

if the ''FWD fuse'' eliminates the torque bind, you can leave it in for a while and have front wheel drive only. this ages the duty c but it could last months or maybe even years?.

 

or you can pull the rear section of the drive shaft.

 

if it were not binding i might have guessed that you busted a clutch drum in the rear extension housing sending no power to the rear.

bad duty c or bad clutch plates or both.

 

This is what I'd put my money on.

1/ the ''lurch'' when shifting into P = torque bind, shift into N first and wait a bit first.

2/ drive in slow tight circles, if there is binding = bad duty c or bad clutch plates or both.

3/ put in the FWD fuse and see if the AT Temp light goes away (binding too) = duty C is good.

 

if the ''FWD fuse'' eliminates the torque bind, you can leave it in for a while and have front wheel drive only. this ages the duty c but it could last months or maybe even years?

 

1. You hit the nail on the head. I feel like when the fluid pressure in the transmission stops, the lurch happens.

2. There is binding in tight circles & in reverse. And it doesn't stop.

3. I have the FWD wired into both the fuse & the toggle switch & it does not activate at all sometimes & at other times, not at all.

 

Even when I had the FWD on, there would still be an element of bind when going into reverse but drive is totally bind-free in ALL functions. It's the reverse & sharp turning that produces the bind. In fact, I can't even tell that there is anything wrong with the car when in drive because it drives as smooth as it ever did.

i had a 95 that had intermittent binding, bad duty c, at first.

sometimes it would work, usually when cold.

often it would fail when the engine was hot and ''pushing it '' up a long grade at 70 mph.

it finally failed all together.

i never fixed it , but i always suspected the TCU.

i pulled the section of drive shaft and sold it as FWD.

 

and i have heard from a few folks that the TCU can go bad causing binding.

one guy reported scorching on the circuit board.

 

how long have you had the mod in place?

i would disconnect it just to rule that out.

 

some of the early ''4wd locked 50/50'' mods would burn up the switches. once they started adding resistors to the circuit the problem went away.

i had a 95 that had intermittent binding, bad duty c, at first.

sometimes it would work, usually when cold.

often it would fail when the engine was hot and ''pushing it '' up a long grade at 70 mph.

it finally failed all together.

i never fixed it , but i always suspected the TCU.

i pulled the section of drive shaft and sold it as FWD.

 

and i have heard from a few folks that the TCU can go bad causing binding.

one guy reported scorching on the circuit board.

 

how long have you had the mod in place?

i would disconnect it just to rule that out.

 

some of the early ''4wd locked 50/50'' mods would burn up the switches. once they started adding resistors to the circuit the problem went away.

 

I noticed this about 45 minutes ago. When the car is cool, the system will work fine & there will be no bind but when it warms up, then that's when the bind happens & continues. Once the transmission begins to bind, the ability for the car to be put into FWD is lost.

My 96 LGT would never bind until it has been driven for a bit. I believe this points directly to the duty-C and possibly the clutch pack as well.

My 96 LGT would never bind until it has been driven for a bit. I believe this points directly to the duty-C and possibly the clutch pack as well.

 

I agree. I believe that the road pit incident shook up something in the transmission (I'd have to take it apart to check) & now it's acting up bad. Nothing was wrong with it before. It was maintained properly & never beat on. I'm checking out the 5 speeds right now & they seem pretty cheap for this car. For example, a 5 speed V6 transmission costs about $1100 w/all clutch parts & no rear end.