Pontiac engine turns off when waiting to pay toll on highway!

[mrspongebob]

I bought a used 1993 Pontiac Grand Am Se, 115,000 original miles, six
months ago for $2000. Once I bought the car, I spent $1,000 for
new tires, allignment, and other accessories because I had to travel
200 miles to a different state. The car drove pretty good, except
at the highway toll, the engine stops running and I had to start
the engine to have the car running again.
Afterwards, I wanted to return back to my original state, so I took
my car to the mechanic to have this problem fixed. He changed
the brakes, shocks, sensors for gears, complete tuning, oil change,
etc, etc, and charged me more than $1400 for parts and labor. Now, the car problem that I orginally had is even worse. Now when I stop at the toll, the engine turns off, and after I start the engine and the moment I put the car in the gear, the engine turns off again and it continues unless I put my left foot on the brake, and right foot on the gas, and give a lot of gas at the same time that I change the gear to drive, while slowly releasing the brake. Then the car zooms forward and then it runs normally until the next toll on the highway, or at any other stop, hense I have to drive the car on the right lane only.
I can also correct this problem by putting the car in reverse gear
while one foot is on the gas, and the other is on the brake, for
even an inch, and the problem gets corrected.
If the car is driven on the highway for more than 50 miles per hour,
even for couple of minutes, this problem occurs because it thinks
that it is at the highest gear and that's why if I reduce the speed to
5 miles per hour, it starts giving jerks and eventually, the engine
turns off. Could you advise me on how to get this problem fixed.
Other than that, the car drives exceptionally well, and the car looks
pretty brand new.

Your help is greatly appreciated,

[cbyrd]

'93 pontiac GA se quad 4 SOHC.i went through hell and back to get my car back on the road.it ended up being the type of spark plugs i used(bosch platinum +4).i put some a/c delco plugs in and the problem was fixed...until today when i went to stop and the car jurked a couple times and stalled.it would start back up but when i put it in gear it stalled again.i waited 10 minutes and it ran fine.i've read just about every post in here and it seems like everybody advises you to get the TCC on the tranny replaced($230-$250).i'm not sure if that's what the part costs or if that incudes labor but i'll atempt to replace it myself.good luck.

[AntiF]

My 92' Olds Achieva S -with the Quad Four- had the same problem. Whenever I'd stop, it'd stall even though it was an automatic. The only way I could prevent it would be to put it in neutral. Now, this was a while ago, like 2000... so pardon if I'm wrong... but if I remember correctly, there was some sort of problem with the brake lines and they were fucking with some sensors or something and causing the car to just... die. It didnt cost a whole helluva lot to fix, but that might've been because my family has a decent friendship with our mechanic. My suggestion? Despite how much more it could cost than going to an average joe shop... take it to a Pontiac dealership.

[Markgase2000]

Thats your best bet. AntiF has a good point.

[achievasc92]

tcc solenoid, it goes out pretty often on the th125 (3-speed) Basically your torque convertor locks up at highway speeds (like its supposed to) but never diengages when you slow down.

[C_Sephiroth]

I am going to agree with Achieva on this one

[mrspongebob]

Originally Posted by achievasc92

tcc solenoid, it goes out pretty often on the th125 (3-speed) Basically your torque convertor locks up at highway speeds (like its supposed to) but never diengages when you slow down.

Hello everyone,

I appreciate your responses. Please tell me how to fix this problem, and how much it will cost if I take it a mechanic. Is there any specialized mechanic I should take my car to.

[grfnkl]

I would definetly agree and say it's the Torque Converter. I did not change this myself, since it seemed to be rather intensive, (from what i was told, plus I didn't have the resources) I brought my car to a mobil station that had a garage and they did it in a few hours, The car has been fine since. It costed me about $250 to have it replaced. It's about the going cost. The only thing i had to do was go to several garages to find out if they COULD repair my car. Or you can try any transmission shop but you might pay more.

[achievasc92]

if the torque convertor is still in decent condition (it hasn't been warped frombeing constantly engaged) then its only around a 200-250 job to get the solenoid replaced. If the TC is damaged then it will be more, but I'm not sure how much.

[aceofspades749]

yeah i had the same problem
the problem is the TCC solenoid
its very common with that type of transmission
get the TCC solenoid replaced, and youll be in good shape

[mrspongebob]

Hello everyone,

I get educated every time you all reply:-)

I spoke with one gentleman, and he was saying to disconnect the Torque Converter, and if the problem is still there, then replace this with a new Torque Converter Soleniod, which will cost me around $150.

I seem to be confused with all the terminology. Please clarify and I appreciate:

1. Torque Converter
2. Torque Converter Solenoid
3. TCC
4. TCC soleniod
5. Soleniod

If possible, please tell me the differences among them.

Thanks and I really appreciate



From grfnkl:
I would definetly agree and say it's the Torque Converter. I did not change this myself, since it seemed to be rather intensive, (from what i was told, plus I didn't have the resources) I brought my car to a mobil station that had a garage and they did it in a few hours, The car has been fine since. It costed me about $250 to have it replaced. It's about the going cost. The only thing i had to do was go to several garages to find out if they COULD repair my car. Or you can try any transmission shop but you might pay more.

From achievasc92:
if the torque convertor is still in decent condition (it hasn't been warped frombeing constantly engaged) then its only around a 200-250 job to get the solenoid replaced. If the TC is damaged then it will be more, but I'm not sure how much.

From aceofspades749:
yeah i had the same problem
the problem is the TCC solenoid
its very common with that type of transmission
get the TCC solenoid replaced, and youll be in good shape

My original message:
I bought a used 1993 Pontiac Grand Am Se, 115,000 original miles, six months ago for $2000. Once I bought the car, I spent $1,000 for new tires, allignment, and other accessories because I had to travel 200 miles to a different state. The car drove pretty good, except at the highway toll, the engine stops running and I had to start the engine to have the car running again.
Afterwards, I wanted to return back to my original state, so I took my car to the mechanic to have this problem fixed. He changed the brakes, shocks, sensors for gears, complete tuning, oil change, etc, etc, and charged me more than $1400 for parts and labor. Now, the car problem that I orginally had is even worse. Now when I stop at the toll, the engine turns off, and after I start the engine and the moment I put the car in the gear, the engine turns off again and it continues unless I put my left foot on the brake, and right foot on the gas, and give a lot of gas at the same time that I change the gear to drive, while slowly releasing the brake. Then the car zooms forward and then it runs
normally until the next toll on the highway, or at any other stop, hense I have to drive the car on the right lane only.
I can also correct this problem by putting the car in reverse gear while one foot is on the gas, and the other is on the brake, for even an inch, and the problem gets corrected.
If the car is driven on the highway for more than 50 miles per hour, even for couple of minutes, this problem occurs because it thinks that it is at the highest gear and that's why if I reduce the speed to 5 miles per hour, it starts giving jerks and eventually, the engine turns off.
Could you advise me on how to get this problem fixed. Other than that, the car drives exceptionally well, and the car looks pretty brand new.

Your help is greatly appreciated,

[Uncle_Adolf]

You can just unplug the TCC, it'll take care of the stalling but at the expense of some highway fuel mileage. Open your hood, and on the drivers side of the engine compartment, look down. There should be a plug with 2 or 3 wires I believe coming out of it. Grab the head of the plug and give it a pull. If you pulled the right one, your torque converter won't lock up, this will take care of the stalling problem. It doesn't hurt them, my brother has a 90 Cavalier RS 3.1/auto with his TCC unplugged, he put 60,000 miles on it with it unplugged.

[mrspongebob]

Originally Posted by Uncle_Adolf

You can just unplug the TCC, it'll take care of the stalling but at the expense of some highway fuel mileage. Open your hood, and on the drivers side of the engine compartment, look down. There should be a plug with 2 or 3 wires I believe coming out of it. Grab the head of the plug and give it a pull. If you pulled the right one, your torque converter won't lock up, this will take care of the stalling problem. It doesn't hurt them, my brother has a 90 Cavalier RS 3.1/auto with his TCC unplugged, he put 60,000 miles on it with it unplugged.

I really appreciate this information. How do I know that I pulled the right plug, without having to test the car for stalling? As you said, I persume that they connect this plug to save the gas on the highway, am I right? Please explain if possible.

I really really appreciate your reply, thanks in advance.