95 aurora trannsmission issue. help!!

ok, i own a 95 olds aurora that has been a money pit like everyone elses. Heres my newest problem. while driving on a trip 50miles or so the chk eng lite came on, the car instantly shifted into 2nd gear and stayed there. got towed home, let sit for a few hours and started car up and drove it.The check eng light was off and car shifted through all gears fine like no problem, then as soon as hitting operating temperature the check engine light comes on and instantly down shifts into 2nd and tachs out at like 4500 rpms. again shuting of till cold, restarting its fine till it reaches operating temp. the light comes back on after hitting operating temp and back into 2nd she goes. This will happen every time i shut car down till it gets cool, once warm problem starts like stated. I pulled the codes with a snap on scanner and got code 94 gear ratio A. also got intermittant map code, but forgot that number. I dont really think a map code has anything to do with the tranny problem.. Any help at all would be so appriciated. Thanks for reading and for your time.

Po94 is is the dreaded shift solenoids. They control the shifting in the trans. will also reset when car is shut off then trans will go into second gear when they fail again.
A honest trans shop should do the job for $350 or so. I could not find one so I did it myself. $60 for the updated kit plus fluid and a couple of hours time.
Do a search on here and see if you find what you need.

You probably need the the revised shift soleenoids installed.

DTC 94
CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION
This electrical device is used to control fluid flow acting on the 1-2 and 3-4 shift valve. The solenoid is a normally open exhaust valve that is used in conjunction with the "B" solenoid to allow four different shifting combinations. The solenoid is attached to the control valve body within the transaxle. Ignition voltage is supplied directly to the "A" solenoid. The Powertrain Control Module (PCM) controls the solenoid by providing the ground path.

DTC 94 WILL SET WHEN


No DTCs 21, 22, 24, 28 and 56.
Transaxle pressure switch indicating transaxle in D1, D2, D3, or D4.
Engine operating.
Vehicle speed 7 mph or greater.
Throttle position of 15.7 degrees or greater.
Gear ratio between 1.54 and 1.71 for 2 seconds with first gear commanded.
Gear ratio between 2.87 and 3.11 for 2 seconds with second gear commanded.
Gear ratio between 0.67 and 0.71 for 2 seconds with fourth gear commanded.
ACTION TAKEN (PCM WILL DEFAULT TO)


With a current DTC 94 set, the PCM will illuminate the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) (Service Engine Soon).
The PCM allows only second gear when any forward gear is selected.
DTC 94 WILL CLEAR WHEN
The fault no longer exists and the ignition switch is cycled "OFF" and "ON."

DTC CHART TEST DESCRIPTION
Number(s) below refer to circled number(s) on the diagnostic chart.



This test checks the electrical operation of the solenoid.
This test checks the power feed to the solenoid.
DIAGNOSTIC AIDS
This diagnostic test checks whenever the commanded gear is achieved by monitoring the known ratio.

About the $350 cost, my info shows a labor time of 2.1 hours for replacing the shift solenoids (FSM), how much do dealers uaually charge per hour?

Has anyone had this done at the dealer?

thanks for the hel;p, i think we all know finding a honest shop is difficult. it sounds from the repplies that i either have a solenoid issue or a pcm issue. the pcm was replaced about six weeks ago, so im wondering if there is some kind of internal failure inside the new pcm. has anyone actually expierenced the same symptoms and was it exactly a solenooid or was it the pcm.. i know its difficult to provide a "true diagnosis" when your only reading the problem not with the car, but i DO NOT want to hear the tranny needs rebuilding or replacing because in all honesty that would exceed the book value of this car. Granted im already well past book value i dont want to spend another 3000 plus. Any help is always appriciated. Thanks again for reading my problem.

My solenoids were physically broken, so there was no intermittent thing about it, sorry.

I'd look for a transmission shop to do it for sure. You could try the lists at cartalk.com if nothing else.

You said you got the code for shift solenoids so I would think the PCM is alright. If the solenoids break it's not intermitent. When they have not yet broken they go in out with temp and pressure. Make sure you get the updated kit. It will come with both solenoids, a new filter, filter bracket(this is really the update) and longer bolt to hold bracket.

If you want to tackle the job here are the directions. It's not a bad job other than the mess. I had never worked on a trans before and did it a couple of hours in my driveway.
If you want a shop to do it at least you can be informed so you won't get ripped for big dollars.

a) drop the pan, and careful removing the tranny gasket, it is steel and re-usable. Once you clean the pan, you can reset it with gasket sealer.
c) disconnect the solenoid electrical connectors and the mechanical linkage. The linkage has a metal clip you lift and slide.
d) remove the valve body screws, and drop the valve body.
e) place the valve body where you can afford a mess, it will continually leak. Best thing is to set it on cardboard on a bench. There is a valve spool that can be removed as well, careful it can slip out, you don't want to damage it.
f) remove the two clips holding the solenoids, careful they are spring-loaded and will fly
g) remove the screws holding the "large" portion of the valve body split, this is where the solenoids are incased. Remember the screw locations, there are about four different screw lengths
h) CAREFULLY remove split, there are 4 steel check balls loose inside the split (about 1/4" diameter, they will roll away)
i) inspect spacer plate, if the black coating is not chipping off you can re-use it, otherwise plan on spending another $ 70 at the dealership parts house. If you replace it you will have to remove the "smaller" split, as well. It also has three check balls.
j) replace the solenoids
k) now comes the fun,....you will note three holes in the spacer plate where three of the check balls reside, seat them there (appr. 3/16" diameter with a smaller relief hole next to it, as I remember). The fourth check ball will need to be inserted in a spherically-cast cavity which is near one the solenoids. You can set it with grease, I re-assembled successfully without using grease.
l) re-assemble valve body, carefully and equally torque.
m) you will note a square black plastic item near one of the solenoids, on the end. Replace this plastic filter with the new filter in the solenoid kit. The kit will also come with an L-shaped bracket that is to be used to "capture" this filter and keep it from backing out. The kit also comes with a slightly longer screw used to mount the bracket to the valve body (discard the old screw).
m) re-assemble valve body to transmission, hook up linkage and electrical connectors
n) replace both tranny filters
o) replenish fluid
p) reset codes

Sweet williams, thank you so much for this valuable information. im currently a service consultant for chrysler and have access to full shop with lifts and im gonna "attempt" the job myself, but with a master tech watching carefully over me. I assume that this must be the issue with my car, because in your early forum you metioned that when shutting car off it will rset and when failing again will go back into 2nd gear and through on m.i.l. This is exactly whats going on. My only concern is that i purchased the car with 128k on it and am wondering if the update has been done yet. But i have to assume that even if it was done and i purchase another update kit it should resolve the situation anyway because its some sort of solenoid failure. Whats your opinion on that??? You info HAS BEEN VERY VALUABLE TO ME, and I do truely appriciate your help as well as all others who have invested time with my problem. I should be doing the job the week of the 7-13th and will let you know how it went. Thanks again,,

Thanks to all who helped me on this problem. I performed the revised solenoid update as recommended by sweet williams and problem solved for under 300.00 dollars. Thanks again to all and lets keep it going the way it is.

thanks for the hel;p, i think we all know finding a honest shop is difficult. it sounds from the repplies that i either have a solenoid issue or a pcm issue. the pcm was replaced about six weeks ago, so im wondering if there is some kind of internal failure inside the new pcm. has anyone actually expierenced the same symptoms and was it exactly a solenooid or was it the pcm.. i know its difficult to provide a "true diagnosis" when your only reading the problem not with the car, but i DO NOT want to hear the tranny needs rebuilding or replacing because in all honesty that would exceed the book value of this car. Granted im already well past book value i dont want to spend another 3000 plus. Any help is always appriciated. Thanks again for reading my problem.

This was exactly the failure mode I experienced with my 95, when warmed up sufficiently (about 15 to 20 minutes of driving from cold) the tranny would shift to low gear. Would reset if stopped and restarted, but would quickly fail again. There were transmission trouble codes - don't remember which, but the problem was in fact the shift solenoid(s). The dealer repaired it for about $750, but as the others say, it could be done at home in a couple hours and that's what I would do if it ever happens again. My car had 72k miles when it failed, now has 115k with no repeat problem. I've changed the PCM needlessly trying to cure another problem (which turned out to be the ignition switch) and I don't think they actually fail very often.