TCC solenoid 89 Cavalier

My Cavalier will sometimes stall at stops or when I put it in gear.
I have seen the post on the TCC solenoid. I think thats the problem.
It seem my cooling fan is going out, the engine isn't overheating but
could the Transmission be overheating and causing the TCC solenoid to
stick? I also unpluged the park/neutral switch and pluged it back in, and the problem went away. I was also thinking of hooking up a switch to TCC solenoid so next time it happens I could hit the switch and if the car goes, then thats the problem right.

Thanks,

Just unplug the TCC connector. The TCC solenoid would lock up when it built up heat after a while, you could replace it but just unplug it and drive....I did.

just unplug it, the only time the tcc kicks in is when youre cruisin and im sure youll only lose 1-3 mpg. i dont think putting a switch on it would help you much since the thing is stuck mechanically in the position to engage the tcc anyway.

Thanks guys, I see a two wire plug below the air intake on the front of the transmission. Is that the TCC sol.

Yep.

Don't listen to these idiots, NEVER unplug that sensor. Yeah, they're right...it'll stop what your problem is, but it also shoots your highway mileage to shit. If you're getting it locked up, its from highway driving then going back down to city driving speeds. The part is NOT that expensive and it only takes about 30 minutes to fix properly. You can do it with simple tools, a gasket/forma-gasket, and a jack.

Go here for a walthru
http://www.v6z24.com/howto/tcc

As for your question, no that thing on top of the tranny is NOT the solenoid, its the TCC Lockup Solenoid Sensor. This walkthru will show you how to replace the actual TCC Lockup Solenoid.

Oh yeah, and as an FYI, the TCC Lockup Solenoid going bad is very common on the 2.8/3.1.

Thanks for the help everyone, I unpluged it and the problem is gone. I'm going to give it a couple a weeks to make sure before I try to replace it. I also replaced the cooling fan, the old one was bad.

You don't know what a TCC Lockup does, do you? Its basically your fourth gear...and you no longer have it. Good luck with the highway mileage.

seriously dude i dont like being called an idiot. secondly its not a huge deal to unplug it to test it. and a lot of people cant fix things immediately but if the problem is patched temporarily so they can get around to fixing it when the time comes and still use the vehicle without anything bad happening then i dont see a problem with it. youre right, the thing isnt hard to replace, unbolt the side pan and follow the directions that come with the new solenoid. i would rather lose a some MPG than having to fight with a converter stuck in lockup.

seriously dude i dont like being called an idiot. secondly its not a huge deal to unplug it to test it. and a lot of people cant fix things immediately but if the problem is patched temporarily so they can get around to fixing it when the time comes and still use the vehicle without anything bad happening then i dont see a problem with it. youre right, the thing isnt hard to replace, unbolt the side pan and follow the directions that come with the new solenoid. i would rather lose a some MPG than having to fight with a converter stuck in lockup.
As an alternative, consider realizing that the TCC Lockup Solenoid going bad is like waking up one day to find your balls have dropped...you just deal with it. As such, you replace the part which will inevitably break and, in this case, clearly is broken, and stop being lazy.

Also, don't know about you, but mine didn't come with instructions. And without a nice walkthrough from someone who does it, you'll have a bitch trying to:
1 - Get all the bolts off the valve body cover.
2 - Get the Valve Body Cover to clear the A-Frame.
3 - Know which wires to splice where and how.

and you get pictures.

i just encountered the TCC solenoid problem today... i got a 90 cavalier for free off of a buddy of mine and i had to get it on the road right away as a temporary replacement car for my girlfriend (she just wrecked a saturn that i got her and i cant throw the body parts from the junkyard on it until i get insurance estimates), but with the exception of the saturn and an older camaro i once had, i never really had any experience with GM cars. but i was told that it was stalling at stop signs and would only start out properly if you manually downshifted... of course the first thing i did was search for the problem online and i found this forum... now that the thing is on the road and running with the plug pulled, i cant really see a reason for ever wanting to change that solenoid unless i planned on doing alot of daily highway driving, so as far as i'm concerned the cheap fix is the best fix...


I also have a question for those hardcore GM guys out there... i might be able to get my hands on a turbo with intake/exhaust manifolds from a sunbird turbo.. does anyone know if these manifolds will match up with the head on a 90 cavalier 4 cylinder motor? if so i might consider keeping this car a little longer

rboyer -
1 - That's just lazy
2 - Sunbird 2.0's = OHC. Cavalier = OHV. The two aren't interchangeable.

so you're saying for a fact that the turbo exhaust manifold from a sunbird will not fit on a cavalier motor? because that was my question.. it has nothing to do with valves, just the bolt pattern measurement

They're two different motors...so...no...