1988 Grand Am Auto Trans Problems

My 88 Grand Am runs great with its little 2.5L motor..the only problem I'm having is when i drive the car for about 20min at high way speeds, when i stop the transmission stays in high gear..it won't downshift to first gear...i have to pull over to the side of the road and wait till the trans cools down...if not i have to put it in "N" and start the motor and rev it up and shift it into 1st gear.....
any idea whats going on with my trans?

Welcome to AF !

It's most likly your Torque Converter Clutch Solenoid -TCC.
You can unplug the trans wire harness and see if it stops doing it. Though you mpg will drop if you drove it this way.

Here is a link for the TCC repair-replacement.
http://autorepair.about.com/library/weekly/aa011703a.htm

Hope that helps.

Not enough information.

Does it kill the engine when you stop? If so, then it is most likely the Torque Converter Clutch solenoid gone bad. To check this, open the hood and look down on the front of the transmission on the drivers side of the car. There is a plugin connector there. unplug the connector and drive it again. If the problem goes away, then that is your problem. You can continue to drive with this disconnected without harming anything. You will not have overdrive with it unplugged but if you do mostly city driving you won't notice anyhing difference. You can have this replaced but it will cost you some bucks. It is under the side cover on the tranny if you want to tackle it yourself.

If the problem is still there, then you have a tranny problem either in the valve body or else where.

Welcome to AF !

It's most likly your Torque Converter Clutch Solenoid -TCC.
You can unplug the trans wire harness and see if it stops doing it. Though you mpg will drop if you drove it this way.

Here is a link for the TCC repair-replacement.
http://autorepair.about.com/library/weekly/aa011703a.htm

Hope that helps.


Thanks for this advice..i'll try un-plugging it first and see if its the problem....