2001 2.2 Shift Solenoid

Hello, my girlfriend drives a 2001 Cavi w/ the 2.2l, auto. A few months after she got the car, the transmission started screwing up. basically, shifting from second to third, the tranny tries to shift into 3rd but has to try a few times before it does. We brought it to the local dealer and he said he thought it was possible a solenoid was faulty. This was almost 2 years ago. My gf doesnt have alot of money and was afraid the transmission would have to be pulled and spend hundreds of dollars. The car still does it, but has only gotten slightly worse since, but is still completely driveable.

Anyway, earlier this week I changed the fluid and filter in my car (89 chev), and when searching online i found a couple of pages that said shift solenoids were located in the pan. Are the solenoids in this transmission located in the pan? if so is it as easy as dropping the pan and just changing them? I was planning on doing a fluid change anyway to see if it helped.

I believe the solenoids on this require the removal of the valve body, but I don't do transmission work, I'm sure someone will know.

First, I would try a transmission flush. BG makes a kit that I use and works great. If you only drop the pan and add fluid, the new fluid cleans out the varnish and is then unable to hold it all in suspension, which leads to a clogged filter and could even make the shifting problem worse. It's not a guaranteed fix, but I'd guess it probably needs a flush anyway.

Thanks for the tip, J-ri, ill look for that stuff when i get around to doin this stuff.

Does anybody know for sure where the solenoids are? Its bone stock, which leads me to believe its a 3 speed with lockup?

They have both 3 and 4 speeds from the factory. Look at the gear shifter to know. 4 speed will have P R N (D) D 2 1, 3 speed will have P R N D 2 1. No more help from me, but transaxle probably makes a difference for replacing the solenoid if a trans flush doesn't fix it so maybe you can get that info before a transmission guy comes along.

Checked, It is a 3 speed.

Since it's a 3-speed it's non-electronic and doesn't have a shift solenoid. When you say it doesn't want to shift into 3rd, is it just kind of shimmying around 40 miles an hour and engine rpm around 2500 or so, or is the engine reving and not going in to 3rd. If it's just shimmy around 40 mph then it's probably the torque converter lockup. This transmisssion is notorious for the torque converter and the torque converter clutch (TCC) to eventually act up and do this.

The real fix and the expensive one is replacing the torque converter and/or diagnosing/fixing the TCC solenoid. The easy way is just leave it alone until it eventually totally fails. Or you can unplug the TCC and see if that fixes it. You can leave it unplugged and run without lock up. It mostly will only slightly hurt your fuel milage but won't harm the trnasmission. in might even be better for the transmission than having the converter clutch slipping and putting friction surface debris in your tranny.

Unplug the TCC and see if the problem goes away or not.

Its difficult to explain. OK, imagine your driving along, and it shifts fine 1-2. When it tries to shift into third, it tries to shift but falls back into second. Its similar to if you were driving along, and right when it wants to shift into 3rd you put the lever into neutral for a second and put it back into drive (and it proceeds to fall back into second when you do so). It does this a few more times until it either finally decides to go into third, or if you back off the throttle at the right time and "force" it into third. When it first started happening, you could get on the throttle hard and it wouldnt do it, but it starting to do it when your hard on the throttle a little bit, too.

Im not trying to sound like im doubting you, but isn't the TCC only related to 4th gear? I have driven around with the lever in 3rd, which is basically the same as disconnecting the TCC (isn't it?) and it didnt help the problem.

Its difficult to explain. OK, imagine your driving along, and it shifts fine 1-2. When it tries to shift into third, it tries to shift but falls back into second. Its similar to if you were driving along, and right when it wants to shift into 3rd you put the lever into neutral for a second and put it back into drive (and it proceeds to fall back into second when you do so). It does this a few more times until it either finally decides to go into third, or if you back off the throttle at the right time and "force" it into third. When it first started happening, you could get on the throttle hard and it wouldnt do it, but it starting to do it when your hard on the throttle a little bit, too.

Well this description doesn't sound like the torque converter slipping. I would say adjust your TV linkage but now it's starting to sound like you have a 4-speed and not a 3-speed like you said.

Im not trying to sound like im doubting you, but isn't the TCC only related to 4th gear? I have driven around with the lever in 3rd, which is basically the same as disconnecting the TCC (isn't it?) and it didnt help the problem.

Well yeah only if you have a 4-speed, but you said you had a 3-speed. Well actually with a 4-speed the TCC can apply in 3rd gear if the shift lever is in overdrive, but that's probably not relevant here. It sounds like now you have a 4-speed since you can select 3rd with the shift lever and this being an '01, probably when they all went to 4-speeds. If it is a 4-speed then it is electronic and it could be a shift soleniod, or alot of other things. You will probably have to take it to a shop qualified to work on these. Do you have a service vehicle soon light on?

I guess I will double check later tonight if it is a 3 or 4. I am pretty sure it didn't say (D), but I will double check because im known to make stupid mistakes when trying to remember things.


What I was saying about "4th" gear, I assumed the 3 speed was three speeds with a lockup simulating 4th. Not sure if it helps but i know for sure its the transmission without the dipstick, IDK if 3 speeds and 4 speeds are the same in this manner.


There is a check engine light on, but its a completely unrelated issue. It came on a couple months ago, something is shorted out and ill be tackling that next. The transmission issues have been since spring 07-ish. My GF was just gonna leave the transmission alone because she doesnt have alot of money and it hasnt disabled the car, but I have learned alot about mechanics since so im just trying to figure out if its something i'll be able to tackle.

What I was saying about "4th" gear, I assumed the 3 speed was three speeds with a lockup simulating 4th.

No, having lockup converter is not considered an extra gear. If anything, lockup is reducing your effective gearing in a way.


Not sure if it helps but i know for sure its the transmission without the dipstick, IDK if 3 speeds and 4 speeds are the same in this manner.


It's an electronic 4-speed if it doesn't have the dipstick.

There is a check engine light on, but its a completely unrelated issue. It came on a couple months ago, something is shorted out and ill be tackling that next. The transmission issues have been since spring 07-ish. My GF was just gonna leave the transmission alone because she doesnt have alot of money and it hasnt disabled the car, but I have learned alot about mechanics since so im just trying to figure out if its something i'll be able to tackle.

Without knowing what the trouble codes is, since you say the transmission problem long proceeds the check engine light then it's probably not related. However these 4-speeds and the engine are very inter-related. For example a Throttle postion sensor problem could cause a shift problem.

To diagnosis this transmission would require an advanced scanner and other tools. Transmission are complicated enough and this one is even more so. It would be nice if you could take it to a shop and get a complete diagnosis telling you exactly what is bad for around $80 like you can with an engine problem, but transmission repairs and shop aren't usually that cut and dry.

I'm not a transmission expert and there might be some on here more knowledge about them but I doubt anyone could lead you to a fix here. It'd probably be best to either take it to a well qualified shop like a dealer and get a diagnosis and a repair quote, or just leave it alone. The problem probably won't drastically effect the service life of the tranny and will be just an slight annoyance but can't say for sure. Any dealer worth their salt with a Tech2 and a trans tech should easily be able to get to the bottom of this problem.

I can tell you that roughly the 2-3 shift should happen at TPS values of 10,25 and 50% at 18,30 and 58 mph +/-4 mph respectively (this is general and not cavalier specific) that probably doesn't help you much especially without a scanner and you already know you have a shift problem. You can sort of questimate throttle postion and watch the mph to verify you're dealing with the 2-3 shift though.

If you go replacing the shift solenoid and changing the fluid and that doesn't solve the problem, where does that get you. It's a gamble. Again, probably best to either take it somewhere or just leave it alone.

Thanks for all your help. We'll probably just end up leaving it alone.. I guess we'll just wait and see if it keeps on getting worse and just take it from there.