1995 Monte Carlo Tranny Troubles

[bigj-dog]

Hi, just swapped in a junkyard tranny from a '95 Lumina into a '95 Monte Carlo. Everything went fine and worked fine for about 15 miles. Then I shut it off at a friend's place, and went to leave again and it started out in 2nd gear (or 3rd or 4th, I just know it wasn't 1st). I drove it home, 10 minutes on the highway, and it doesn't shift except for when you go to pass someone, it drops down, which I believe is the converter unlocking. I'm guessing a shift solenoid or something is stuck, I checked the codes with a cheap scan tool and all the came up was a code about the tranny fluid temperature. I tried disconnecting the battery for awhile to reset whatever can be reset and cleared codes with the scanner and no difference. Anyone have any ideas?

[maxwedge]

Make sure the main plug to the trans is in properly, the unit is in default, 3rd gear, usually this is no power to the unit, or an internal problem, a full scan with a trans function scanner may be called for here. You can burn up the unit this way like the stored code said.

[bigj-dog]

3rd would make more sense then, because it was really sluggish. Reverse worked fine too, so that makes sense. Do you know if a Snap-On 2500 be able to detect this problem?

[maxwedge]

You may get what you need if it is the latest version or has the trans cartridges.

[bigj-dog]

Did a little more checking this morning, found out with the key on car only has 1 hot wire coming into the trans. The tranny shop guy said it was supposed to have 2. I had to go to work though, so if anyone knows what pins are supposed to have power, I'd appreciate the info. According to the scanner, the computer is telling the trans to do all the things it's supposed to do, so hopefully it blew a fuse or something. I'll dive into it when I get home.

[maxwedge]

Possible bad ign switch, plus check all the fuses.Try autozone.com, repair guides for a basic wiring diagram, but you may need a factory based manual.

[bigj-dog]

Check the wires coming in to the tranny at the round plug, the only one that is hot (with the key on or car running) is 'E' (big brown wire on top of the plugin), I was told there were supposed two that are hot. Can anyone verify that and if so, which one is supposed to be powered? Thanks, I'm going to check out Chilton's online tomorrow, but I don't know that if that'll tell me which one is supposed to be hot.

[bigj-dog]

Turns out the tranny had either sticky solenoid or clutch pack or something. If you drive it hard, sometimes it'll go back into 1st or 2nd, but mostly just stays in 3rd of 4th. Called the junkyard and told them of my research, they offered to put a different one in at no charge. Hopefully this one'll work.