Transmission

[TLM17]

We have a torque converter on a 1998 Venture van going out and I was wondering if it can cause the engine light come on, so here is the problem. I've read that the converter can cause the van to stall and i was wondering if it can cause it to misfire as well cause the light to come on. We had the transmission fixed 1 year ago and now the light seems to be coming on more often. Help would be helpful, thanks.

[dewaynep]

The torque converter lockup can cause the van to stall by not unlocking the converter when you come to a stop. It wouldn't cause a misfire. You will need to find out why the light is on (have the codes read), then we can help more.

[TLM17]

the code is 0420 or 0402, it's the one that involves the cataletic converter, egr and so on.

[tammy1979]

About a year ago I had my headgaskets replaced in my 99 chevy venture van and also had a transmission flush, oil change and spark plugs. It has about 160,000 miles on it. When I got it out of the shop it started slamming into gear. It really starts acting up when it gets warmed up and I stop and go alot. It hasn't lost any power that I notice, and doesn't feel like it's slipping. It slams into gears so hard that I'm afraid to push on the gas. I took it back into the shop to ask them about it and they said my tranny is probably going out. Before I took back in for tranny flush it wasn't slamming into gear. The shop told me I needed a tranny flush cause it was going into gear slowly or something like that, so I took it in and had it flushed, after that it started slamming into gear hard. What is wrong with it? Could it be my torque converter? Or is my tranny really going out?

[roadrunner2]

I had this problem with the tranny in my 2000 Silo.

When you get the 'slamming into gear' (otherwise known as a 'harsh shift') action, The problem (in my case) was a worn low pressure solenoid (inside the tranny).

Now, because your tranny was flushed, I suspect this solenoid has sucked in loose foreign matter and may be plugged now.

Did you have the tranny fluid drained and screen cleaned before the 160k rolled around?

The mileage recommended is around 60k unless towing a trailer constantly or any other 'severe' condition.

My tranny shop tech recommends changing the fluid (NO flush) every 30 to 40k miles when the vehicle is used under 'severe conditions' (towing, constant stop and go, etc).

You MAY get lucky with another fluid drain , but that's a big maybe.

[henry10]

IMHO, the start would be to read and troubleshoot the malfunction codes. When multiple codes appear all of a sudden simultaneously, most like the issue is either electrical connections or one of the computers.

Tranny's operation is controlled by the ECU and harsh tranny operation might be a consequence of another problem, eg. sensors, etc. In many cases, slam-shifting is related to VSS (vehicle speed sensor) malfunction, but again without reading and troubleshooting codes based on the Repair Manual is really a waste of time and sometimes damaging to go around and messing with it.

In all my vehicles I install a aftermarket cooler for the tranny fluid. Plus I install a drain plug/magnet on the transmission pan. That way, I personally drain tranny fluid every 10-15,000 miles and every 30kI drop the pan and replace the filter. These tranny's are small compared to my full-size Econoline vans...