96 Metro Shift Solenoid A

[Riley McGee]

Hi All

When in Drive, the car starts out in 2nd gear and shifts to 3rd but does not downshift to 1st or start out from 1st at a standstill. It will go into 1st when selected manually and shift as the gear selector is put into drive.

The computer readout from the Checker store gave the code P0753 Which is the "Shift Solenoid A Electrical"

Any ideas on how to solve this problem?

What is the location of the solenoid in the Geo?

It is a 1.3l automatic.

Riley

[hot_sd]

This means that the ECU cannot detect a return current from the direct clutch solenoid. This is normally caused by either a faulty solenoid or a poor connection - either wiring fault or a malfunctioning connector. If the solenoid does not switch on the direct clutch will remain engaged. Thinking about how the automatic works I would have thought this would result in starting out in 3rd, then remaining in third all the way through. Kind of suprised you get second at all. But the loss of first is no suprise.

Things to do - check wiring to transmission shift solenoids, clean out the contacts etc. To gain access to the solenoids you need to drain the transmission and drop the oil pan. The solenoids are towards the driver side wheel - the one at the back is the one for the direct clutch. You can take it out and test for continuity with a multimeter.

Another remote possibility is a faulty ECU.

[Riley McGee]

Thanks SD.

As I drive the car, it seems you may be correct that it starts out in 3rd. i guess i expected it to lug a lot more than it does.

I can get 1st and 2nd if I drop it into 2nd on the gearshift selector and then into 3rd.

Riley

[hot_sd]

Yes, that would make sense since the direct clutch is prevented from operating in '1' or '2' so you will get first gear back as a result and also second. From my experience the auto starts quite well in third - not the same as trying to start in 3rd or 4th in a manual.

[MrPink]

My '96 has now started doing exactly the same thing. Check engine light will come on (initially when cruising at speed on the freeway, now all the time), and the ScanGauge will show it has thrown a P0753 code. For a while, I could reset the ECU and everything was fine. Now, the code shows up all the time, and the tranny is definitely in limp mode when this happens. Just like Riley, I can get 1st and second if I move the selector to 2 and then manually move to D.

I can often reset, and the tranny is back to working normally until it throws the code again (or I notice it's back to limp mode and then the CEL comes back on). Sometimes, the code will not reset, and that indicates that the connection is still bad when I try.

I suspect: (in order)

A) Problem in wiring harness or connector
B) Cold solder joint in ECM or TCM
C) Defective output driver for solenoid in TCM (if that's where it is)
D) Intermittent connection at solenoid in pan
E) Intermittent solenoid

I need schematics and/or a REAL service manual. Any help, anyone?

Riley, did you ever resolve this problem? And if you did, what was your solution?

Thanks,

-Pink