Lockup Solenoid Leaking?

[jsinton]

Hi All,
I have a 1990 Caravan C/V with a 3.0 and a 3 speed trans. I just bought this beater, so I'm still figuring out what's going on since I have no experience fixing Dodges. I had a trans leak from the right side oil seal. My Haynes manual had instructions to replace that seal, and it wasn't too bad. Simply remove the axle, pry out the old seal, and reassemble. So I did that. No more leak!

Then I noticed that the lockup solenoid wire was not attached. So I attached it, then my trans was leaking again, this time from the left side. Thinking maybe it had something to do with the solenoid wire, I took off the wire again. VOILA! It stopped leaking. So apparently I have a leak from the lockup solenoid.

My Haynes manual has no information on the solenoid. So I was wondering if anyone can tell me about it. It doesn't seem to make any difference to performance with or without the wire attached. Is it ok to leave the wire off? Thanks in advance.

[Mrbizness1]

If this disconnected wire prevents the trans from going into lock up then I think the previous owner had a problem with the convertor and purposely left it off. Sometimes these convertors hang up and stall the motor when slowing down. After you hook up the wire drive it and see if the convertor engages at around 35mph or faster. If it does then you have your answer. I disconnected the plug on a Olds with a convertor hang up problem and drove it for another 50k miles with no problems. You will use a little more fuel other wise you won't notice any difference.

[jsinton]

I'm having a problem trying to determine what "lockup" means. If I connect the solenoid wire, it doesn't seem to make any difference other than it wants to down shift to 2nd sooner and it leaks fluid like crazy. Also, where is the solenoid on this transmission? Is it inside? The wires go inside, and when I dropped the pan it looks like some sort of "solenoid" up there, but I'm not sure. The leak appears to be from the torque converter, but only when I hook up the solenoid wire?

[jsinton]

I have read other posts where if the lockup solenoid is inoperable, it will lead to burning up the transmission? It seems to infer that lockup solenoid takes the load off the fluid and actually "locks up" the torque converter instead of using the fluid for friction. Is this the case?

[jsinton]

Ok, I finally got my transmission to stop leaking. Are you ready for this? It was because my transmission pan bolts were loose. What was happening is when the transmission went into lockup, the flow of fluid to the torque converter shuts down. My theory is that the pan would fill with fluid and leak out. Currently my trans is leaking a little bit, but I was able to drive to Florida without the need to add fluid. It's a lot better than before when I had no fluid after 30 miles or so.