QuestionUpon tight turning, near to full steering lock (either left of right), the engine significantly labours as if the hand brake is on. I have checked to make sure there is nothing obstructing the wheels, brakes are also free, including the hand brake.
My initial reaction was the auto transmission was locking up some how. I have been told the rear wheels are disabled at low speeds and was wondering if this is not happening, so took it to a repairing who replaced a auto transmission speed sensor within the transmission. The symptoms went away for about four months, now they are back as bad as ever.
I have since moved away from my original repairer and read the transmission also measures the front wheel speed using the speedometer sensor. If this is correct, could this be faulty? Or could it be the speedometer cable binding causing it to misread? Is this sensor behind the speedometer or within the auto transmission?
The symptoms are also not just limited to parking the car in tight corners, but also while accelerating or cruising on the highway. I can hear a whining noise every now and then start up, then stop. When the noise occurs, I feel a minor torque reaction effect the steering, so presume something funning is happening with the power delivered to each wheel, either front to rear or left to right?
When this noise happens when I'm accelerating, if the revs pass 3500 rpm, the noise usually abruptly stops and at the same time, what ever is absorbing power and making the engine labour stops, and suddenly I can accelerate faster!
I hate to imagine what is happening to the auto transmission when it is absorbing this power and am expecting it to all of a sudden make a load bang and stop driving!
So any advice you can give would be great?
AnswerHey Tim,
You are describing torque binding. This is when the transfer clutches stay engaged either because the transfer clutch solenoid is being commanded on by the Transmission control module (TCM)for any number of reasons or the solenoid is stuck. Also is the possibility of excessive transmission component wear has resulted in enough metal shavings to circulate through the fluid and have caused the transfer clutches to stick or bind as metal shavings can get stuck in between the clutches and not allow them to release, or shavings have clogged the screen into the solenoid etc. If the "power" light is flashing on the dash just after start up than the problem is most likely electrical in nature and the TCM has recognized the problem, and most likely the solenoid is at fault. If the light is not flashing, than it is probably mechanical in nature and a transmission flush MAY help. If the car was here we would evaluate the overall function of the transmission prior to suggesting or performing a flush as sometimes it can damage a weak transmission.
The vehicle speed sensor #1 is part of the cluster it is driven by the drive adapter and than the speedo cable up to the speedo assembly. The second speed sensor is in the tail shaft of the transmission. I wonder if as part of the speed sensor repair that the transmission flush was done as well? As the rear speed sensor does not fail often and the power light would have flashed a code.
I hope that helps
Justin
All Wheel Drive Auto
