Questioni have an 88 buick century with about a 100,000 miles. it stalls out when i am stopped at a stop sign, red light or sometimes when i am just applying the brake. after it stalls sometimes it will start right up others i have to waite about an hour. it'll almost always start right away but once you put it in gear it'll just stall out again. i brought it to 2 difrent shops and at the first one he said he had a bad ignition coil. so we got a new one and oil change and stuff like that. then we noticed that it didn't fix the problem then we took it somewhere else. they charged us an arm and a leg to put it on the computer twice and said that there is nothing wrong with the car. but said it needed a tune up. so we did that and there is still the same problem. someone told me to check the fuel line. what do you think it could be??
AnswerHi Jessica,
Your TCC is going bad.
This is why you should shop around and find an ASE CERTIFIED Technician to work on your vehicle. But I won't lecture you, only ask that before you have any future vehicle problems (after this one is taken care of of course) you search your local area and find a reputable ASE CERTIFIED Technician to perform repairs on your car. (http://www.ase.com/bluesealsearch/locator.php)
The TCC (Torque Converter Clutch) is used as a 'phantom' gear in the transmission. It locks the engine and the transmission input shaft one-to-one, without slip, similar to a clutch in a manual transmission equipped vehicle. This phantom gear reduces the revolutions of the engine while you are cruising to aid with fuel mileage but is obviously not made to last forever.
When the TCC gets corroded with debris floating in the trans fluid, it blocks up and stops functioning. The BAD part is that this part ONLY breaks in the engaged position so the 'repair' has to be done while the vehicle is NOT experiencing the problem.
To repair, or in this case, 'fix' the problem you should FIRST change the fluid and filter in your transmission, although it is not necessary, it should be done if it hasn't been changed within the last 30,000 miles. Once done, open the hood and look at the side of the transmission bell housing, right where it connects to the back of the engine and you should see a small 4 wire (square) or 5 wire (round) connector that will be plugged into the side of the transmission. The receptacle is pink, white, blue or black depending on which transmission/engine combination is in your vehicle. Pull this plug and tie it off somewhere so it does not get in the way of any moving parts. That's it.
Ok, remember, this is a 'fix' and not a repair. A proper repair would be to dismantle the transmission valve body and replace the sticking valve. Not only will that cost a small fortune, but you'll probably have your car stuck in a shop for the better part of two weeks having the TCC replaced which is why I'm offering you a fix rather than a repair. Correct me if I'm wrong because I'm just assuming you're not made of money and that you'd like to have your car back as soon as possible. This fix is something you surely can do yourself even if you choose not to flush the transmission fluid and filter.
Disengaging the TCC is not dangerous and it will not harm the vehicle or the transmission by not having this unit connected. ALL this system does is reduce the revs of the engine while cruising so you may notice the missing phantom gear and your fuel mileage MAY suffer slightly (maybe 1 or 2 MPG) but you're vehicle won't stall at stop signs and make you wait till the fluid cools to get on your way again.
Why only when hot? The fluid in the transmission is thinner when hot and more able to carry microscopic pieces of debris through the lines and the valve body. When the transmission fluid cools, the particles suspended in it drop to the bottom of the pan. Effectively 'cleaning' the fluid until it starts circulating again and starts to again pick up debris.
Sorry to be so long-winded.
Thanks for the question, I hope this information is helpful to you.
Kb
