weinerface

so after having the solenoids disconnected and reseting the ECU i dropped the ATF fluid from the pan and it was dark. (it was cherry red few days ago) i refilled with a couple quarts to replace the fluid in the pan and now it shifts PERFECT and has not got stuck in gear one time. maybe the filter? was thinking maybe its like the fual pump on my old camaro, everytime i would stop it would die, the screen on my fuel pump was clogged when i would stop it would jam it up and the car would die but start right back up. grabbed a new filter and gasket, gonna replace it today and check the fluid color again. (so far its more fun shifting my car manually without a clutch too lol) Im sure this means my trans is gonna blow up in the next couple weeks, Im sourcing one locally for $200.... I will keep an eye on it and see what happens. just wanted to update and put in a big thank you for the help! any additional ideas would be appreciated of course lol

ok so i got the solenoid connector disconnected and the situation has improved drastically with some slight variations in the symptoms. i can shift up and down all i want manually now. (my car basically a manual with no 2nd gear now)......I coult TOTALLY live with that except for one slight thing..... everytime i come to a stop and go (i.e. stop sign, red light, random kid in the road) it does it again, except now its more like neutral, i push the gas and it just goes nowhere even in high rpm no matter what gear im in. if I cycle the ignition and start the car it works imediatly. I drove around for about 20 miles and it did the slip in 1st gear like before one time ( except this time i dont have to wait in between cycling the ignition, i can literally throw it in neutral cycle the ignition 1 time and start the car put it in gear and keep going all without even pulling over) ......CRAZY right?!??!?! so now my question is the stop n go problem because one of the 4 disconnected solenoids is the lock up solenoid which i think has something to do with the torque converter? or is maybe my issue the torque converter this whole time? ....... I feel like a freaking detective.. happy new year!!

well maybe ill stay in vegas then lol. on th hands, yea people commonly ask me if im a fighter cause of all the scars on my knuckles lol. giving the connectores another shot tonight, and as you, i had some choice words while trying to get it disconnected lol.

i believe I found it but of course its impossible to get to. i can fit my hand in there but can squeeze hard enough to get the clip off. ive got a buddy coming to help me later today so hopefully between us we can get it. ugh i live in the desert for a reason. cold and snow are not my friend. LoL whats the weather like in VB?

ahhh, never been. wih my car could make it lol. im in vegas, the sow rarely touches us. ok so i was reading the toyota service manual for my transmission and it says you can diagnose the transmission very easily to seperate mechanical from electrical problems if theres not codes. it says just disconnect the connector for the solenoids in the rear of the transmission then use the gearshift to shift (D=1ST....2=3RD.....D=4TH) I can shift manually up and down by basically bypassing the shift solenoids. if the gears shift and hold while driving then its not a mechanical issue. and i can narrow it down to an electrical issue. only one problem, I cant find the connector. lol anyone know which connector its talking about? of course theres no pictures.

no worries, i love learning anything new about my cars and do all the work myself (when applicable) what is VB? ive been tracing the wiring from the ecu to the connectors all day and nothing so far :/ im going to buy a multimeter tonight hopefully and do the ripple test on my ecu which "should" find any faults in the wiring that cant be seen by the naked eye. if I end up having to replace this transmission just to find out its not the tranny i will lose it haha. thanks so much for all the help so far VBdenny im running out of ideas here:(

pulled all the tape from the wiring on both sides of the trunk (easier than i thought) and nothing, all the wires look absolutely perfect. :(

alright so i puled all the trunk carpet out and found the wiring harnesses on each side of the trunk. they are all wrapped and look fine, but like you said you had to unwrap it to find the break (im assuming it looked fine externally?) im going to do just as you reccomended and have a beer while i unwrap all the wiring and see if this is it. thank you for the suggestion, thats what made me look again. *fingers crossed* At this point im almost hoping its the transmission, $200 and bolt a new one in....however I strongly believe its not the transmission...

hey thank so much for the warm welcome! :) i read about that on another forum but it looks like my trunk hinge is a solid tube and the wires are inside of it, its not the concave hinge arm where you can see the tube of wires... i can take a picture if that helps. im leaning toward some type of electrical issue, i just dont even know where to start looking other than folliwing the harness best i can from the ecu to each component.

Hi all! so my 92 SC400is having some major issue and I cant figure it out car starts and runs and drives perfect for the first couple miles. Then no matter what gear or speed it seems like the transmission throws itself into 1st gear. (RPM goes to 5k+, loss of power until i slow down to 10mph or so) at this point it will drive but will not change gears and will only go 10-15mph or so. Heres the tricky part...a If I shut the car off and wait 10 seconds I can turn the car on, put it in drive and it shifts and drives fine for another few miles then does the same thing. (I can repeat this for as long as I need to) Tried: 1. replacing ECU with a working one from a friends daily driver (same model and ecu part number) = same symptoms 2. No transmission error codes present, 3. CEL shows #13 RPM Signal no2 fail = could this be it? 4. checked fuids = all is fine 5. O/D on and off as well as "L" and "2" gear = same symptoms 6. reverse works at first then stops working when the tanny does its thing but works again after restarting car. 7. transmission clearly shows no codes (O/D light blinks every .5 seconds in diagnostic mode) This is driving me insane! at first I thought it was the capacitor leak issue, ruled that out i think. now the CEL #13 code makes me thing it would make sense considering it has to do with my RPM. but then again other people have that code and dont have my symptoms. There is a clear cut recognisable pattern of symtoms to my issue, but no matter how much I search or look I cant find anyone with a resolution or even an idea what it is..... any help would be greatly appreciated!