shift solenoid question

[dannyp]

I have a 93 with 211k miles. Today while playing in an old quarry my transmission didn't want to engage at all while on an incline. It worked fine on two other hill climbs just prior, but of coarse I saved the steepest for last. I crept up and then just no go. Gas pedal didn't help there was no tire spin. Backed up tried again still no engagement. I backed all the way down drove around on flat ground for a minute lined back up and this time up with no problem. I drained and refilled the tranny Thursday. It was bright red coming out and its full again now. The truck has had the issue before where I leave it parked on an incline and it didn't engage untill it is on level ground. I searched and found that its likley a solenoid issue but no referance to which one and this is obd1 so i don't know how to pull codes from it. Also the only tranny I've been in is a 4l60e gm tranny. Is the one in my cruiser a similar setup as far as solenoid replacement.. thanks.

 

[adventr]

To me, that sounds like you're low on fluid, and when on a steep incline the oil pickup is sucking air.

 

[dannyp]

If i put any more it would overfill. Maybe ill pull up an incline then back up an incline then drive around the block and check the level again.

 

[rove_mcanus]

On an incline does it rev freely like it is in neutral, or is there some resistance?

It doesn't sound solenoid related if it works fine, and all 4 gears are available normally

You need to check the fluid while the engine is running, otherwise you don't fill it up completely.

The only thing you could try is winding the throttle cable up a bit to give it more pressure. Otherwise the transmission needs to be dismantled and inspected.

 

[dannyp]

There was a little resistance. It held its ground didn't roll back any untill I put in neutral just no forward motion. It just wasn't engaged. As soon as i drove 50 yards on flat ground it came back to life and did fine.
Richloam landcruiser - YouTube
I had terrible luck with the transmission in my suburban so I'm familiar with checking fluid while hot and running and it did seem like it was a lack of fluid but the level was good when i refilled the other day. There's also no leaks. Maybe I'm a little short .25 to .5 quarts low. It wasn't all the way to the hot mark on the dipstick I just don't want to overfill it.

 

[asutherland]

Check here for solution. 93=Electronic shift solenoid transmission. I had the EXACT same symptoms.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-...n-issue-my-new-93-hdj81-help-suggestions.html

Likely OBD1 error code #62 - solenoid #1

 

[dannyp]

Thanks asutherland that's exactly what I was looking for. Now I've got another project. I live in Florida so there's not too many inclines to test on but I added about .5 quart to get it all the way to the hot mark when hot so if it doesn't sort itself out I'm all too familiar with solenoid replacement.

 

[asutherland]

Thanks asutherland that's exactly what I was looking for. Now I've got another project. I live in Florida so there's not too many inclines to test on but I added about .5 quart to get it all the way to the hot mark when hot so if it doesn't sort itself out I'm all too familiar with solenoid replacement.

No problem man, good luck. They're not cheap so don't just replace on a whim. I suggest you check resistance across the solenoids one by one when you remove them to see if they're within factory spec. The FSM should give the resistance they should be. IIRC they should be ~13 ohm.

Don't put it off though, as it's damaging the transmission every time it happens. Nothing like starting in <insert random gear here>

 

[dannyp]

Your right about not cheap. 200 a piece. I went this morning to another pit mine and found a decent hill to climb. This time I'm 100% sure its not a fluid level issue. As soon as I manually shifted into 1st it locked up and climbed no problem when in drive its a nogo up an incline. Looks like sliders will need to wait untill this is fixed. thanks for the right track.

 

[asutherland]

Your right about not cheap. 200 a piece. I went this morning to another pit mine and found a decent hill to climb. This time I'm 100% sure its not a fluid level issue. As soon as I manually shifted into 1st it locked up and climbed no problem when in drive its a nogo up an incline. Looks like sliders will need to wait untill this is fixed. thanks for the right track.

Cool, good to get a positive diagnosis at least. I fought with it for some time after I first got my truck, and even at $200 a piece (I had 2 that needed replacing) I was happy when the problem was finally solved.

 

[ToddD]

Cool, good to get a positive diagnosis at least. I fought with it for some time after I first got my truck, and even at $200 a piece (I had 2 that needed replacing) I was happy when the problem was finally solved.

Did you experience slipping? My tranny is good 1 > 2, but it slips and rpms jump a little 2 > 3. Don't mean to hijack, I'm just curious if you experienced total failure or slippage.

 

[dannyp]

No slippage that I have noticed. Other than on an incline the trans shifts great. I'm taking it to a transmission shop that was on a list of trusted cruiser mechanics that i found on this site next week. They said they'd diagnose it for free. I don't want to replace all the solenoids if they aren't all bad at the price they are. If I were you is start somewhere similar there are solenoids for all the gear changes if that makes sense. Even at a couple hundred apiece they're still way more affordable than a total rebuild or replacement. Good luck.

 

[Tools R Us]

Solenoids usually ether fully fail or tend to be more random. If it only happens in say; low range and at an angle, I would look for a short or other wiring problem, possibly the main harness at the egr or the plugs near/over the starter?

 

[7schulz]

Could the filter screen be partially pluged up and when you hit the incline the rest of the crud fills up the screen the rest of the way? You said you saved the largest hill for last...
That would make you lose fuild pressure and clutch pressure.

 

[asutherland]

Did you experience slipping? My tranny is good 1 > 2, but it slips and rpms jump a little 2 > 3. Don't mean to hijack, I'm just curious if you experienced total failure or slippage.

No slippage on mine. It was simply trying to start uphill in <insert random gear here>. Since 2 solenoids control 1st, 2nd, 3rd and OD (think binary, 0,0, - 0,1 - 1,0 - 1,1) it was a crapshoot what gear it would take.

Solenoids usually ether fully fail or tend to be more random. If it only happens in say; low range and at an angle, I would look for a short or other wiring problem, possibly the main harness at the egr or the plugs near/over the starter?

I had the exact same symptoms. Seemed it only fail on incline, and only some time. Of course that could be that it wasn't as noticable starting in a higher gear on flat/downhill. I replaced the bad solenoid (it was more than double the FSM specs for resistance) and haven't had an issue since.

It's pretty easy to check.
1. Remove trans skid guard, about 4 bolts,
2. Drain transmission oil (can save for re-use if you want),
3. Take out the many bolts holding the pan, and the solenoids are right there staring at you.
4. One bolt per solenoid. Check resistance across the 2 connections on each solenoid and compare to FSM workable specs.
5. Put back together and refill.

One thing to note is you may want to have a new cork gasket for the pan on hand. ($20)

 

[dannyp]

I replaced both of the #1 solenoids to be on the safe side.took it to a construction site and found a huge dirt hill to test it out and now have no issue on an incline climbing. I'm going into the woods this weekend to really test it out. I'll post back here if this wasn't the fix for the sake of anybody else with the same symptoms. For now from what I see all is fixed. Thanks asutherland and c-dan.

 

[Jimmyrios]

Hi everyone...need some advice...urgently....shifthing problems with my 442f transmition made me resarch with my autodiagnostic tranny tool found out solenoids failing codes, took of the pan got out all 4 solenoids, performed the resistance test and all of them are showing 12.7 ohms seems fine, but when I apply 12 volts to all of them, none make no noise or Cliking at all ? They block the air, when you apply air to them (air test) but NO CLICKING AT ALL. ARE THEY FAILING???
ALSO, has anyone attemped to reacondition them? Thank you