Torque Converter Lock/Unlock Switch

[00 Silver 6]

Ok this is more of a thread to find out if this is possible, i have my doubts about it...

a friend of mine has an old 91 Cavalier 3.1 V6, and he says that the TC is not unlocking sometimes, causing his car to stay in first gear and die when he stops. He's all about the cheap fixes, and his cheap fix to this is to install a toggle switch to control when his converter locks and unlocks, allowing him to manually control the converter. I figure the converter is just faulty, and switch or not, its still gonna lock up on him from time to time. I could easily be wrong about this, as he knows a good amount more than me about cars... but i still dont really believe this will work.

[landj]

Re: Torque Converter Lock/Unlock Switch

It's supposed to lock when you get into the final gear (4th on the Camaro, maybe 3rd on the Cavalier if it doesn't have OD). Sometimes when they fail, they do fail to unlock, preventing DOWN SHIFTING from a higher speed. The brake switch should serve the same function. On the Camaro it's noticeable if you have the cruise control on, on wet surface going uphill and just touch the brakes. The TCC will disengage increasing torque to the wheels as the engine speeds up, but the cruise doesn't disengage, resulting in the ABS system going ape****. (This is how I learned not to use cruise in bad weather.)


The TC switch is just a solenoid, so if there is an electrical or computer problem preventing it from disengaging, then yeah, a little switch would work. More than likely, the solenoid itself is messed up, and the simple fix is a replacement as I doubt a switch will do anything that the computer it's already trying to do.

I would be careful. The last thing you want is the switch engaging when you are in another gear, engaging it in first would produce some interesting results, I wouldn't recommend the switch idea. I would just electrically disconnect the solenoid until you have time to fix it. Bad gas mileage, but a functional tranny.

[00 Silver 6]

Re: Torque Converter Lock/Unlock Switch

so basically you're saying that a switch won't help the problem?