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This morning, I drove over to see Rick at Culver City Trans to ask about the downshift switch. He is a great guy, super helpful, and honest. He's been working on automatic trannys since they first hit the streets. He told me to replace to the detent solenoid inside the transmission. Rick said it was easy to do myself.
Next, I headed over to Bob's Transmission Parts in the West Adams district to get one. They keep them in stock.
This is when the fun begins. Taking the pan off a hot trans full of hot fluid is always fun. One way to keep as little fluid as possible from getting in your hair and running down your arm into your armpit (don't you hate that feeling.) is to remove all the pan bolts except the two at the front. When you loosen them slowly the fluid will run out in a somewhat controlled manner.
Next, remove the filter. Careful, it's full of hot fluid as well. It's held in with one bolt on TH400's.
The oval thing with the wire coming out it is the detent solenoid. Its held on with two bolts. More fluid pours out when you remove it.
The new solenoid is a different design, but they both work the same way. They are essentially electric switches. That metal gasket is necessary so don't forget to reinstall it or your trans won't shift at all.
Here's the new solenoid installed and plugged in. I checked it's function before putting the pan back on. It's click is loud enough to hear if you are working by yourself.
Success. It works now.
Next, I headed over to Bob's Transmission Parts in the West Adams district to get one. They keep them in stock.
This is when the fun begins. Taking the pan off a hot trans full of hot fluid is always fun. One way to keep as little fluid as possible from getting in your hair and running down your arm into your armpit (don't you hate that feeling.) is to remove all the pan bolts except the two at the front. When you loosen them slowly the fluid will run out in a somewhat controlled manner.
Next, remove the filter. Careful, it's full of hot fluid as well. It's held in with one bolt on TH400's.
The oval thing with the wire coming out it is the detent solenoid. Its held on with two bolts. More fluid pours out when you remove it.
The new solenoid is a different design, but they both work the same way. They are essentially electric switches. That metal gasket is necessary so don't forget to reinstall it or your trans won't shift at all.
Here's the new solenoid installed and plugged in. I checked it's function before putting the pan back on. It's click is loud enough to hear if you are working by yourself.
Success. It works now.
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