January 2007 Archives - Transmission Digest
Converter-Charge Mysteries

Converter charge oil performs a number of important functions: It fills the converter in a timely manner. It keeps the lockup clutch off the cover in the release mode. It also eventually becomes the lube oil for the transmission.

January 2007 Issue

Issue Summary:

A 2002-2003 Volkswagen Jetta with a 2.0-liter ultra-low-emission gas engine and the 01M transmission may exhibit a long, delayed engagement into drive when cold.

An F4E-111 transaxle in 1998-and-up Kia vehicles may exhibit a harsh 1-2 upshift or multiple solenoid-circuit faults after overhaul.

After a rebuild or fluid change, Jaguar, Land Rover Freelander and VW vehicles with the JF506E transmission may have no reverse and barely any forward movement.

In any vehicle except a Mazda, the JF506E will not have a filler tube or dipstick.

In a JF506E, a reduction band that is out of adjustment may cause gear-ratio errors to be stored, and the transmission may chatter in forward and reverse.

Some Volvo models equipped with the AW 55-50 transaxle may exhibit a neutral bang on take-off before or after overhaul.

The Path of Least Resistance: The Future of Transmission Fluids

The company goes on to say that the development of DEXRON-VI was the first time an automotive company worked so closely with petroleum and additive companies to develop a new fluid. The companies GM was referring to are Petro-Canada Lubricants, which provides the base stock of the fluid, and Afton Chemical Corp., which supplies the fluid’s additive package.

Make Money While the Snow Flies

Nobody wants to admit that the transmission business is seasonal, but we all know that to a degree it is. Winter and summer are the busiest times. Whether you’re up north where it’s cold and snowy or down south where the snowbirds go to escape, you can expect to be much busier from December to February than you are from March to May and again from June to August than from September to November.

The New Year: It Will Be as Good as We Make It

The “Big Three” domestic automakers are facing the toughest business decisions since the Great Depression. Most of the Tier One OEM suppliers to the domestic market are either in bankruptcy reorganization or have downsized and sold off unprofitable divisions. The unions are in tough shape with plant closings and the movement of domestic manufacturing offshore creating a great loss of jobs. Our industry is intertwined with the automakers, and the times are difficult. It is easy to lose hope, it is easy to throw in the towel, and it is difficult to work out a solution to the present situation.

Diagnose with Data

Some folks have not had an opportunity to use data recordings as a diagnostic tool. When you first start looking at recordings, there appears to be so much data that it’s hard to find the answers. There are a few techniques I have found very useful in getting the information I need. The “before” graphs show the readings used to verify the complaint and diagnose the problem.

Say Cheese

I ran across an interesting code the other day. A guy called in to the ATSG help line and said, ”I have a 1999 Saturn SC2 with a code P1624.