It's there I think it's hidden behind some wire with loom on it. And why don't you wait till it stops raining?

 

Crazy Squee, Thanks for all the info on lock-up TC... especially with the boiled hand. ATXs are still mostly magic black boxes to me.

The temp gauge I was referring to was the dash engine coolant temp gauge. The relationship is that if the TC doesn't lock, the transmission will run hotter dumping more heat into the cooling system through the transmission cooler that is integrated with the radiator. This can show up on the dash gauge as a somewhat higher operating temp - especially while cruising at highway speeds.

This was one of several contributors to the marginal cooling in our '96. The TCL connector was not seated properly (probably when the head gasket was replaced) and the PO ran it that way long enough for the "Service Engine Soon" light to burn out. The reason a fault in the TCL selenoid circuit (code 37) turns on the emissions light (versus just setting the code) is the impact on mileage you mentioned. The transmission fluid picked up a nice toasted brown tint from running hot this way for probably two or more years.

Yes, code 37 only indicates a fault in the TCL wiring or selenoid coil. Didn't think there was any feedback on whether or not the TC was actually locking.

 

I don't have the TC lock-up on my Neon. It's removed when you start building it up. I found it to be very important to always run a secondary cooler in series with the stock cooler. I'm surprised that your tranny lasted 2 more years while it was cooking itself. Normally the excess heat generation causes the transmission to "ruin" itself. Resulting in either a replacement or rebuild.

In my experience whenever code 37 appears it is generally talking about the nuetral safety switch which is located under the center console. At least 9 times out of 10 thats what it is. I've never heard of it throwing the code for the TC lock-up itself, but that doesn't mean it can't. The lock-up feature really isn't necessary. It just there to improve gas mileage and does nothing more than like I said before lock the transmission to the engine at constant speeds and doesn't function in "stop and go" type situations. Yes, it does create more heat but it's not as exponentail as thought since cars before "lock-up" didn't destroy themselves. Plus cars before lock-up used actual transmission coolers instead of the bottom section of the radiator.

I'm glad I could help. I've spent the past 3 years learning about ATX's and how they function and operate because no one knows anything. I've always liked ATX's and spent a lot of my time tearing them apart to learn about them. Plus, I'm tired of all this banter that MTX's are far superior to ATX's and set out to prove that an ATX can be faster than an MTX.



And as for my hand, it's better, this girl I've been seeing saw my hand yesterday morning and gave me some burn lotion and by the time I saw her again last night it was all better. It still hurts but the blisters have pretty much gone away. I still don't know how I managed to pour boiling water on it though.

 

cleaned out the radiator, it was nasty in there. I have some radiator flush in there now and I will need to drain it again after a few days, rinse it, then add the coolant/water mix back when I am done. I was going to replace the thermostat too but it is a dealer only part and the dealer was not open sunday.

I need to change the oil today, how long should I wait before switching to synthetic oil and what is a good filter? thanks.

 

You shoulld be able to use synthetic now. And I have always used FRAM. They are real good for the price as well. For synthetic, I use Mobil 1 and they have a blend for newer cars and older cars. It actually says for NEWER CARS so you don't get the other.

 

The recommendation to check the fluid after cruising for extended miles without TC lock came from one of the manuals or on-line resources. It may have been one of the truck sites where a common mod appears to be wiring in a switch for manual control of TC locking. I was surprised that not having the TC lock could cause enough heat to discolor the fluid, since as you said, it's a fairly recent addition to ATXs. I drove it halfway across the country that way with no symptoms other than somewhat lower than expected mileage and what I now know to be a slightly elevated coolant temp (the "service engine soon" bulb was burned out). I think there were no problems because it is a tough transmission that was only poached, not broiled.

You're right, code 37 reports failures in both the netural safety and TCL circuits. Though I don't know if the PCM turns on the emission light (service engine) for the netural switch as it does for the TCL selenoid.

Agree, think is has more to do with the lack of margin in the Neon cooling system. Keeping 132+ horses and an ATX reliably cool with only 1.5 gallons of coolant is pretty impressive engineering (okay... maybe I'm easily impressed). The tradeoff is that the system lacks much of a buffer for handling anything that contributes additional heat or reduces effectiveness beyond the original design parameters.

 

I think the problem you ran into and you are the first one I've ever heard about it happening to is that you were running just the stock cooler. Which is inadequate for the transmission when you remove the LC feature from it. Which is why it is said to run a secondary cooler.

The first thing I did when I started changing the Neon's 31TH tranny is add that second cooler. So in escence you have to add that buffer so the transmission can handle the added heat.

Still, I'm surprised you only "coked" the transmission instead of destroying it. I always knew these 31th's were burly but didn't think they could handle being nearly boiled.

 

I still don't know how I managed to pour boiling water on it though.
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Crazy, if we ever meet up, I'll pour the coffee, OK???[sm=smiley36.gif]

Glad you're doing better!!!

 

Ok sounds like a plan.

Oh, and pain is your body letting you know that you aren't dead yet. Pain is temporary, death is forever.

 

ARG!!!!

still 26 mpg

new plugs, new filter, (still flushing the radiator) maybe injectors?? any ideas anyone?

I am angry.