Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) The Old Lock/Unlock Question

[pcarlson]

I must say first I have 127,000 miles, but driving tonight the converter clutch started the lock/unlock between 42-45 mph about half way thru my trip. I have never had this problem before and have had a 127,000 trouble free transmission miles until now.



Any suggestions? I hooked up the Smarty and I have no trouble codes. Could the APPS be going out? I don't think I developed a "noise" problem all of a sudden.

 

[fox]

I bet the trucks alternator has.

 

[BSander]

Do a search on this forum for the suncoast converter rewire pdf. It is a quick, simple fix. A couple of bucks and a couple of minutes of work and not only will your problem be gone forever, but the transmission will shift better than ever.

 

[BSander]

Click here: http://www.suncoastconverters.com/images/APPS ground rewire.pdf print this out and follow the instructions. This PDF says to run the ground wires in to the cab and ground on the dashboard ground lug. When I did mine it said to run the grounds directly to the battery. I ran mine to the left side battery lug that bolts on to the radiator support. Follow these instructions and all your trouble will be gone.

 

[ed9824v]

I believe DTT has a filter for this issue my truck has one one it. I have herd the grounds need checking and to put aluminum foil on the alternator wires. . Ed

 

[pcarlson]

Thanks for the replies. Still did the same thing going to work so at lunch I disconnected the negatives and cleaned them and reconnected a few hours later and reset the APPS. On the way home it drove fine.



I did make some other observations:



Intermittent wipers were acting funny.

Headlights seemed dimmer.

Voltage gauge seemed slower going up and not quite as high.



I might be leaning toward Fox and thinking the alternator is getting ready to crap out. Does Geno's still have the alternator rebuild kits?



Course I guess I could have a bad battery too, starts fine though. All the electrical is original so after 7 years and 127,000 something must be getting tired.

 

[Bob4x4]

I have had to replace Batt's on a few trucks to correct it. I would still add the DTT filter,clean all the grounds add a ground wire directly from the rt side batt to the pcm mounting bolt as well.



Bob

 

[pcarlson]

I will go through it this weekend and clean up all the grounds, hopefully it will get me home.



Bob, what do you think of the Suncoast grounding solution verses the filter?



I'll have to also check batteries and alternator for output and capacity. This just took me off guard and this problem seems to have many solutions.

 

[BSander]

I disconnected the batteries several times, cleaned all the connections, checked every ground, no luck. I did the suncoast ground rewire two years ago and problem solved. Every shift for the last two years has been smooth, no more lock, unlock, no more hunting for gears, no more up shift, downshift, runs better than did when new. Cheap, easy and simple.

 

[pcarlson]

Thanks BSander,



I downloaded the instructions and I have wire verses buying a filter especially if you and others have had good luck. I will run a wire to the PCM as Bob4x4 discussed as well.

 

[Ramtuf1]

I had the TC lock/unlock problem a few years back and I made the "Tin foil" shielding fix on the ground wire near the alternator and that took care of until just recently. (105K miles). If you see my signature line, I have all the Suncoast bells and whistles. Now the transmission is either shifting up and down or the TC is locking/unlocking. (Not sure which).



I performed the Suncoast grounding change a few weeks back and tied wires to a dash ground inside. Might change and go directly to battery as BSanders indicated to see if that helps as I'm still having problems.



As I indicated, not sure what is happening as when I use my TCC computer and turn it on, it should ignore APPS and looks directly at speed of truck. (40 mph lockup/30 mph unlock). The symptoms are same whether TCC is on or off. I do have a code for low signal voltage on APPS so I'm going to try to reset the voltage on the APPS possibly by repositioning and also clearing the code. Hopefully no codes after that. The APPS is original and if needed, I might install the Williams potentiometer upgrade which soundes to be a good investment.



Just note sure what the issue is at present.

 

[PC12Driver]

Does Geno's still have the alternator rebuild kits?

They do. I just put 2/3 of one in my truck. It comes with the brushes and two bearings. One of my bearings was stuck in place, and I didn't want to end up needing a new alternator because I tried to beat it out. So I ended up just putting in the brushes and one bearing (the pulley side).



Neither bearing felt bad at all, and the brushes had about 20% left (after 125k miles). If I had to do it again, I'd probably just swap the brushes (which you can get alone from Larry B's)



Oh, and the instructions in the Geno's kit are probably some of the worst instructions you'll ever read. I'm not really sure if they even helped me or slowed me down.

 

[pcarlson]

PC12Driver,



Thanks for the info on the alternator rebuild. I think that I am going to order the replacement brushes from Geno's as Larry B only has the Denso on his site and mine is the Bosch model.



I went thru and cleaned all the grounds on the batteries, body and frame. I noticed that I already had a ground on the PCM mount from the factory and cleaned that as well. Since I reset the APPS earlier in the week I have not had the problem again. Looking at the batteries I noticed that the "green eye" looks a little dark so I must have a bad cell in the battery and it is probably time for two new ones I will have to stop and have them tested. Who knows bad batteries could be the sole cause of my problem as Bob4x4 said that he has seen this be the problem before on a couple trucks.

 

[pcarlson]

After resetting the APPS I still haven't had anymore problems. But I did replace the batteries yesterday and WOW I didn't realize how dim my headlights were getting until I put in the new batteries. I think that Bob4x4 might have nailed it right on the head when he said that he has seen bad batteries cause this problem. I will have to keep an eye on things to make sure there is no alternator problems.



I went with the Walmart group 27's, as they seemed like a fair price and 3 year free replacement.

 

[134x4ctd]

just did the suncoast rewire. success

 

[BSander]

I'm glad it worked for you, too. Problem... SOLVED. It seems to easy, but, IT WORKS!. They should have left the factory wired this way. I think you will find it will work better than it ever has.