My camaro has the stock 700R4, I have upgraded it with a TCI corvette servo, B&M Shift kit and a supplemental trans cooler. Transmission is well behaved, and has been serviced periodicaly. However my TCC is not functioning I went my thru my flow charts and deduced that my TCC solenoid was bad. I Replaced it (it was in fact bad I checked the old one). Anyway My New TCC solenoid is definately functioning however I still dont have TCC lock-up. What should I look at next? Do you think I have a bad torque converter? Any ideas?

 

It is possible that the lockup clutch in your torque converter has gone bad, but before you go through the trouble of replacing the converter, you should check the continuity of the wiring leading to the tcc solenoid. If the wiring checks out, you'll also want to make sure the ecm is sending the signal to enable tcc lockup. If all this checks out ok, then proceed to the converter itself.

 

Hrmm.. I'm on the fence about lockup.. not sure if its a good thing or not.

-- Joe

 

What possible reason would there be not to want lockup? 700r4.com (the bow tie overdrives website) makes a convincing argument for lockup torque converters: Lower operating temps and increased fuel efficiency. As for my tranny I tested continuity and ecm signal, the TCC solenoid is getting the proper signal. It is my understanding that there is Also a TCC valve, can this get stuck or go bad? I just want to make sure I have checked everything before replacing the torque converter.

 

I have to agree with bowtie overdrives. It's always good to retain your lockup feature if at all possible. Some setups are just too radical with too high of a stall speed for having lockup, but that's not the case with most motors built for hot street. If you do end up having to buy a new converter, I'd highly suggest avoiding TCI or B&M. They just don't cut it when it comes to 700r4's. Even though they're pricey, you can't go wrong with a Vigilante, Yank, Edge, Hughes, etc. Dana at Pro Built sells a lot of Continental brand converters, so they're probably good quality too. If you don't have an ATSG manual for 700r4's yet, you absolutely need to buy one. They have really good troubleshooting sections, and exploded views of all parts of the trans, flow charts, etc. IIRC, the last time I thumbed through mine, I'm pretty sure I did see a TCC valve in the valve body. I suppose it's possible that this passage could be blocked by debris or the spring could be either broken or fatigued. I'm really leaning more towards the possiblity that it is the converter though, since the TCC valve is probably unlikely, and also since you've confirmed you're getting the signal from the ecm, and the solenoid is functioning. You might want to give Dana at Pro Built a call and see what he suggests. I've talked to him on the phone before, and he's very knowledgeable, and usually happy to help, even if he didn't sell you a trans. He can probably give you better advice than anyone else I can think of. Post back and let us know how it works out.