When driving it will sometimes engage and sometimes it dont, so is there a way to keep it turned off and if i do turn it off by unplugging it would that keep the check engine light on, and would it cause damage.
THANKS

 

i dont know a whole lot about it, but there is a tech article on wiring a on/off switch for the lockup. this might help

 

The lock-up switch merely grounds the circuit at all times (like the ECM does for lockup), so that type of switch won't help.

The power is interupted by a switch on the brake pedal. If you pull the plug on that switch, the lockup will no longer function.

The computer doesn't care if the lockup is connected or is working. It simply tells the tranny what it wants it to do, doesn't care if it does it or not.

I've heard from more than one source that a non-functioning TCC lockup will burn out the tranny in short order due to additional heat. I've been driving mine for 23k miles without the TCC locking a single time, and haven't burnt out the tranny. But then, I use synthetic ATF...

 

Jet makes a inline harness with a little box that prevents lockup till you hit highway speed. Mine was always in and out around 40. So i got that for around $50 and the car accelerates much smoother and quicker. And it actually has beeter throttle response. At part throttle it would screw around, but after installing that its smooth.

 

As to yours not burning out in 23K, you have a 3.42 axle which makes a difference. I had a 2.73/305 equiped Firebird that lost L/U (no big deal for me since I knew eventually I would be going through it). Little problems progressively started occuring until it got bad. When I tore it down I found almost all of the seals were HARD from the heat. Yours will last longer because of the ratio but not forever. Same sort of thing with my current 2.8L (3.42). The converter would shudder bad on engagement but would L/U. I drove it with this getting worse until I couldn't 'trick' it into gear W/O severe vibration so I unplugged it. Again, I knew I would be doing it anyways. I probably got another year out of it before the problems just took over like Reverse Delay. When I got it apart I was surprised that virtually every clutch pack and band was well done to say the least. I had installed a TransGo Jr. Shift Kit in it when I bought it (with a late shifting complaint) and otherwise it still shifted real well so I didn't expect this. I thought I could just Paper and Rubber kit it(basic O/H kit) and a new converter. Good Luck!

 

Actually, I have 2.93 gears, but just 24.5" tall tires.

I've got the pan off right now for the full Transgo/Vette servo/relief valve treatment right now. The pan was completely clean (unlike the TH400 in the '57 which fried the direct pack). I'm hoping to get that TCC locking when it goes back together this time (with Pro Built's help).

 

Hmm, I saw a sig with "original V-6 car" and thought it was you. I never heard of a 2.93 gear but if it is so then it will last less time than the 3.42 would for same reasons.

 

Yep, that's me. Original V6 car, original gears were 3.08. That rear had a loose pinion, had eaten itself up by the time I bought the car. Found this 2.93 posi, which was only offered in '82 (and possibly '83 - can't remember off the top of my head, but this one came from an '82 car). My tires are only 24.5" tall, so that works out to about the same ratio as 3.08's with 15" 60-series tires. Perhaps Berlinettas got 3.08's because they had 14" tires - don't know, just speculating.

If you've looked at https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=97795, you know I'm am struggling desperately to get this TCC locking! In a post several months ago, I stated that I knew I had 12 volts to the tranny - well, yes, but that appears to have been the 4th gear circuit only, not the TCC lockup circuit. What a difference a little knowledge makes...

FWIW, I also know a fellow racer who has a TH700 in a '65 Impala behind a fairly healthy 454. He's raced with it two seasons, taken it on the Power Tour twice (was on the cover of Hot Rod last summer), and he's never bothered to hook up the TCC lockup. Maybe he's on borrowed time, too, but from all the horror stories, he should have burnt it up a long time ago.