93 Grand Am TCC solenoid

[Tazilla]

Anyone know how hard it is to change the TCC solenoid in a 93 Grand Am? I need to change mine and don't have the cash to take it to the shop.

[Brad97GS]

I'd recommend just disconnecting it. That'll be even cheaper than replacing it yourself. It won't damage anything, though your gas mileage will go down (so I suppose it will cost you some in the long run).

I've never done the repair, but from what I've heard you need to take off the side pan of the tranny. The worst problem you'd probably run into is just a tight area overall. In order to get to the side pan, you would need to remove the plastic skirt in the wheel well.

[Tazilla]

The main reason I want to fix it is so the ses light will quit coming on from it being disconnected. Is that the pan on that faces the drivers side tire? Looks like a real pain to get to.

[rixGAphx]

Originally posted by Tazilla
Is that the pan on that faces the drivers side tire? Yup.
Looks like a real pain to get to. Yup.
Not really meant to be accessed in the car.

Are you certain the TCC solenoid is bad?
An SES code in a '93 isn't very definitive (the older OBD-I computer's are pretty crude at self-diagnosis).
Might just be bad wiring or dirty contacts in the connector, all on the outside of the tranny.
I would start there.

[Tazilla]

Contacts are dirty but that's because someone unplugged it a while ago. It must have been because it wasn't working. I will clean them first and rule out a bad contact. Anything to try and avoid pulling that cover. I get the 26 27 28 codes with the plug unplugged. No codes with it plugged in just that the trans doesn't seem to downshift correctly when I go over 40 or 45.