2003 Liberty w/ 165K miles 42RLE Questions.

[tesuzuki2002]

I have had a kick down / bump shift when going from I think 3rd to 2nd for well over a year. A couple months the Trans went into Limp Mode. P0700 Code and the internal diagnostic flagged a P0750 for the L/R Solenoid.

I finally got around to getting the parts and doing the job to replace the Solenoid pack. Kind of a fun job... but not so much.. LOL.. I'm an engineer of aircraft so I like to see how things work.

Test drive resulted in no codes and operating okay. I am still getting a kick down on the downshift and I'm wondering what is causing that. I thought maybe it was the solenoid failing and then once finally went that this would fix it..

Do I need to perform a quick learn on the transmission and perhaps that would help fix that? I don't have the equipment for it and a local shop want $200 to do that.

I keep getting deals for this down to $300 and I'm considering picking it up do to the quick learn.

Amazon.com

Aside from doing the quick learn does anyone have experience with this diagnostic scan tool? Would it help trouble shoot what it causing the kick down? Maybe a speed sensor or other?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

thanks,

 

[24turbo]

If you changed the solenoid pack you probably should do a quick learn regardless of having any issues. Having said that I cant say for sure it will cure your problem.

I just did a full rebuild recently and while doing it I did research a fair amount on common issues I can address while it was apart. The most common was valve body issues and specifically the switch valve bore wearing out because the valve body itself is aluminum. The switch valve is actuated by the solenoid pack and when it wears it leaks pressure and causes issues. There are a couple ways to deal with it. Trango has a kit with a reamer that resizes the bore and has a new oversized valve. There are 2 sizes (.420" and .453") so you will have to figure which you have ("should" be the .420). The kit comes with or without a reaming tool, and you will need the kit with the tool. They are fairly expensive and seem hard to locate with the reamer. I ended up finding a slightly resized valve that was "drop in" but probably should have got the Transgo kit and did it properly.

Not sure that is your problem but its something to check into.

I did a quick learn on my transmission once I had it back in. Very simple procedure that took less than 5 minutes. I had bought an older Snap on scanner a few years back (on the local classifieds-another option for you) that was able to do the quick learn. It has more than paid for itself over the years.

I should clarify this was on a 2003 like yours, but this info may not be accurate for the 2006+ transmissions with VLP.

I know your pain in removing and re-installing the valve body in the vehicle.... as I changed my solenoid pack initially in hopes it would fix my issues, but no such luck.

 

[tesuzuki2002]

If you changed the solenoid pack you probably should do a quick learn regardless of having any issues. Having said that I cant say for sure it will cure your problem.

I just did a full rebuild recently and while doing it I did research a fair amount on common issues I can address while it was apart. The most common was valve body issues and specifically the switch valve bore wearing out because the valve body itself is aluminum. The switch valve is actuated by the solenoid pack and when it wears it leaks pressure and causes issues. There are a couple ways to deal with it. Trango has a kit with a reamer that resizes the bore and has a new oversized valve. There are 2 sizes (.420" and .453") so you will have to figure which you have ("should" be the .420). The kit comes with or without a reaming tool, and you will need the kit with the tool. They are fairly expensive and seem hard to locate with the reamer. I ended up finding a slightly resized valve that was "drop in" but probably should have got the Transgo kit and did it properly.

Not sure that is your problem but its something to check into.

I did a quick learn on my transmission once I had it back in. Very simple procedure that took less than 5 minutes. I had bought an older Snap on scanner a few years back (on the local classifieds-another option for you) that was able to do the quick learn. It has more than paid for itself over the years.

I should clarify this was on a 2003 like yours, but this info may not be accurate for the 2006+ transmissions with VLP.

I know your pain in removing and re-installing the valve body in the vehicle.... as I changed my solenoid pack initially in hopes it would fix my issues, but no such luck.

Thanks 24turbo for the reply and the info. Perhaps I should have done more of a overhaul rebuild and look at changing out other parts as well. I was mainly targeting the Engine Codes and getting it running again out of Limp mode.

For the most part I mainly end up doing freeway miles across California with this vehicle going to the mountains etc... so not a lot of shifting once I'm up to speed. My daily driver is a motorcycle.. So it becomes out of sight out of might most of the time.

I'll look for ways to pick up a cheaper scan tool... but if I drop the $300 on this... it'll be a one time purchase that I'll likely use for the rest or my life. It'll pay for itself I have little doubt there.

cheers!