Expert: Roland Finston - 6/30/2011

Question
Hi Roland, Apparently I ask too many questions. LOL. I called a local transmission shop. They said 37.00 to diagnose. She said it could be a solinoid which would be 450.00 or a wiring problem and she'd have to refer me to the shop next door to find the wiring problem. She said they would charge 80 per hour to find the problem. I would take it to her but I've got another shop that is about 30 miles away willing to diagnose it for free. So unless you think these charges are reasonable, I just as soon take it to the guy 30 miles away. Nothing to lose but gas there! Is there a way we can look for a loose wire or troubled wire?

Answer
Hi Maria,
There are several plugs on the driver side of the transmission which you could inspect the wires thereof to see anything obvious. If there is a wiring problem it would show up specifically in the code for that circuit, so that would be the best way to look for a wiring issue if there is one.
The $37 would be for a code readout I presume. The $450 would be to change the solenoid pack if something in it presents as the coded problem. The $80 per hour would be further diagnostic efforts/possible easy repair charges, I presume.
On the free diagnose, if that is an independent trans shop then I would trust their readout and that they aren't going to be pre-disposed to sell you on a complete rebuild which is what the franshise operations are geared toward. If means 60 miles round trip in 2nd gear possibly plus the fuel vs $37 for the local readout. I will let you decide and assume that either shop is trustworthy. If you don't like the results at a distance you can always get a second readout for $37 locally. In any case get the4-digit fault code, what it means, what they propose to repair, and for how much. Before you do anything, check the dipstick of the transmission to be sure that the problem isn't due to too low a level. ATF +4 is the type of fluid to add if necessary, but be careful to add slowly throught the dispstick tube so as to not overfill it either.
Roland