Q I have a '94 Chevy Cavalier with an automatic transmission and only 60,000 miles on it. When driving in a 45 miles per hour zone, every time I come to a stop sign it's as if the transmission stays in high gear, resulting in the engine stalling. Once the engine dies, I can start it up, and everything is fine until the next stoplight. When I come to a stop, if I put the transmission in neutral the engine sounds fine, but as soon as I put it back in drive the engine bogs down and dies. Can you give me insight to this problem so I can fix it myself?
A It's not the transmission staying in "high gear," it's the torque converter clutch failing to release as you slow the car to a stop. It's just like braking to a stop while still in gear in a manual transmission vehicle, and failing to push the clutch pedal in to release the clutch.
The problem is a sticky converter clutch solenoid in the transmission that is failing to bleed off the hydraulic pressure differential that keeps this clutch engaged. When the engine stalls, hydraulic pressure drops to zero, and the clutch releases.
The solution is to replace the converter clutch solenoid, a several-hundred-dollar repair. But adding a transmission additive like Trans-Tune may help free the sticky solenoid, and is worth a try.
The cheap fix is to simply unplug the converter clutch solenoid connection on the transmission and disable the clutch so that it never engages. This will cost you a mile per gallon or so of fuel economy, but it won't hurt anything -- although it might turn on the check-engine light.
Q I have a 1999 Ford F-350 diesel pickup that I use to haul a 3,000-pound camper. At 150,000 miles, two lug bolts broke on the right front wheel. I had all the bolts replaced in both front wheels. After 2,000 miles, another bolt broke on the right front. My Ford garage said the bolts had been overtorqued to more than 240 instead of 150. However, a Ford garage that specializes in trucks said that amount of overtorque would not cause the breakage. Do you have any suggestions about what is causing this?
A Having investigated accidents where overtightened wheel lugs have broken and led to fatal crashes, I don't agree that torquing the lugs to 240 pound-feet of torque "would not cause the breakage."
Ford issued service bulletin 02L11 in October 2002 updating the wheel-lug torque specifications and tightening sequence, and providing a new jacking card and owner's manual insert.
