Trans Solenoid Fix (Pics & Diagrams)

[yaygull]

Apr 2, 2014 11:33:39 GMT -6 BuccaneersFan said:

I have the new solenoids installed and the lower valve body re-installed back into the transmission. Now I just need to finish bolting the pan back on and I can fill her up with fluid! I took a lot of pictures and I plan on doing a more thorough How-To because this one is very difficult to follow especially for someone without much experience. If I hadn't have had my factory service manuals I would of been screwed! A check ball dropped out of the valve body and I had no idea where it came from, but luckily there was a diagram in service manual that showed where it went. When I post the How-To I'll include the applicable diagrams from the service manual including the torque specs.

Did this fix your shifting problem? I just had the same problem develop today (lack of OD), so I'm eager to know how it turned out for you. Also, did you get around to updating the tutorial?

[RCA1186]

That'd be awesome man, thanks for doing that!

[sall]

There used to be some good pictures in this thread or another similar write-up.

[yaygull]

Has anyone found the solenoid replacement kit at a brick-and-mortar store? The only place I'm finding it is online at Rock Auto and GMpartsdirect.com. Both of those sites call it simply "valve kit," which of course brings up a ton of other stuff when you search Autozone. I don't know what they call it at Napa, Autozone or O'Reilly's. The brick-and-mortar places all have the individual solenoids, but not the kits. I definitely want to replace that filter while I'm in there; this is not the kind of job I want to have to do again!

[XJSman89]

I found mine at a local transmission shop. I'll look to see what the part number is, if I can find it. It was a delco part, one part number for both solenoids. I replaced mine and I was back on the road in short order.

**Edit**

Found it. The picture of the part that I used is included. I uploaded these and never posted them, I guess. Here are some posts form my trans solenoid repair. All in all, the hardest part of the whole job was getting myself excited enough to pull the bottom of the case off. It wasn't a bad job at all, replacing the solenoids was easy, and I was back on the road a few hours from when I started.

Busted Solenoid:


Bottom of case (be CAREFUL with those check balls! The locations are easy enough to find but it's a whole lot easier to not drop/move them in the first place.


Bolt map (Also very handy, there are many different lengths.


New replacement solenoids, AC Delco part.


Old parts and new parts


New solenoids mounted

[yaygull]

Thanks for these updated pics, man! I did mine earlier this week, and it was a piece of cake, thanks to your photos and tips. It took me about three hours because I didn't realize I had to remove the bolts on the smaller valve body section (the phallic section sticking off the main valve body) in order to get the whole thing removed. I was under the car tugging on it for at least 20 minutes before I came back to the computer and looked at your photos again.

Pro-tip for anyone doing this in the future: when you're ready to disassemble the valve body, remove the bolts holding it together, but carefully flip it before you separate the two halves. That way the check balls stay in their proper chambers and you don't have to figure out where they came from or risk losing them.

Overall, it was a pretty easy job, although my neck and arms hurt afterward from all the contorted movements under the car. Definitely a messy job, too. You would do well to put a large piece of cardboard down to protect your garage floor or driveway from the fluid.

For future reference, the symptoms of my problem were inability to shift into fourth/overdrive, plus a slight hesitation in shifts between park, 1, 2, 3 and reverse. When I removed the valve body, it was clear that one of the solenoids was cracked. Replacing both solenoids and the filter (with extra bracket) fixed the problem. My shifts are much smoother now.

[XJSman89]

I'm glad they helped! Yeah I had some similar problems, only I had to go the "When in doubt, remove more bolts" route. I couldn't tell you which ones to remove if I looked at the bottom of it again, but hopefully that picture of the "Bolt Map" helped a little bit. Those are all the ones that I took out to get it loose.

I was lucky enough to be able to do my job on a lift so I avoided the arm and neck pains, but I know how you feel. And messy for sure. But I bet it felt great when it was done! My symptoms were similar to yours. I lost Overdrive at first, then I lost third shortly after and fixed it after that. Threw the new solenoids in and I was back on the road.

[95ratjet]

I just did mine today and had to register just to say thank you for the write up and the pictures. I was having the exact same symptoms and the local shop wanted $450 to do it. I got the valve kit online for $45. Only took about 2 hours doing it in my garage, and I've never opened an auto tranny before. I really appreciate you taking the time to do that!

[XJSman89]

Not a problem! Glad that I could help. It feels really great to be able to save $400 on a job like that. And easy fixes are always nice, too.

I let the car sit for a while before I did it because I was unsure of the problem and afraid to dive into it; I really shouldn't have been. It wasn't that bad at all. I had never taken apart a tranny at all myself either, but I wouldn't hesitate to do a solenoid repair again. The Aurora isn't that reliable of a car (or at least mine hasn't been) but it sure has taught me how to work on stuff, and for that I am grateful!

[95ratjet]

Jul 27, 2014 9:14:27 GMT -6 XJSman89 said:

Not a problem! Glad that I could help. It feels really great to be able to save $400 on a job like that. And easy fixes are always nice, too.

I let the car sit for a while before I did it because I was unsure of the problem and afraid to dive into it; I really shouldn't have been. It wasn't that bad at all. I had never taken apart a tranny at all myself either, but I wouldn't hesitate to do a solenoid repair again. The Aurora isn't that reliable of a car (or at least mine hasn't been) but it sure has taught me how to work on stuff, and for that I am grateful!

I let mine sit for 2 weeks because I was scared to open the tranny. All this talk about check balls rolling away had me nervous. It really was simple though. I would urge people to do this job themselves and save some dough. If you're on the fence about doing this job, just go for it. If anyone in the Atlanta area needs help doing this, hit me up.

[kadybee27]

Exactly the same issue. Broken solenoid picture was the same problem i ran into. Put it all back together and same problem. After taking it apart again i had tightened some bolts to tight and the valve body cracked in some places. Also put some bolts in wrong place. Can i just jb weld it and torque correctly? I dont have the money to buy a new valve body which is why i did the job myself. Never worked on a car in my life first of all im a girl second of all not mechanic type. Although i do know what i did wrong jus need to know if its worth all the trouble ill have to go through to get it workin or did i possibly create a bigger problem.

[kadybee27]

It isnt the valve body itselft its the shift module plate

[kadybee27]

Please view my post at bottom need some help