Alright, I'll do that tonight. What is my pressure supposed to be?

I presume I have to remove the transmission from the car to replace this channel plate gasket if it isn't the accumulator that'* causing the problem?

Depends on what your tuned for, but I would say around 90 psi.

No need to remove the trans. But it would make it way easier. You need to remove teh side pan, then remove the valve body plate.

Here'* a blown channel plate gasket.


You need to remove all of this.


And get down to this point.


Keep in mind, do the pressure test before doing this. This is a real pain, a good 10 hour day with the right tools. You don't need much in special tools other then a inch pound torque wrench. A trans jack or ATV jack is a really good idea.

When I did this job all the symptoms indicated a blown gasket. If you have not seen fluid come out of the vent this may not be the problem.

A locked on TCC can be caused by a faulty soleniod etc. Haven't come across info that a bad gasket will lock up the TCC.

Dan.. you sure poor pressure only effects one gear? I don't remember seeing any 1st gear passages etc. Kinda figure if pressure is bleeding off it would be all gears.

Maybe a bad soleniod? if one of the o-rings is bleeding it could cause issues in...hmmm two gears.

That code is the only thing that has me thinking not the gasket. however, if a blown gasket jams the TCC valve. The blown gasket I fixed slipped bad in first but seemed OK after that. That'* why I want a pressure test. If pressure is good, the gasket is good. So far I'm thinking drop bottom pan and inspect, clean up accumulator. If this does not correct the problem then the side pan may need to come off. The only area I'm not sure of is the tune. Because this is a custom wire and tune that adds a lot of other factors in to this. But assuming the wiring and tune is correct, that only leaves a mechanical problem. Bad 1-2 O ring, stuck TCC valve or bad TCC solenoid. Beyond that your talking about damaged bands. Inspecting the lower pan should rule that out. Be sure to look up in to the inspection holes for where the shift pins contact the band. Anything damaged up there should be obvious.

What vent are we talking about here?

Last night I went around for a nice long drive and gave it a lot of WOT runs, but today its not happy with me again. Not sure if the PCM just doesn't know what to do and puts it in limp mode. I already tested the PCS solenoid as mentioned earlier with a voltmeter and the resistance was within spec. Could it still be bad if the resistance is fine? What other solenoids should I be checking?

I really don't know where to start. I don't want to drop the pan if I don't really have to. I think I'll get a pressure test done and go from there.

Wouldn't 90PSI only happen at wide open throttle? IIRC 96 was the max for my transmission.

Alright, I'll do that then and let you guys know what I find. Thanks for laying it out for me so I know where to go step by step. I'm a bit frustrated and nervous about this whole thing because I really wanted to take this car to California for my 1 week trip next week, but its looking more and more like I really shouldn't be driving it across the country and just take the Bonneville instead. The only problem is I only have 10k miles left on the warranty on the Bonneville.

I should be able to do a pressure test today during my lunch break.

I can't find a picture of it, but I'm sure I have one. It'* on the drivers side of the trans right on top, just behind the throttle body. Looks like a little cap. There'* also a bolt head near it and that'* the pressure test point.

If you are in limp... pressure will be around 270psi.

Thanks.

Anything else I should test as far as wiring goes?

The tune BTW is the stock transmission values from a 2003 Regal. Nothing else altered there.

Not much else to test. I've tested the PCS and had it show good, but it was still bad. SGP358 says always replace the PCS if you have the side pan off. It'* only about $60. The PCS is a know bad part in these transmissions.