1996 SL2 Saturn Transmission Code Help

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bajazza

Hi, I have a '96 Saturn SL2, great car with no problems except this: I
have a check engine light on, had it scanned and comes up with code
P0733 (trans 3rd gear error) Does anyone know the procedure to fix
this? The tranny does shift funny out of 3rd sometimes so its a real
code. I just know where to start..thanks in advance!
Jay
 
This error probably indicts a defective 3rd gear shift solenoid. The
solenoids can be checked by measuring the resistance at the top after
removing the connector. This is easy to access right under the air breather
tube. As I recall, resistance should be between 4 and 6 ohms on all of the
solenoids. If you find a bad one it will measure differently. There are
only 2 connections per solenoid and each pair are adjacent to each other on
the connector. For what it is worth, solenoids are replaceable parts and
are sold at the dealer parts counter. If you open up the trans cover (not
needed to make the resistance measurement) then you will also need to
replace the cover gasket at that time too.

By the way, the worst part of this job is scraping the old gasket off and
keeping the debris from falling into the transmission... this is the only
drawback I have found to having the cover access on the top side of the TAAT
transmission. Good luck and hope this info helps. If all solenoids are
good, then clean the connector or wait for whatever is intermittent (speed
sensor, solenoid, CPU, etc.) to fail permanently to make it easier to
diagnose.

Bob
 
I have a 2002 saturn sl2 I have p 0733 I did change trans. Filter oil ,New valve body ,speed sensor , car works just fine on lower gage , going to the next gear , when change next gear the third does a big stump noise and the p0733 shows up again , Google also research tell me , that PCM and TCM are together , something is wrong with the signal on the TCM so ; I'm have to change the PCM ,is that right . That is my Question ??
 
Wouldn't be so sure yet.

Did you confirm the solenoids are all close in resistance? Did you use sonnax solenoids?

Have someone monitor the transmission line pressure as you are shifting through the gears. Should be possible through the obdII diag connection.

There also may be wiring issues at the valve body.

Always leave the PCM/TCM till last.
 
Thanks for your concern , new thing I did ,bought use pcm on Ebay same serial number same part number ,I did installed the car crank and start at the spot but it died right away , look like injectors don't work , why ,that's my question !!
 
You need to do a Passlock II security system reset/relearn when you change out the PCM. Do the 30 minute version. Hook your battery up to either a battery charger or the jumper cables to a running vehicle. If you don't the battery will die before the procedure is complete and it will not work. This procedure reestablishes communications between the passlock sensor in the ignition switch, the BCM, and the PCM. The PCM needs to be told by the BCM that it is okay to uninhibit the fuel injectors.
 
Actually, no.

The replacement PCM needs to be married to the existing BCM which is already married to the existing passlock sensor in the ignition switch. The ignition switch pass lock sensor senses that the correct key has been inserted in the ignition. It communicates that message to the BCM. If the BCM agrees, the BCM sends a communication to the PCM to uninhibit the fuel injectors. The default state for the fuel injectors is inhibited.

When you put a different PCM in a pass lock vehicle, you need to get the BCM and PCM communications synchronized. The passlock reset procedure is what is used to do so. Follow the procedure to the letter. If it does not work, try it again. No open doors, no playing with Windows, door locks, any of that. Just what is on the page with the doors closed.

The reason your old PCM can be put back in and work the way it did is because the BCM and that PCM are still able to communicate because the reset procedure failed, so nothing about the communications between the BCM and old PCM changed. So you dropped it back in and it should work and did.
.
The car will not start with a different PCM other than the sputter start and stall until you successfully complete the passlock reset procedure.

If you are not seeing anything close to the behavior listed in the procedure, post what you are saying so that we can figure it out.

Earlier in your posts, you said this is a real code. I agree. Third year is problematic. This is why I indicated to wait on trying a new PCM until other avenues were exhausted. Nothing is to say this is not an internal transmission issue.

Buying a used PCM has no guarantee that the PCM itself has not previously gone bad / damaged / etc. you are rolling the dice. There are many reasons vehicles end up in the junkyard. A lot of the Saturns of this era ended up there because the BCM was defective and too expensive to fix. There were also a good share of PCM failures, also too expensive to fix as in buy brand new, have dealership flash the code onto it, etc.

You don't know if the replacement PCM is good or not. This alone may be keeping the vehicle from starting. Changing nothing else, if all you did was exchange the PCM for the replacement, you should be able to run the passlock procedure and have the car start. If you can't, either you're doing it wrong or the replacement PCM is defective.
 
Thank you very much for your Great advise ; one last question , is the PCM controls the timing chance on all the gears in the transmission , you think that might be the reason for the p0733 code on my third gear ?
 
Trying to troubleshoot a transmission shifting error without considering or examining the internals of the transmission supposedly leading to the error code is not in my opinion the best way to troubleshoot your issue.

I know you want it to be something less involved / messy to deal with. But the fact that this is a physical event occurring inside your transmission to me indicates it is likely a mechanical issue. You've already changed the valve body which was a logical start.

However, the line pressure inside the transmission is critical for smooth shifts as well as ships that occur when they are supposed to. The pcm/tcm sends instructions to the transmission. The question is whether the transmission can follow them.

I suspect something is amiss inside the transmission that physically is not operating correctly in third gear. The TCM seems to be very consistent in telling the transmission what to do shifting into third gear because it slam shifts 100% of the time now.

Take the replacement PCM out of the car and out of the equation. Since you're having issues with it, it just adds one more variable to troubleshooting. Your car runs on the original PCM and it's the only way you can troubleshoot the original problem. With the original parts.

It's going to be difficult to find someone who truly understands this transmission due to its age. Most of the guys wrenching right now weren't born when it was manufactured. You need to find an old guy at a transmission shop you can trust.

Even then, due to its age, they will recommend a full rebuild due to the labor involved in disassembling the internals to get to third gear. The clutch packs are worn out, seals are leaking, transmission fluid pump after this many years could use replacing.. and the dollar figure to do all of this rebuild is probably worth more than the car is worth. I know you don't want to hear that, but it's the truth. You can put a junkyard transmission in it, but with the mileage on it, these taat transmissions, the automatics ALL develop one problem or another as they age. So it's a crapshoot but also a chance at continued life for your vehicle.

There is always the chance that I am completely wrong, but I would not have spent this much time explaining the details to you as to why I don't think I'm wrong. I don't know everything and I don't claim to. I have tried to help many people on several different Saturn forums with every problem under the sun. Transmissions are not my strong point by any means, but troubleshooting is.

Unless you can find someone to evaluate your transmission for free, or evaluate your TCM for free, it's going to cost you money to determine the true nature of the problem, and it's probably an issue that's not financially worth it to fix. Probably.

I believe you have a perfectly good PCM in your car. It plays well with the security system and runs your car in most of the gears. No other whack behavior.

And that's all I have for you.
 
Derf said:
Trying to troubleshoot a transmission shifting error without considering or examining the internals of the transmission supposedly leading to the error code is not in my opinion the best way to troubleshoot your issue.

I know you want it to be something less involved / messy to deal with. But the fact that this is a physical event occurring inside your transmission to me indicates it is likely a mechanical issue. You've already changed the valve body which was a logical start.

However, the line pressure inside the transmission is critical for smooth shifts as well as ships that occur when they are supposed to. The pcm/tcm sends instructions to the transmission. The question is whether the transmission can follow them.

I suspect something is amiss inside the transmission that physically is not operating correctly in third gear. The TCM seems to be very consistent in telling the transmission what to do shifting into third gear because it slam shifts 100% of the time now.

Take the replacement PCM out of the car and out of the equation. Since you're having issues with it, it just adds one more variable to troubleshooting. Your car runs on the original PCM and it's the only way you can troubleshoot the original problem. With the original parts.

It's going to be difficult to find someone who truly understands this transmission due to its age. Most of the guys wrenching right now weren't born when it was manufactured. You need to find an old guy at a transmission shop you can trust.

Even then, due to its age, they will recommend a full rebuild due to the labor involved in disassembling the internals to get to third gear. The clutch packs are worn out, seals are leaking, transmission fluid pump after this many years could use replacing.. and the dollar figure to do all of this rebuild is probably worth more than the car is worth. I know you don't want to hear that, but it's the truth. You can put a junkyard transmission in it, but with the mileage on it, these taat transmissions, the automatics ALL develop one problem or another as they age. So it's a crapshoot but also a chance at continued life for your vehicle.

There is always the chance that I am completely wrong, but I would not have spent this much time explaining the details to you as to why I don't think I'm wrong. I don't know everything and I don't claim to. I have tried to help many people on several different Saturn forums with every problem under the sun. Transmissions are not my strong point by any means, but troubleshooting is.

Unless you can find someone to evaluate your transmission for free, or evaluate your TCM for free, it's going to cost you money to determine the true nature of the problem, and it's probably an issue that's not financially worth it to fix. Probably.

I believe you have a perfectly good PCM in your car. It plays well with the security system and runs your car in most of the gears. No other whack behavior.

And that's all I have for you.
Click to expand...
Mr Deff : I did bought another pcm for my Saturn , this time they program my VIN number I installed , it works perfect i have no noises on my transmission but it give me 3 code P1336 And the P0733 again the p1336 is related with camshaft crack sensor , but the car starts good and run good , see what you can advise me please !!
 
Receipt the PCM connector that has the ckp signal input. Check all of the pins first.

I've not heard of a 1336 before when installing a new PCM as I do not believe there is a relearn procedure for the s Series engines, although I may be wrong. See what you can find out on the web about that. It's bizarre that you no longer have a transmission functional issue yet you still have the same code. If your ckp was completely crap, the car would not start nor run so I'm thinking the signal is weak or distorted, hence check the wiring connection at the PCM since it was disconnected to put in the new one
 
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