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2000 z24 shift solenoid problem-question

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new to site and need some tech help. my daughter has a 2000 z24 with a 2.4 dohv and a 4 speed auto trans. with 78K on it, the car is cherry and was well taken care of we're the 2nd owners. this past weekend the car started bucking around 30 miles an hours so she drove it home under that speed with the check engine light on. I scanned it got a OBD code of P1860,P1753,P1758. I looked them up and got the info on what they were (trans solenoid etc). not wanting to just assume the worst with trans side pan removal & solenoid replacement I did many internet searches and got some info one of which was to check the trans plug for moisture/dirt/broken wires/trans fluid on the inside of the plug/voltage atthe plug etc. the plug is clean with no moisture/atf or dirt inside it, all wires are in tact and not broken, I do have 12 volts at the plug. another site said to check the ERL fuse as it powers the solenoids. the fuse was not blown but the bayonets were black? i replaced with new fuse then cleared the OBD codes. I restarted the car & test drove it, it drove fine and shifted fine? my question is if the shift solenoids were bad wouldn't they still be "bad" and cause the trans not to shift or is it possible the solenoids are sporadically working (going bad). I am at a loss as to why the car isn't running bad again and all I did was un-plug and check the trans solenoid power connector & change a fuse?
 
weird that the contacts on the fuse were black, was it the correct amperage fuse?
i would change the filter and fluid if you dont know the last time it was done, do NOT flush the transmission.
 
the trans fluid/filter was changed & trans flushed by the dealership that the car was bought & serviced at by the last (first) owner at 67,800 miles 1.5 years ago, the car has 78,300 on it now. the fuse for the ERL was 10 amp as per fuse panel, I replaced it with a new 10 amp since the contacts were black. i checked the old fuse with a meter and it was still good? what would black contacts mean?
I'd hate to disassemble the trans side case and swap out solenoids if that was not the problem. I have a schematic to check the shift solenoids with an OHM meter but I cant see inside the plug on the trans to probe the connector due to the angle and viability looking down. any idea how I can get a view into that area other then a mirror?
I'd also hate to take it to a trans shop for fear they tell me the "worst news" ,because they always do, just to make a buck and over charge me for something that I could fix if I took my time & diagnosed the problem correctly. this car is super nice and you can tell it was well kept but I dont want to throw a lot of cash at it as it's my daughters first car to get back and forth to school in, I didnt buy it as a long distance travel car etc.
 
i can only assume black contacts are a result of high resistance between the fuse and the box, anything else should have blown the fuse.
Since it's running fine and I assume you checked the fluid level can you do nothing and see if it reoccurs?
 
I am going to check the fluid tonight and just monitor the problem for now, after reading your reply about the fuse I got curious and went out to the garage today and pulled the old fuse from the trash. it was a clear fuse and there was no amp number on it, after some investigating I found it was a 25amp (due to color) I put a 10 amp red in, that should have made the bells go off but I missed it. next I took the air cleaner flex line off the car to get a better look at the trans plug connector and found some one had spliced in a 10 amp inline fuse holder (with a 10 amp fuse) in the harness to the plug. they put the inline fuse link on the pink wire, which is power in for the solenoids I believe.
so for what ever reason, they decided to supply 25 amps to the ERL fuse slot and then knock the amps back down to 10 amps before the trans plug (to the solenoids)? Not sure why or what else that ERL fuse controls but putting more amps to circuits that call for less is normally a no no.
 
UPDATE:
put the car up on jacks stands and leveled it off to check the trans oil through the level port....nothing came out, so I lifted the ass end higher to see if any flowed out the hole and still nothing so I re-leveled the car and filled the trans. It ended up taking 25 oz (1.5 pints) till it came out the threads on the full port.
before I took it off the jacks I looked around for trans leaks and there was no evidence of a leak everything was dry? put it down on the ground and test drove it around town and it shifts fine, ran it up above 35mph where it previously wouldn't go, and it ran fine all the way up to 60 mph. So I assume it's fixed, no check engine light. I will have my daughter drive it around and monitor the situation. wonder were or why the trans fluid was low if there were no leaks, either the previous trans service (9k miles ago) wasn't done right and not filled all the way or ?

still trying to find out why the previous owner put a 25 amp in the ERL fuse spot, must have been trying to boost amps to something?
 
did you check the fluid with the engine running after moving the shifter through all gears?
 
no, I did it with engine cold, none of the procedures for adding trans fluid I found on the net said to run the engine or go through the gears. do you think it will take more fluid after running it through the gears and warm?
 
using google "checking transmission fluid cavalier", I found multiple sites that say warm and running. Yes i do believe it will take more fluid since the way you did it all of the fluid was sitting in the pan.
 
ok will do, not to keen on crawling under a running car on jack stands but I'll take all possible safety precautions.
 
Years ago I used 4 jack stands, at this point in my life I use 6!
 
Yeah i was just Leary about it being up high on jacks stands and running but I used 6 stands as well for safety.
well I drove the car a bit and warmed it up to operating temp + ran it through all the gears while driving + put it in each gear for 30 seconds with my foot on the brake after I got it up on stands. removed the full plug and got nothing? I ended up putting a total of 3 qts 10 oz (including the first fill a few days ago) into the case before it started coming out the threads!
got a little messy only because right when it started coming out the cooling fan kicked on,Arghhhh!
Hard to believe it was that low, i hope it didn't hurt anything and I hope that was the cause of my codes, getting tired of crawling under the car, at my age getting back up is a chore in itself. LOL
thank you for all your help Zora!
 
no signs of a leak?
how long have you owned the car?
if no leak, I wonder if someone serviced the transmission in the past, filter change, and didnt completely refill
 
no signs of a leak at all? we have only owned the car for about a month, we bought it from a small dealership that got it at auction (also local). we bought it as a first car for my daughter, the price was right and the car was/is clean as a whistle, ran good and road good,everything works, no dents or rust,new tires all around etc. the dealer gave us the carfax for the car, we're the second owner and we also got all the service records from the dealership it was bought and serviced at since new in 2000. we got it with 78300 on the odometer the last owner put less then 4K on it a year for the last 10 years (must have been a second car at that point and not the primary). the trans was serviced (flushed,new fluid & filter) at 67,800 about 1.5 years ago.
last service record was for an oil change & computer scan, car was traded in on a new car and resold at auction. maybe the tech's got the same 3 codes and told the last owner it may be the worst (solenoid replacement) and they didn't want to spend the money on the car and traded it in instead (thats what I hope)?
I can only assume it was not filled all the way when the trans was serviced? I own it now so I have to deal with it, I hope it lasts 2 years till she can either resell it,trade it in on something or junk it if it falls apart?
 
well the important thing is you appear to have it fixed but shows you whenever practical to recheck the work done by repair facilities.
 
Ok, well my fix from last October lasted a little over 6.5 months? ran great with no problems till a couple weeks ago? now it's throwing code p0753,p0758,p1680 again, rechecked the wiring,grounds & fuse's all seems to be fine, I'm going to try to probe the solenoid pins for ohms to see if they are in fact bad . I didn't do that last time because the fluid fill did the trick. I am also going to check the fluid level although I dont know how it could be down or low as the car has absolutely no leaks from the engine or trans?
I am hoping I find out that there is a bad wire because I really dont want to have to drop the trans axle and do the side cover removal but I will if I have to. I was wondering if I should check the PCM in the front passenger fender well, could there be a problem with that or the wiring coming out of it over n that corner?

my biggest fear is I spend the time & money and replace the solenoids,gaskets,filter & fluid start the car and find the same codes coming up?
I really hate this trans axle set up!

any words of advise would be appreciated, other than whats already been posted.
 
ok I was able to do some multi meter probing, not easy on the z24 trans plug but after talking to a friend who is a tech he told me to use sewing needles to push into the back side of the trans connector on the wires I needed probed to get the ohms readings of the trans, rather than remove the plug and try to probe the male pins inside the trans mating plug while using a mirror etc (impossible for me).
anyway he told me to probe pins A & E B & E and T & E and get readings for him + probe pin E with key on for voltage etc. i have not been able to get hold of him so heres the readings I got in case one of you can tell me what they mean?
pin E (key on) 12+ volts
pin E & A - 22 ohms
pin E & B - 23 ohms
pin T & E - 11 ohms

im not sure what pins is which solenoid but I think the ohms readings should be between 20-30 ohms on each which means T is bad? if so what is pin T on the connector?
I hope to check the trans fluid tomorrow, its damm hot out here so i didn't do it tonight, gonna be hotter tomorrow + the next day. I can't believe the fluid would be low as there are no leaks under the car at all, were would it go?
 
ok figured out that the "T" pin is the torque converter solenoid. I was pricing out the parts to replace the needed solenoid and decided if I was going to change one I may as well change all the solenoids. so I went on the autozone site and found the 2 shift solenoids 1-2 & 2-3 solenoids as well as the torque converter solenoid, a new trans filter and pan gasket, new fluid. what I cannot find on their site is a part number for the side pan gasket, doesn't seem to exist? do any of you know the part number (GM or autozone ) for it?
also is there any other solenoids besides the 3, I mentioned in the side cover that I could change while in there? I dont want to have to do this again, if this car lasts a few more years I will be happy.
 

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