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99 Camaro SS shifting a little hard from 1st to 2nd. All other shifts are nice and smooth. Replaced trans filter and fluid and shift solenoids. However when I changed on of the solenoids this tube thing came out from behind where the solenoid plugs in. I just pushed it back in and though nothing of it. I'm sure this is the thing causing the issue, I believe something is missing that should be holding it in because when I changed the other solenoid nothing came out and the solenoid went in with ease. However when this tube thing popped out and I put it back in the solenoid was really hard to put back in. Any issues on how to fix the hard sift from 1st to 2nd.
Assuming you're talking about solenoid A and B, solenoid A is the 1-2 shift solenoid and it is under spring tension. The valve/spring will try to pop out when you remove the solenoid and it does take a little push to get it in. Did you put both the valve and spring back in, AND did you put them in the proper orientation?
Solenoid B has no spring and that's why it'll slide back in with no effort.
Oh, and was it shifting hard before or after you changed the solenoids? If it was bad before, it might be a bad throttle position sensor. Harsh 1-2 shift is a tell tale sign of a bad TPS in the absence of other problems.
See picture below
Last edited by coryforsenate; 07-06-2016 at 03:07 PM.
Yeah I'm referring to shift solenoid A 1-2. It was a lot of push to get it in not a little push so I believe I may have installed it backwards. No spring came out just the shift valve.
It was shifting hard before I replaced the solenoids. It might be the TPS but I don't think so, I'm not getting a code for it on my scanner.
Yeah I'm referring to shift solenoid A 1-2. It was a lot of push to get it in not a little push so I believe I may have installed it backwards. No spring came out just the shift valve.
It was shifting hard before I replaced the solenoids. It might be the TPS but I don't think so, I'm not getting a code for it on my scanner.
It has to get to a certain level of going bad before it'll throw a code. But if you installed the 1-2 valve backwards it would need to compress the spring a lot more to get everything in, which would explain why it seemed so hard to push all the way in.
It's impossible to install the 1-2 shift valve backward & clip the Solenoid, The Spring will coil bind before the solenoid seats.
A lot of things can cause a harsh 1-2 shift.....Including engine state of tune, Low fuel pressure, clogged fuel filter, TPS, MAF, Too much Band Clearance, Broken 2nd accumulator piston spring, Broken Accumulator Valve spring, Elevated Line Pressure from a DTC, And a bad tune.....Tuners love to jack-up line pressure!
Right. The proper tool to diagnose it is a pressure gauge. If the pressure is high for low-throttle shifts, you either have an engine sensor problem, a code related to trans slippage, or an aggressive tune.
However, if the pressure is low/normal, you look for one of the trans problems Clinebarger listed. I would add a split 2nd accumulator piston but both the piston and springs are easily checked - drop the pan and then the dome-shaped accumulator held with 3 screws.
That is not a stock 1-2 shift valve, It is part of a Trans Go HD2 shift kit.
The checkball goes in the hollow end followed by the small diameter spring you have shown.
The Stock shift valve spring goes in the bore first, Then the 1-2 shift valve with the small diameter spring facing the shift solenoid.
Drop the 2nd Accumulator housing while the pan is off, Remove the 2 springs, piston & spring seat, If there are 3 flat washers stacked in the bottom, Remove & omit those......Stack it back with the spring seat first followed by the blue spring, piston (dome down), then the orange spring.
This will soften your 1-2 shift.
07-06-2016, 01:23 PM
99 SS shifting hard from 1st to second. 
