FUN WITH Transmissions
The Engine Runs
Rough and I Have a
Transmission Code!
I received a very interesting call the
other day from Mike at Mike’s
Transmission & Hot Rods in
Pablo, MT. He was working on a 2001
Mercury Sable with a 3.0L engine. The
car had a P1747 code (EPC circuit fail-
ure, short circuit or output driver), and
the engine was running poorly.
Since the engine was running
rough, I thought it might have been a
computer issue. I told Mike to handle
the EPC code first.
To save time diagnosing a wiring
issue I suggested temporarily wiring
the solenoid directly to the controller.
I’ll often try this to eliminate all of the
EPC system wiring and test the integ-
rity of the computer first. He did this
and the EPC code went away.
I knew we were on the right track
when Mike mentioned that something
strange happened after he cleared the
EPC code. He said, “The EPC code
went away, but after I cleared the EPC
code, a P0740 TCC electrical code
popped up.”
Where’s the Power?
The chances that the control wires
for multiple solenoids will fail at the
same time are very low. I told him
to check power at pins 2 and 7 at the
transmission case connector, and sure
enough, he only had 11 volts. I wanted
to be sure we were working with
a good foundation so I asked Mike
to check voltage across the battery
terminals. He measured 12.5 across
the battery terminals.
I also asked him to check the
voltage at the transmission side of the
wire he’d cut to bypass the wiring to
the EPC solenoid (pin 81). When I
48 GEARS
Figure 1
heard back from
Mike he told me
he measured 3.6
volts. 3.6 volts
just didn’t seem
right to me. I
asked whether he was checking the
computer side or the transmission side
of the wire; he was checking the com-
puter side.
What Mike was reading was resid-
ual voltage from inside the computer.
There may be voltage on the computer
side of the open circuit, but there will
be very little or no current. Mike then
checked the transmission side of the
wire at pin 81, the EPC wire; it had
the same 11 volts that was going into
the transmission. I was now convinced
that this could only be a power supply
problem.
The next step was to work back
toward the PCM power relay to find
system voltage. The power going to
the trans goes through the #2 fuse to
the relay, through the relay to fuse #28.
The interesting thing is that, accord-
ing to the wiring schematic, fuse #28
by Bill Brayton
To Battery
Positive
also provides power to
the engine control systems.
Remember he said the engine was per-
forming poorly?
I suggested he check the volt-
age going to the trans from the #28
fuse. This had to be done with the key
on, as the PCM power relay is only
closed with the key in the run position.
I also told Mike that if he didn’t have
good voltage at fuse #28, he needed to
check the #2 fuse for system voltage.
If voltage was okay at fuse #2, the next
check would have been the PCM power
relay and its connection. Basically just
a simple process of elimination.
I called Mike back later to learn
that he had just gotten back from a
road test, and that everything was
working just fine. He had very low
voltage going through the #28 fuse. He
replaced the fuse which corrected the
solenoid codes and the engine perfor-
mance issue.
In this case we got lucky and got
both problems with one fix. Until next
time, stay focused and keep having
Fun with Transmissions!
May/June 2008
 What you’re doing is making the
To Battery solenoid circuit very small. You have the
Ground solenoid wired right to the computer.
Using a scan tool, clear the trouble
codes. Now fire up the vehicle — drive
it if necessary — and check for codes. If
the code doesn’t reset with the solenoid
wired right to the computer, the problem
is somewhere in the section of the har-
ness you bypassed. This also eliminates
the computer and all its wiring.
If the code does reset, look for a
problem in the computer, the computer
connector, or the 3 inches of wire you’re
still using. It’s just that simple!
Figure 2

There are many ways to diagnose

electrical problems. A simple test is
wiring a solenoid as close as possible
to the computer. Using a wiring sche-
matic and a computer pin chart, identify
the correct wires. Computer pin charts
are essential because wiring diagrams
sometimes list the wrong wire color.
Use a pin chart to find the location of
the wire.
There are typically two different
Ready to Shift to a Better
types of control systems for trans- Insurance Program?
mission solenoids: single wire or two
wire. The single wire solenoid is feed Get into Gear with
controlled. The computer controls the
power to the solenoid; the transmission Heffernan Insurance Brokers.
case provides the ground. The two- We offer:
wire solenoid is ground controlled; the
solenoid receives power from a com-
mon circuit, and the computer controls Property/Casualty Employee Benefits
solenoid operation through the ground Garage Liability/Garage Keepers Medical/Dental
circuit.
Property/Tool Coverage Vision/Life
To perform a circuit bypass check,
cut the solenoid control wire a couple Auto Disability
inches from the computer. Make sure Workers Compensation HR Assistance
you leave enough wire to repair it once
you’re finished testing.
When working with a two-wire Contact us today!
solenoid, connect the jumper from one
Property/Casualty Employee Benefits
terminal of the solenoid to the com-
puter. Connect the other terminal to the Earl VanBuskirk Jani De La Rosa
positive battery terminal using a fused earlv@heffgroup.com janid@heffgroup.com
jumper. The fuse prevents catastrophic Paul Wills Shauna Gilbert
shorts should the wires accidentally paulw@heffgroup.com shaunag@heffgroup.com
touch during testing. (Figure 1)
When working with a single-wire
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solenoid, connect the jumper from the
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solenoid to the computer wire. Use a
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second jumper to ground the body of
ATRA program facilitated by
the solenoid. (Figure 2)
Heffernan Insurance Brokers and Brant Watson.

GEARS May/June 2008 49