My little tracker recently failed the state inspection because of a check engine light on the dash. Diagnostics revealed the following: Torque Converter Clutch Circuit Malfunction. I’ve been told I need to take the car to a tranny shop to get this fixed and was wondering what this involves and what sort of cost I should dread. thnx!
Certainly it wouldn’t hurt to have a trans shop look it over, although most will be reluctant to do any kind of minor fixes on a transmission of that age - though you didn’t say how many miles are on it. In other words, take it in but be prepared to hear that the tranny should be rebuilt (and maybe it should be - no way to tell from here).
However, this kind of malfunction can just come from a gunked up solenoid in the transmission. How often has the trans been serviced? Does it regularly get the pan dropped and filter changed (every 30K or so is a frequent recommendation)? If it has not been regularly serviced, I would drop the pan/filter, drive for 3-5K miles and do it again. I would also consider putting in some SeaFoam TransTune before doing it. I.e. dump in the transtune, drive for a while, drop pan/filter, drive 3-5K miles, drop pan/filter again.
That may or may not help depending on the problem, but I know it works for some people/problems.