About 2 and a half months ago, the check engine light on my 1996 Dodge RAM 1500 came on. I hooked my code reader up to it and got two codes. One was for “torque converter clutch solenoid circuit malfunction” and the other was “incorrect purge flow” on the evap canister. I got underneath and looked at the transmission and saw that an electrical connection was loose. I unplugged it and put it back in. Both codes went away and the light stayed off until the other day. It came back on and I’ve got the same exact codes. The truck runs fine and shifts fine, but I’m wondering why I’m getting the two same exact codes again. I didn’t think either one of these systems was related to one another. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. The truck has 242,000 miles on it and has the 5.9L V8. Thanks.
These shouldn’t have anything to do with one another. One thing to consider is that coincidences do happen. The other thing I’d do is get a wiring diagram. Perhaps the purge solenoid shares a ground or something with the transmission wiring and that ground is getting funky. That, of course, is a WAG.
1996 was the first year that OBD2 codes were mandatory, and some of the computer systems in 1995-1997 OBD2 cars were a bit idiosyncratic. There’s a fighting chance that one or both codes are spurious. I’d clear the codes and see if they come back after a few starts. If they do, I’d reseat the connector that you reconnected last time. If that doesn’t fix things, I think I’d try a Dodge RAM specific forum. Maybe other folks have the same problem and have researched it.