i had my TCM replaced awhile back. I don't know what year you have but i have an 04. From what i was told is that the warranty doesn't apply to my car b/c the TCM and ECM are separate. The book states warranty coverage 80k miles for ECM/TCM which mean the ECM is combined with the TCM they are one unit there forth will be replaced under the emission warranty... thats how i understood it. i might be wrong

 

I think the TCM is a seperate unit I had mine replaced once as well!!!

 

i have a 2002 x type 2.5. i have read a lot of the tcm and this gear box fault. i see is very common problem on this car. my is showing up the same "gearbox fault" message, the car wont start the starter won't even move. after google it i ended up in this forum. i have read that the location of the TCM is the lower driver kick panel behind the fuse box, and guess what i think i am missing that S*^&^%&T i looked at that place and the only thing i sow was a bracket with another module on which i think is the wiper's module and this bracket that is missing the 2 nuts, and i am sure its the one that hold the tcm. i dont know what you guys think, by the way i bought this car like this. should i fix it? is it the reason why it doesn't start? please help!!!! any help will be appreciated.

 

francisco, with the TCM failed/waterlogged, the TCM is not telling the ECM that the car is in either Neutral or Park. This will cause the start signal to be blocked, preventing the starter from seeing power.

If you are getting water on the TCM, then I would be looking at either a bad boot for one of the penetrations in the firewall or for a leaky windshield. Get that fixed first else you will be buying yet another TCM in the near future.

 

thanks chris, but the thing is that i thing i am missing the TCM. i dont find it.
another question, one of my friends works in a junk yard and he can get a tcm for me, so my question is if can i put any tcm? or does it have to be programed? or does it need to be new?

 

I think what the dealership is doing is using a loophole in the warranty coverage to get out of covering it.
I've been down the TCM replacement road and here's what I know. The TCM is inside the passenger compartment and thus should not be subject to water damage. So what you need to determine and should do in any case is where the water is coming from. If it can be determined that the ingress of moisture is from a factory deficiancy like coming through a gromet in the firewall via the brake cable or something of that nature that I've read has happened on a number of accasions then it will be covered. If on the other hand it is due to something like what mine was cause by which was a faulty installation of a replcement windshield then of course your recource is to go after whoever installed the windshield.

But first you really need to determine where the moisture is coming from. I had mt TCM replaced and the next time I drove in heavy rain it faulted again. It wasn't until I replaced the windshield that it was fixed so yours is going to crap out again and again until you deal with the underlying issue.

 

Francisco,

I live in the UK but i had a problem with my TCM a couple months ago, if you look behind the fuse box you will see what is the auto wipers relay this is bolted to the top of the TCM you have to remove this first before you will be able to get to the TCM but although its awkward its really easy to do with a little patients, its not missing just hiding. Chances are your leak is coming from the rear of the cabin filter housing this has a padded seal on the rear and if like mine will be totally disintegrated so will need replacing. As has been said do make sure you sort this otherwise you will be replacing the TCM again. As for reprogramming provided you get one with same serial number from same sized engine car then you will be able to just swap them over if not you will have to get it reprogrammed example is if you have a 2.5 and you get one for a 3.0 this will need programming but if you get one from a 2.5 then alls good.

Best of luck.

 

I need some ones help please

 

Will, what you need?

 

Does anyone know if when I replace the TCM if it has to be the same exact pet number or does it just have to be for a 2.5?

 

Austin, the best advice that I can give you is that you should have the same part number. So, when you look at the TCM, you will see something to the effect of "1X43-12345-AB". The 12345 is the part number (this is a made up number just for demonstration purposes). The 1X43 is saying that the part is from a base model X-Type (you may see 4X43 if you have an upgraded trim package). The key to all of this is the last 2 letters (AB). This is the version number of the software. You can be off by a few versions (say up to AD vice AB) and should not have any issues. But, the further you get away from what your car was built with, the more likely you are going to have issues without putting the car on a dealership level computer to get things straightened out.

 

Hello,
I was glad to find this thread as I have a similar problem with the TCM of my 2.1L (it goes directly into 3rd gear). I already found and ordered one.
For 2.1L they are really hard to find so my question is:
what actually fails in those TCMs? Mine is clean inside and dry. Any hypothesis?
What would be most affordable interface/setup to reprogram one of these?
(I do ECU/TCM programming... in saabs)

 

jjagg, odds are, if something is going to fail inside the TCM, you are looking at one of the main driving transistors for say the solenoids or the other likely suspect would be the main "CPU" chip. The CPU chip would be doing the lions share of the work and therefore generating a lot of heat. Heat is bad in the electronics world, Granted, my normal "troubleshooting method" is to simply plug in the unit and then touch the top of each component with my fingertip. The one that is hot is pretty obvious and most likely your problem. If you are lucky, you will see some discoloration of the board from where it has been hot for a fair amount of time.

As for programming a new TCM, there is only one thing that I know of that can do that and that is the SDD software.

 

Hi jjagg,

The 2.1L variant was sold successfully into the Asia Pacific region, so if you need a TCM you might look into eBay Australia listings to see if you can find what you are looking for there.
I see four currently listed, but you need to know your revision and whether it is a 16bit (single connector, or 32bit dual connector) TCM.
https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_...e+tcm&_sacat=0
Failing that send me a photo of your TCM (with its parts label visible which should show revision you have and connector type) and I can make some inquiries in NZ for you.
In prior threads on the subject I believe the consensus is that if you stay within one or two revisions then you might not need to reprogram TCM or ECU.

 

Hi Thermo, h2o2steam!
Thank you for the insightful answers!
I have installed a "new" TCM but the problem persisted.
I tried to remove the errors with OBDwiz software but two of them (p1000 and p1637) come back immediately and the message about gearbox anomaly is always there.
Is there something else to reset? what software / OBD2 interface would you typically use?

Many thanks

 

Hi jjagg,

Bugger!
P1000 is normal, nothing to be concerned about.
P1637 is the concern.....If you clear the message, have the J-Gate resting in park or neutral and then roll the ignition switch to ignition on (without starting) does the error return after 10-15 seconds?
If so, then it must be a comms error between modules (ECM, TCM, ABS etc). You'll need to start with the Schematic diagram and checking the comms wires properly linking through to each module without breaks or shorts.

If however the error only occurs upon starting and then driving the car....when the 3rd gear issue is present, then I hazard a guess that that can only be a mechanical issue within the gearbox....jammed solenoid or something similar) as the transmission control under direction from the J-Gate module would always want to pass through lower gears first even if you have manually selected 3rd on J-Gate as the upper gear limit.

I am also curious if the message is cleared and then you start the car, without moving the car, shift the gear selector between park, reverse, drive several times to see if the error code returns. Is it only happening when car rolls ...I suspect not.