Stalling or rough idle after highway driving - Torque converter staying locked

[tsteves5]

I wanted to share a problem and solution that I recently had on my 2011 with the 6-speed 62TE transmission in case anyone experiences a similar issue.

 

Driving around town I had no problems and the Journey drove fine, but after driving at least 10-15 minutes at highway speed then stopping the car would often surge while stopping and either idle rough while stopped or stall altogether.  Restart the engine in park, select drive, and the car would often stall again.  Restart in park, rev the engine a few times, then select drive and the engine would remain running.  No error codes.

 

The issue was that after 10-15 minutes of highway driving the torque converter would remain partially or fully locked.

 

I changed the Torque Converter Clutch (TCC) solenoid and so far the problem as not occurred again.  In my case, I was not able to obtain the Mopar part in a reasonable amount of time, so I used the Dorman 926-378.  Upon comparing the Dorman to the Mopar OEM part, they appear exactly the same.  They must both be manufactured by the same supplier.

Edited July 12, 2021 by tsteves5

[2late4u]

i have a friend who had to wait almost 2 months for some ball joints for his 1980 something ford small pickup the garage said they just cant hardly get parts that they need.. great you figured this out ,and congrats on doing it yourself

[Armando G]

Problem, and solution... nice. 

 

Thanks for posting what could possibly help others. I like these posts 

[DodgeaWrench]

Congrats!

I am having similar issues, but FAR less severe.  I already have the replacement OEM TCC solenoid, but haven't yet worked up the courage to go in.  Uncoupling and recoupling that electrical connector scares the bajeesus out of me.

Any tips or gotcha's to share?

Thanks for posting as this will help me get past my demons.

 

In Spring, I had to wait over a month for front mopar brake pads to come in.

 

 

[John/Horace]

Thanks for the info. Curious, how many miles when the problem started.

The part is changed with tranny still in vehicle, correct.  New gasket on casing or tube sealant. Thanks.

[2late4u]

14 hours ago, DodgeaWrench said:

Congrats!

I am having similar issues, but FAR less severe.  I already have the replacement OEM TCC solenoid, but haven't yet worked up the courage to go in.  Uncoupling and recoupling that electrical connector scares the bajeesus out of me.

Any tips or gotcha's to share?

Thanks for posting as this will help me get past my demons.

 

In Spring, I had to wait over a month for front mopar brake pads to come in.

 

 

check out you tube there probally is a video on how to do it

[tsteves5]

On 7/12/2021 at 6:10 PM, DodgeaWrench said:

Congrats!

I am having similar issues, but FAR less severe.  I already have the replacement OEM TCC solenoid, but haven't yet worked up the courage to go in.  Uncoupling and recoupling that electrical connector scares the bajeesus out of me.

Any tips or gotcha's to share?

Thanks for posting as this will help me get past my demons.

 

In Spring, I had to wait over a month for front mopar brake pads to come in.

 

 

 

There's a decent YouTube video here that shows this job and how to deal with the electrical and transmission connectors

 

 

[tsteves5]

On 7/13/2021 at 8:42 AM, John/Horace said:

Thanks for the info. Curious, how many miles when the problem started.

The part is changed with tranny still in vehicle, correct.  New gasket on casing or tube sealant. Thanks.

 

My problem started at 142k miles.

 

Correct, this can be done with the transmission in the vehicle.  You'll need transmission gasket sealant, or a new side pan gasket.  I would also suggest draining the transmission before doing this too.  I put transmission pans with drain plugs on all my vehicles.  They are cheap and really help to minimize future transmission drain messes.

[John/Horace]

Any possibility of a Progress report. No reocurrence of sticking TCC solenoid ? Good site info.

I bought a Dorman tranny pan with drain plug recently for my Ram. Bigger pan and mess compared to Journey. Can syphon 4 liters from journey quite easily.

Edited August 18, 2021 by John/Horace

[tsteves5]

On 8/18/2021 at 1:15 PM, John/Horace said:

Any possibility of a Progress report. No reocurrence of sticking TCC solenoid ? Good site info.

I bought a Dorman tranny pan with drain plug recently for my Ram. Bigger pan and mess compared to Journey. Can syphon 4 liters from journey quite easily.

 

A little more than a month later and it's still doing fine.  The issue has not came back.  Before it the issue would occur a few times per week.  The TCC solenoid fixed the issue.

[Neto]

On 7/14/2021 at 4:46 PM, tsteves5 said:

 

There's a decent YouTube video here that shows this job and how to deal with the electrical and transmission connectors

 

 

 

The video was helpful, because just from the picture alone, it was my impression that this was accessed from the transmission pan, on the bottom side.

[JustDodge]

On 7/12/2021 at 1:08 PM, tsteves5 said:

I wanted to share a problem and solution that I recently had on my 2011 with the 6-speed 62TE transmission in case anyone experiences a similar issue.

 

Driving around town I had no problems and the Journey drove fine, but after driving at least 10-15 minutes at highway speed then stopping the car would often surge while stopping and either idle rough while stopped or stall altogether.  Restart the engine in park, select drive, and the car would often stall again.  Restart in park, rev the engine a few times, then select drive and the engine would remain running.  No error codes.

 

The issue was that after 10-15 minutes of highway driving the torque converter would remain partially or fully locked.

 

I changed the Torque Converter Clutch (TCC) solenoid and so far the problem as not occurred again.  In my case, I was not able to obtain the Mopar part in a reasonable amount of time, so I used the Dorman 926-378.  Upon comparing the Dorman to the Mopar OEM part, they appear exactly the same.  They must both be manufactured by the same supplier.

I have a 2012 3.6 Journey experiencing similar issues. It started off not engaging 6th gear on the freeway. Now it doesn’t engage past 3rd gear, therefore I can’t drive past 40mph. Therefore no freeway driving. If I use slight to moderate acceleration the transmission will slip and I would have to get off the gas, the rpm’s will drop and the transmission will catch itself (assuming that’s the surge stated). If I don’t let off the gas the transmission will literally just drive in no gear. In earlier stages, I did experience stalling but haven’t in a while. I would have to restart the vehicle for the transmission to shift but that’ll only last up to 30mph. I’ve had MULLLLLLTIPLE codes appear just off this one issue, from P0734, P083B, P0735, P0729 and P084B. I also hear like a rattling noise coming from the housing of the transmission as the car is gassed and trans temp reaches around 180-190°. Knowing what the torque converter is, I’m confident it just needs to be replaced that’s IF… it hasn’t caused other internal damage to the transmission.