1984 engine dies after coming to a complete stop

[AustinandTrotsky]

Howdy Y'all! I am running into what I consider a pretty unique problem and would love some guidance. Here some quick context:

-I have a 1985 sunbird, no turbo 1.8 liter
-I have swapped in a semi recently rebuilt 1984 1.8 liter no turbo engine

The engine runs well, starts at first crank and drives just like it should. However, after driving for 10-15 minutes, if you come to a complete stop the engine will die and you'll get a check engine light. My mechanic and I originally thought this was a heat issue as it seemed to happen once the engine temp climbed past 220 F. we have since fixed the heat issue and I still have gotten it to stall at around 195 though. The other issue was that once it stalled and you started it back up (which still starts on first crank and the check engine light goes away) changing gears while keeping your foot on the brake would still kill the engine. I discovered yesterday that if you shift gears without putting your foot on the break itll go from park to drive with no issue.

To sum up:
-engine dies when coming to a complete stop after driving for 10-15 minutes or getting past a speed of maybe 40mph
-check engine light turns on when it dies
-you can start it back up immediately and it will start with no issues, getting rid of the check engine light
-if you try to change gears while keeping your foot on the brake after this has happened, the engine will die
-if you try to change gears without keeping your foot on the brake after this has happened, you can get into a drive and go without issue for a little bit


any help at all would be greatly appreciated. I have never seen this issue on another car and neither has my mechanic

 

[melsg5]

Has your mechanic checked for a vacuum leak possibly related to brake booster?

 

[AustinandTrotsky]

Has your mechanic checked for a vacuum leak possibly related to brake booster?

I'm not sure, we had an issue upon first getting the engine in where brake fluid wasn't flowing but he fixed that. The hoses should be good but we will check again today. could it still be a vacuum leak if the brakes work normally for the first 10-15 minutes?

 

[92 Sunbird LE]

TCC solenoid is bad ( aka Torque Converter Lockup) , unplug the square blue plug from the radiator side of the transmission....and report back...do not drive over 40 mph...untill it's replaced.( In the side trans pan)

Doug in P.R.

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[AustinandTrotsky]

TCC solenoid is bad ( aka Torque Converter Lockup) , unplug the square blue plug from the radiator side of the transmission....and report back...do not drive over 40 mph...untill it's replaced.( In the side trans pan)

Doug in P.R.

Ill give that a shot this afternoon! Why shouldn't I go over 40? not going over will make it harder to replicate the issue

 

[92 Sunbird LE]

It will ruin the convertor lockup..and all that clutch junk will get in the valve body...

See pic for plug location...

Doug in P.R.

 

[AustinandTrotsky]

It will ruin the convertor lockup..and all that clutch junk will get in the valve body...

See pic for plug location...

Doug in P.R.

okay the more I read about this the more it seems to fit exactly my problem. Your wisdom knows no bounds Doug . Do you happen to know where I can get a replacement? AutoZone is showing me a transmission control solenoid but no torque converter clutch solenoid.

 

[92 Sunbird LE]

Same condition as coming to a stop without pushing in the clutch pedal in a manual shift car while in gear...

Ebay or Transmission parts supply businesses online...Just search for" TH125C Torque Converter Lockup Solenoid "

Roughly a $ 20 part plus the side pan gasket..

Doug in P.R.

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[AustinandTrotsky]

Same condition as coming to a stop without pushing in the clutch pedal in a manual shift car while in gear...

Ebay or Transmission parts supply businesses online...Just search for" TH125C Torque Converter Lockup Solenoid "

Roughly a $ 20 part plus the side pan gasket..

Doug in P.R.

so is this the plug you are referring to? Starting it up without this plugged in the car revs up around 2300 rpms immediately. The person who previously owned the engine donor car had this unplugged as well so they could drive normally. this plug however looks really different from the picture you sent. so is there a different location i should be looking?

EDIT:
After doing some googling im realizing this is a very stupid question. I see that thats not the solenoid its just the connection to the solenoid in the transmission. Ill try driving around without plugged in. wont go over 40

 

[AustinandTrotsky]

Same condition as coming to a stop without pushing in the clutch pedal in a manual shift car while in gear...

Ebay or Transmission parts supply businesses online...Just search for" TH125C Torque Converter Lockup Solenoid "

Roughly a $ 20 part plus the side pan gasket..

Doug in P.R.

well other than the much higher RPMs everything seemed to go much better. so I bought that new part and will report back. sorry about asking so many dumb questions, but why do i need a side pan gasket?

 

[92 Sunbird LE]

RTV silicone or gasket to seal the side pan back up.......so it won't leak...pan has come off to change the solenoid inside the transmission....

Doug in P.R.

 

[AustinandTrotsky]

RTV silicone or gasket to seal the side pan back up.......so it won't leak...pan has come off to change the solenoid inside the transmission....

Doug in P.R.

https://www.autozone.com/drivetrain...c-transmission-pan-gasket-tos18661/137676_0_0 makes sense, is this the kind of gasket seal I need?

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[92 Sunbird LE]

Yes.....

Doug in P.R.

 

[AustinandTrotsky]

Yes.....

Doug in P.R.

That seems to have fixed the problem! put 160 miles on him since Thursday so it looks like we are back in business after 4 months of hard work. Thanks so much doug! the only thing left now is to fix a squeaky belt on start up

 

[92 Sunbird LE]

Your welcome...Glad to help..

Doug in P.R.

 

[AustinandTrotsky]

Your welcome...Glad to help..

Doug in P.R.

well doug it was an amazing 230 miles or so and now i have tapping near the valve cover at the top end. any advice on that? just changed the oil and its still there. goes up with RPM

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[melsg5]

Could be timing chain if front of engine, not front of car. What viscosity oil did you use? How many miles on engine?

 

[AustinandTrotsky]

Could be timing chain if front of engine, not front of car. What viscosity oil did you use? How many miles on engine?

not entirely sure. its either at 141,000 or 41,000 since the odometer doesn't count past 100,000. based off the info about the original car the engine came from I'm leaning more towards 41k (old lady, small town farmer, never went out of town etc). i just got the alternator belt tightened unfortunately. My pet theory is that its a screw rattling around somewhere near the engine, one of the 2 wing nuts holding the carburetor is missing and i haven't been able to find it. could have just fallen on the road though.

 

[92 Sunbird LE]

Timing belt fraying and hitting the plastic timing cover? Could be time for a change with age...60k is recommended..
Worse case: rocker arm or wiped cam lobe ..

Doug in P.R.

 

[Apululu]

Hi you all, some where last year.. same here.. when getting near to cross roads or traffic lights .. just before coming to a complete stop.. the engine stops... start her up.. no problem.. but the moment you shift to D.. stops again.. wait for 10 mins or so to cool of .. starting.. in to D and no problem.. until next stop ..

Made a phone call to a mate working in other country... he said disconnect the converter and try again, if it doesn't happen again you can be sure it is the converter... he ordered one in the states and told me to leave the converter disconnected, you can drive without problem.. a few monts later I received the new converter (factory sealed original) and believe me... so far I did not bother to replace it at all.. stil in the box.. and the other disconnected... Also he said that more than likely might consume a wee bit more fuel.... In this (my) case it is not.. consuming less... what do you think of this... and driving up and down without restrictions.