PCM going bad on tranny?

[Guest BLKPATHY95]

I am definitely so happy to have found this group of people to ask questions about my Pathy. Thanks to everyone.

 

Okay, here it is:

 

95 Pathy V6 with an auto tranny.

 

Problem: when it's cold, Colorado cold, the tranny goes into limp mode and will only engage into 3rd gear. I can trick it by turning off the truck and restarting it but I know that won't last long. There seems to be a definite fluctuation in performance even when it doesn't lock up on me. I have had it on a scanner but because it acts,"normal", at that point no bad codes come back. Even the fluid came back ok when I hadit flushed. I have convinced myself that it is the PCM module that resides under the passenger rear fenderwell is going out but I am not sure. Anybody have any suggestions?

[94extreme]

if you have anywhere near 100k mi and no external cooler you're just about to go kaputt.

[88pathoffroad]

In limp mode it locks you into second gear, not third. After it warms up, turn the ignition off for ten seconds, then start it back up. That should put it back into normal useage mode unless something is wrong with it internally. There are tests you can run on the TCU, take a look in the Garage under the Tech Section or How-To's.