Solenoid?

[SolDoubt]

Hey guys,
Just brought my car to the dealership to have my CEL light checked and they told me it had to do with the transmission solenoid. anyone know what that is? I had thought my whole transmission would need replacing but the dealer said if they replaced the solenoids it would fix the problem. I am covered on the manufacturuer's powertrain warranty but they said the solenoid's are not covered under that. I thought the powertrain warranty would cover all parts concerning the transmission . SO just wondering what you guys think of this? is it just another dealer's trick to getting some $$ out of me

i was also researching this and came across this site
http://www.autotransinc.com/e4odtech.htm
it pretty much sums up the problems i have in starting in 2nd gear and not having my overdrive. I dont quite get it though. Could someone help me and clarify it. THANX in advance

[Jon11582]

A solenoid is something that converts an electrical signal to a magnetic field. Not sure what function that would have in a transmission though.

How much are they quoting you?

[SC V6]

the SHIFT solenoid is what basically shifts the transmission... If they were going to replace those.. they would have to drop the tranny.. and replace them

[Jon11582]

Courtesy of www.howstuffworks.com from "How Automatic Transmissions work?"

Electronic Controls
Electronically controlled transmissions, which appear on some newer cars, still use hydraulics to actuate the clutches and bands, but each hydraulic circuit is controlled by an electric solenoid. This simplifies the plumbing on the transmission and allows for more advanced control schemes.

In the last section we saw some of the control strategies that mechanically controlled transmissions use. Electronically controlled transmissions have even more elaborate control schemes. In addition to monitoring vehicle speed and throttle position, the transmission controller can monitor the engine speed, if the brake pedal is being pressed, and even the anti-lock braking system.

Using this information and an advanced control strategy based on fuzzy logic -- a method of programming control systems using human-type reasoning -- electronically controlled transmissions can do things like:

Downshift automatically when going downhill to control speed and reduce wear on the brakes
Upshift when braking on a slippery surface to reduce the braking torque applied by the engine
Inhibit the upshift when going into a turn on a winding road
Let's talk about that last feature -- inhibiting the upshift when going into a turn on a winding road. Let's say you're driving on an uphill, winding mountain road. When you are driving on the straight sections of the road, the transmission shifts into second gear to give you enough acceleration and hill-climbing power. When you come to a curve you slow down, taking your foot off the gas pedal and possibly applying the brake. Most transmissions will upshift to third gear, or even overdrive, when you take your foot off the gas. Then when you accelerate out of the curve, they will downshift again. But if you were driving a manual transmission car, you would probably leave the car in the same gear the whole time. Some automatic transmissions with advanced control systems can detect this situation after you have gone around a couple of the curves, and "learn" not to upshift again.

For more information on automatic transmissions and related topics, check out the links on the next page.