Well after I lost 2nd gear on my 97 Trans Am I decided to drop the tranny pan. I noticed this solenoid was very loose. I don’t know much on about transmissions, much less a computer control 4L60e but I could spin one solenoid around 1/4 of a turn while the neighboring solenoid had very little play. I am not sure if that can cause a problem.

Here is the vid. So here goes 3 dumb questions:

What gear does this solenoid control?

Is it normal for the solenoid to have so much play?

Also how can you tell if a solenoid is bad?

 

The 1-2 solenoid will feel tight as the valve behind it is spring loaded, The 2-3 solenoid will not as there is no spring load this is normal,
Do you have 4th gear ?

 

Out of fear of causing further damage I drove it back home and did not try to get it past 1st. Based on what I have read up on so far, I should have tried what gears were still engaging before I began to tear it down. What I can tell you is that 2nd just went out without warning. Just as the tranny shifted from 1st to 2nd, it felt like the car was thrown into neutral. And the scary part is the tranny started to make a whining noise in gear and in neutral.

 

had the same problem and it was a cracked piston...