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As part of limp-home mode, fourth gear will often be disabled. I believe it's because the kick down wire, which is electronically operated in TCS cars, doesn't know what to do and sets itself into a default position, partly to offset the crummy performance brought on by limp home mode.
This upshift issue doesn't always happen, but is part of the normal freak-out package of possibilities.
Immediate question is, does the car start and run, then enter limp-home mode after starting off? Or does the car not start and run, or starts but runs like crap? If the car basically won't start and run well before you move off, it's most likely the safety valve on the firewall, based on my experience.
If the car waits until it's moving to go into limp home mode, then it may be the throttle body, again based on my experience. However, there are so many ways the system can act up that these two possibilities may not fix your problem.
How cheap is the car? If it's in compromised TCS operation, I wouldn't pay more than $800 for it. It's a CDE, which is worth less in the marketplace already; TCS problems only enhance that fact, and they may yet cost you a good bit to rectify. You want to be able to walk away from this car without losing too much, if you have to.
I'd be mildly concerned that something was done improperly when bleeding the brakes that caused TCS to detect a fault. How was the bleeding done? Does the guy realize that you do not use the two-man method on the rears, but actually let the ABS pump do the bleeding?
One other caveat: automatic TCS cars cannot use the on/off switch. That's for manual cars only. And in winter, if it's slippery enough, TCS is downright dangerous. It will prevent you from moving out of the way of oncoming 18-wheelers if it decides it doesn't like the available traction.
If you look around you might have luck tracking down a non-TCS car for reasonable money these days.
posted by 155.212.49...
, Sun, 28 Aug 2005 08:04:28, Sun, 28 Aug 2005 20:41:20
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